Dohnanyi's superb Bartok and Stravinsky. Now in a two-fer with Maazel's Rite of Spring

​These fantastic Dohynanyi/Vienna Stravinsky and Bartok recordings have been reissued many times before (on Decca and Eloquence). For once, they are worth the repeated appearances. They are magnificent in every way - exciting, colorful, atmospheric, superbly played and spectacularly recorded.

If this Eloquence release seems familiar, it is - sort of. The Dohnanyi items were issued separately on 2 Eloquence CDs in 2004. For this current release, Eloquence has helpfully combined them as a two-fer, and had the brilliant idea of adding Maazel's 1974 Rite of Spring. This addition brings together all 3 famous Stravinsky ballets, plus the Bartok, making this a very attractive and extremely generous bargain. Indeed, the playing times are 80'33 and 79'31!

One remark about Maazel's 1974 Rite: this is somewhat of a rarity. To my knowledge, it is has only been issued on CD in Decca's massive box set of every Rite of Spring Decca/DG ever recorded. (That is a splendid collection, by the way!) To have it here, separated from a 20-disc set, is cause for excitement. It is a splendid performance, in great sound. I prefer this one over his subsequent recordings of the piece. It is more natural and less over-the-top, yet still splendidly full of drama, color and spectacle. And it is superbly played by the Vienna Philharmonic. The vintage 1970s Decca sound is typical of that era - with some minor spotlighting, but yet natural enough.

Hopefully, these Dohnanyi recordings are well-known to most collectors. If not, they should be. Not only are they among the very best (certainly some of the most exciting) of this repertoire ever committed to disc, they're also some of best recorded. And for those who are often disappointed with the inaudible organ contribution in most Miraculous Mandarines - you are in for a real treat with this one. Wow.