Bartók: Duke Bluebeard’s Castle (CD) – Rinat Shaham, Gábor Bretz

Composer: Béla Bartók
Artists: Rinat Shaham, Gábor Bretz, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Karina Canellakis
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Pentatone
Release Date: April 4, 2025

The Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra and its chief conductor Karina Canellakis continue their Bartók journey with the composer’s only opera, Duke Bluebeard’s Castle, starring mezzo-soprano Rinat Shaham (Judith) and bass-baritone Gábor Bretz (Bluebeard). 

One man, one woman, and a dark castle with seven mysterious doors are all it takes to create a psychological thriller full of suspense and intense emotion. For Canellakis, Bartók’s opera recorded here is “an homage to life itself, to life’s brevity and fleeting beauty, to being human, to love, and to death.”

Internationally acclaimed for her emotionally charged performances, technical command, and interpretive depth, Karina Canellakis has become one of the most in-demand conductors of her generation. Canellakis and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra received a Grammy nomination for their recording of Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra and 4 Orchestral Pieces, which BBC Music Magazine praised as “enticing and brilliantly engineered,” while Gramophone lauded how orchestra and conductor “paint the soundscapes with both finesse and fire.” 

Rinat Shaham and Gábor Bretz are sought after by the world’s greatest opera houses and have long-standing experience performing Bartók’s Bluebeard’s Castle with various orchestras and conductors around the world.

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