 |  | A legendary recording, but Dvorak needs more warmth and heart |  |
The moment that Szell's collectin of the Dvorak Sym. #7 - 9 appeared in the Sixties, American reviewers treated it as definitive (many still do), and if you cling to the virtues of Toscanini and his school, this 'New World" is everything it should be: propulsive, unsentimental, ambitious in scale, international in flavor. The Czech flavor of Dvorak's style is nowhere in evidence, but sparkling orchestral playing and perfect discipline are.
There are times when I listen to Szell's Dvorak and am dazzled, but more often it seems wrong that so warm-hearted a composer should be treated bloodlessly. The famous Largo is taken as an Andante, not quite impatiently but always moving ahead. The Scherzo is an object lesson in precision, for good and ill. The finale races ahead without rhetoric, in the manner of Ferenc Fricsay's account on DG, which manages to be just as exciting with more heart. One still hears the hiss that afflicted the original LPs; otherwise the engineering is sharp and clear.
At Amazon Marketplace's super-budget price, Szell's account is appealing, but you can do almost as well by seeking out the remastered version that Sony packaged with Sym. #7 and #8 in their short-lived Masterworks Heritage series.
November 10, 2008When I buy a CD the sound quality of the recording is my first concern. This version is obviously a disappointment. The strings sounds vague and distant. Bad you can't verify sound quality from Amazon's samples.
March 13, 2008Dvorák's Ninth is one that I play over and over. To be more specific it takes me to the years of the 40's in which I grew up. The Second World War filled our lives, imaginations and, for a kid ignited a sense of patriotism that knew nothing of the global politics of the time. All of this leads me to the Glenn Miller Aior Band's rendition of the first four plus minutes of the second movement, he titled it "Going Home." Home is a word that stirs many thoughts for many people, yet for going home meant security and a caring environment.
When I hear Dvorák' Ninth all of that beautiful music brings me "home." I don't know if anyone else will find this helpful but for me Dvorák's Ninth has a special place in my heart. Its rythym,s cadence and harmonies are grand, and at the same time uniquely personal.
July 13, 2007I grew up listening to this recording of Dvorak's New World Symphony, so I was ecstatic to find it on cd format! Szell was a masterful conductor and the Cleveland Orchestra sublime!
January 21, 2007| | | One of My Favourite Symphonies Never Sounded Better! | |
This ADD mastered cd sounds very good and is probably the best version of Dvorak's masterpiece. It'll be very interesting to hear what this would sound like should Sony decide to remaster this with the best possible master source and using today's sound engineering technology. Too many great performances of classical music suffer from the inferior recording equipment at the time and so we are left feeling short changed but with modern day techniques of cleaning up sound, there's hope yet. Come on Sony, what not start with this disc?
June 5, 2006More reviews at Amazon.com ...
(8 reviews)
