Bartók: The Miraculous Mandarin & Concerto for Orchestra

Japanese conductor Hiroyuki Iwaki has led the Melbourne SO for a record twenty-three years, during which it has become a top-tier orchestra, with an impressive discography, specialized in modern music. This album dedicated to Bartók includes his masterpiece The Miraculous Mandarin, his second ballet, and a gripping score whose coarse eroticism created a scandal when premiered in 1926. Iwaki’s vigorous conducting of the complete ballet (rarely recorded in its entirety) works wonders in this recording and its complement, the Concerto for Orchestra.