33veränderungen, you probably heard two different performances of the same piece. Unlike in pop music, classical and folk music are constantly being reinterpreted, so you will be able to find many, many, many recordings of the same Brandenburg Concerto by Bach, and each one will have different qualities and flaws. Sound quality is often worse on older recordings, owing to technological limitations. However, I encourage you to listen for the intricacies of the performance when the recording quality is not so good.
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Originally Posted by DriveYourCarDownToTheSea
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I had never heard that Bartok piece before. It's great! Glad I clicked on it.
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I'm a little late to responding to this. I'm glad you enjoyed the piece. Listen to the whole thing! It's an architectural marvel, if you ask me. There is so much to listen for. The fourth movement has such awesome payoff. Listen for the first movement subject coming back at 26:24, then breaking off into counterpoint, then dissolving into harmonic mush.
I - 0:00
II - 7:49
III- 15:24
IV - 22:32
I prefer
Charles Dutoit's tempo, but at least this recording is pretty brisk. Dutoit is a little more stately, but he makes the rhythms sound absolutely savage.
I'm a huge Bartók fanboy.
The Miraculous Mandarin is really good. This part grooves so hard:
Concerto for Orchestra is popular, but it's on the tame side for him.
The third movement,
Elegia (17:30), is the best selection from the piece in my opinion. It's part of Bartók's "Night Music" repertoire, which also includes the first movement from
Music For Strings, Percussion, And Celesta.
The string quartets (4 and 5 in particular) and the piano concerti are downright awesome.