Béla Bartók's The Wooden Prince op. 13, performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra under the baton of its principal conductor Cristian Măcelaru. Recorded live Sept. 02, 2023, at the Philharmonie in Cologne.
Bartók, one of Cristian Măcelaru's favorite composers along with Mahler, opened up tremendous depths in fairy tale material. He was inspired by the story of the enamored prince who fools his haughty beloved with a wooden doll to compose almost intoxicating ballet music.
Béla Bartók
The Wooden Prince op. 13
Dance play in one act
00:00 I. Einleitung. Molto moderato
05:15 II. Erster Tanz: Tanz der Prinzessin im Walde. Molto moderato
09:55 III. Zweiter Tanz: Tanz der Bäume. Assai moderato
14:30 IV. Dritter Tanz: Wellentanz. Andante
25:01 V. Vierter Tanz: Tanz der Prinzessin mit der Holzpuppe. Allegro
40:23 VI. Fünfter Tanz. Meno mosso
42:02 VII. Sechster Tanz. Allegretto grazioso
43:27 VIII. Siebter Tanz. Moderato
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Cristian Măcelaru, conductor
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Work introduction:
What to do when the opera composed with a lot of imagination and heart and soul lies in the drawer and there is no prospect of it being performed - because it is supposedly too short? Quite simple: compose another short work and launch both pieces as a double evening. This is what Béla Bartók tried to do when his opera "Duke Bluebeard's Castle," completed in 1911, was not successful. The text came from Béla Balázs, and when Bartók discovered the draft of the story ballet "The Wooden Prince" by the same author in a magazine, a decision was soon made. As he wrote to his mother in 1914: "the ballet is being created because it demands it".
After the outbreak of World War I, Bartók put the work on hold for the time being, as a performance was unlikely for the time being. Two years later, however, he got his hopes up again and completed the score in January 1917. He had negotiated with the officials of the Budapest Opera House that the premiere should be in the spring of the same year. First, however, some hurdles had to be overcome. The orchestra was more than skeptical, and the Hungarian conductors of the opera house refused to rehearse the work. Eventually, Italian conductor Egisto Tango took over the production - a stroke of luck for Bartók. The next pitfall proved to be the scenic realization: none of the permanent directors and choreographers wanted to take on the newfangled ballet. Too complicated, too cryptic, too symbolistic. Without further ado, the author Balázs himself took on this work.
Bartók's cleverly devised plan of a double bill, however, fell through. His dance play, which was ambitious both in terms of content and music, was put on the program together with works by Christoph Willibald Gluck and Mozart. This seemed to indicate that the conservative audience would not be able to appreciate Bartók's piece. But lo and behold, the premiere of the "wood-carved prince" turned out to be a complete success.
Text: Otto Hagedorn