Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra, Sz. 116 - Janácek: Sinfonietta for Orchestra, Op. 60

Between his appointment as music director in 1946 and death almost quarter of a century later, George Szell transformed the Cleveland Orchestra into one of the world’s finest symphonic ensembles. The Hungarian-born American conductor built the band in his exacting image, demanding and receiving the highest standards of musicianship and virtuosity, as this superb album demonstrates. Szell’s compelling performance of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra, recorded in 1965, projects charm and wit as well as high drama, with every nuance of the conductor’s interpretation perfectly delivered by his Clevelanders. Listen to the second movement, with its majestic brass chorale and playful wind solos, or the immaculate ensemble playing in the fourth movement. Szell shapes an edge-of-the-seat reading of Janáček’s Sinfonietta, overwhelming in its sheer power, tonal beauty, and abundant musical intelligence.