Béla Bartók’s vivid retelling of the ancient tale of Bluebeard and his unfortunate wives takes us into an altogether darker, more ambiguous world. This gripping music-drama – a masterpiece from 1911 – moves from dark to light and back again, the dread secrets behind the castle’s seven doors unforgettably revealed in Bartók’s music.

Béla Bartók (1881-1945)

Duke Bluebears’s Castle (A Kékszakállu Herceg Vára) (1911): Le Château de Barbe-Bleue – Herzog Blaubarts Burg.

Premiere in Budapest,on May, 1918.

Libretto: Béla Balázs

Bernhard Sönnerstedt, Bluebeard – Blaubart – Barbe-Bleue
Birgit Nilsson, Judith

Ferec Fricsay, conductor
Swedish Radio Orchestra

Live broadcast, February 10, 1953.