Recordings of The Miraculous Mandarin used to outnumber The Wooden Prince 10 to one, so it’s good to see Bartók’s earlier ballet getting equal billing here. Unlike the Mandarin with its grimy, urban, modernist vibe, the Prince is rooted in pungent Hungarian folk music, viewed, of course, through the composer’s unique 20th-century lens.
It’s the story of a princess who falls in love with a decoy prince rather than the real thing and Edward Gardner revels in the vivid colours of its nature-inflected score. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is taut and dramatically alert throughout. There’s an unnerving sense of foreboding underpinning the Dance of the Trees; the Dance of the Waves churns with kinetic energy and the foot-stamping Dance of the Princess with the Wooden Doll cuts a rustic dash.
