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| Bartok: Complete Solo Piano Music | 
 enlarge | Creators: Bela Bartok, Gyoergy Sandor
Label: Vox (Classical)
Category: Music
List Price: $20.98
Buy New: $15.49
You Save: $5.49 (26%)
Buy New/Used from $15.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 7840
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 5
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.9
MPN: 3610
UPC: 047163361029
EAN: 0047163361029
ASIN: B00008X5AY
Release Date: May 27, 2003
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Sandor, still active at 90 as this reissue appears, was a student of Bartok and a preferred interpreter of his music. Since this set appeared on nine LPs in the early 1960s, it has been the standard for Bartok's piano music; in this fine-sounding reissue, it still is. Sandor can hit hard enough for such virtuoso pieces as the Piano Sonata and "Out of Doors," but he also retains the romantic element heard in the composer's own playing which tempers the harsher qualities of the music. While this collection isn't quite as complete as advertised (some early, insignificant piano music by Bartok is omitted), it includes all of Bartok's significant piano music, including such relatively obscure gems as the Bagatelles, eight Improvisations, and many delectable folk arrangements which will appeal even to listeners who think Bartok is too challenging for them. Vox's recorded sound, superbly remastered, resists obsolescence as effectively as Sandor's performances. Even with the inclusion of the early books of "Mikrokosmos," which will appeal mostly to piano students, this set is worth several times the asking price. --Leslie Gerber
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Extraordinary CDs July 10, 2008
Gyorgy Sandor, whom I remember seeing in the halls of the University of Michigan School of music many years back, does an amazing job at recording all the Bartok piano pieces. It's really incredible when an artist is able to achieve this kind of scope and do this much work. Of course, having a good teaching job at Michigan and other places and his renown helped a lot, I am sure. In any case, I expected a couple of CDs in this box, but not FIVE of them! Bartok also, obviously, had the highest of aspirations. It's hard to get a grip on this, since each is over 70 minutes long so we're talking about 6 hours of music here. I've been purchasing almost all the sheet music as well to go with these. No better way to study the great composer.
Joseph Pehrson
 Microcosmos March 8, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Sandor was a champion not only of Bartok's music but also of Bartok's style of playing. He often complained that people were too quick to see Bartok as ultra-modern, and to fail to appreciate the rich seam of lyricism that also runs through his music.
The piano music is dominated by short pieces, many of them written for piano students, notably the collections "Microcosmos" and "For Children". These, together with suites of folk dance arrangements, make up the bulk of the solo piano output.
Sandor plays these short, and often simple pieces, with neither too much nor too little art. As a gifted teacher, he knew unerringly how much music each of these small vessels held. The result is beguiling - but be warned: no-one can listen to the 153 short pieces of Microcosmos end-to-end. This is an anthology to be dipped into, not swallowed whole.
The remastering is pretty successful (fortunately - some of Vox's CD reissues are plagued by severe deterioration of the original tapes). And it's for half nothing-what's not to like?
Great value with a few flaws July 28, 2006
12 out of 12 found this review helpful
I am not a Bartok expert by any scale, but I do like the way these pieces, without exception, are played. There are, however, a couple of other problems.
As mentioned by an earlier reviewer, very few of the works are split into tracks - Mikrokosmos is divided into 7 for each of its six volumes, and to accomodate for a full CD. In these seven tracks there are 121 songs. I would have much preferred if the songs had been split into tracks. Almost the entire CD set is this way - Fifteen Hungarian Songs is one track, Fourteen Bagatelles, etc. It is very annoying when one wants to hear a particular song in those tracks and not the others.
Another detriment to the collection is the recording quality. It is decent most of the time, but in loud sections the piano buzzes. One might be able to ignore it, but I think that it detracts from the passion of the forte quite a bit.
Overall, for $18 it is pretty decent, but if you are like me and like to keep your music library neatly organized (and aren't extremely cheap), I would not recommend this set.
 eeh, I guess I don't like Bartok that much July 24, 2006
4 out of 32 found this review helpful
I like the fact that Bartok is into the folk tradition and all, but he just tends to forget the fact that melody has to be SOMEWHERE in the music. I'm all for creative expression when you're sitting alone at the piano, but abstract music should be reserved for performance art. I like playing some of your stuff Bela, but I just don't want to listen to you.
Best classical value out there October 5, 2005
27 out of 29 found this review helpful
To put this set in perspective, for months I would go to my local Tower Records fishing for worthwhile classical CDs at least once a week. One of the discs that sat in the bins the longest was a single CD of Bartok piano music, played by Zoltan Kocsis. It was Volume 7 of a complete series. This CD listed for $17.99, and as long as I went to that Tower Records, it did not budge an inch, nor was its price amended.
Now, Kocsis is one of the greatest pianists alive, and if anyone is worthy of commanding a premium, it is him. And to be fair, that CD is going to be re-released on October 11 as part of a Collector's Edition - eight CDs, $63.97 MSRP. But it's already going up against this little gem, which contains five CDs with all of the truly great solo-piano works by an internationally recognized Bartok specialist for $21 - not much more than the cost of one CD from the other set. This kind of value is not to be taken lightly.
I came to this set with my impression of Sandor informed by his complete Prokofiev - ultra-hard, sometimes rhythmically slack, always melodically lacking in some way or another. But he held a very special feeling for Bartok, and saved his best playing for the great Hungarian. In passages like the first of the Three Csik Dances, the opening of the Improvisations Op. 20, or in the Ten Easy Pieces, there is a simplicity, charm and wistful homesickness that is quite touching. In pieces like the Out of Doors suite, the Sonata, or the Burlesques, there is a vicious, impulsive energy, a wicked sense of humor and an overabundance of overtones. It is never mindless, inappropriate or even overly harsh - it's just very, very loud.
In this set I like best the endless landscape of the Sonatina, the unusual colors and fragrances in the Etudes, the brilliantly conceived Bear Dance (the last of the Ten Easy Pieces), and the multifaceted, complex, gorgeous Improvisations. Any fan of Bartok should hear these.
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