New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein - Bela Bartok: Concerto for Orchestra / Music for strings, Percussion and Celesta (1992)

The 1959 Concerto for Orchestra was one of Bernstein's first recordings as music director of the New York Philharmonic. It's still worthy of comparison with the classic 1954 Reiner recording considered standard by most critics. Bernstein gets the orchestra inside the music, expressing the range of Bartók's emotional world from the spookily mysterious opening to the hilarity of the intermezzo to the joyous finale. This performance makes the piece sound less conservative than it sometimes does--a decided plus. The orchestra plays extremely well, with fine work from its legendary first-chair players. Music for Strings, Percussion, and Cello, recorded two years later, is similarly effective. This coupling was previously available in a "Royal Edition," and if you have that, you don't need to replace it. But this latest mastering sounds fine for its age. -- Leslie Gerber