Bluebeard's Castle, Sz. 48

ORMANDY PHILADELPHIA ORCHESTRA ELIAS HINES

Sony Classical announces a further batch of complete recordings from the CBS/Sony and RCA Victor catalogues. The newest installment of this popular series features some unusual repertoire as well as documents of the New York Metropolitan Opera in its postwar heyday. Columbia’s 1960 recording of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle features American singers. Though it is sung in English, its authentic Hungarian quality is guaranteed by the conductor, Budapest-born Eugene Ormandy. “Rosalind Elias … makes a splendidly passionate Judith. … The Philadelphia Orchestra comes into its own at the opening of the various doors – especially the Second, where the dazzling brilliance of Bluebeard’s treasure-chamber is vividly depicted” (Gramophone).