Composer of the Week - Bela Bartok (1881-1945) - Episode 1

Donald Macleod explores the life and music of composer, pianist and folksong collector Bela Bartok. He examines music inspired by his failed love affair with violinist Stefi Geyer, as well as an excerpt from his only opera. The composer had to wait eight years to see it staged for the first time. Fourteen Bagatelles (No 2) Bela Bartok (piano) EMI CDC555031-2 T1 Four Hungarian Folk Songs, Sz 50 Male chorus of the Hungarian People's Army Zoltan Vasarhelyi (conductor) HUNGAROTON HCD31047 T1-4 Two Portraits Shlomo Mintz (violin) London Symphony Orchestra Claudio Abbado (conductor) DG 4105982 T15-16 Ten Easy Pieces (Nos 4,6,11) Peter Frankl (piano) ASV CDDCA687 T4, 6 and 11 String Quartet No 1 (final movement) Takacs Quartet DECCA 455 297-2 CD1 T3 Duke Bluebeard's Castle (excerpt) Bluebeard ...... Siegmund Nimsgern Judith ...... Tatiana Troyanos BBC Symphony Orchestra Pierre Boulez (conductor) SONY CLASSICAL SMK64110 T10-12.