Dvorak Talic

In 1881 Antonin Dvorak composed a set of ten 'Legends' for piano duet, dedicating them to the influential music critic Eduard Hanslick, who at the time was serving with Johannes Brahms on a committee that awarded Austrian state stipends to young composers of worth. At Hanslick's suggestion, Dvorak introduced himself to Brahms. Brahms, in turn, introduced Dvorak to his publisher, and the rest is history. Dvorak submitted the 'Legends' to the publisher, Fritz Simrock, who eventually requested that Dvorak orchestrate five of them; the composer took up the challenge and in the end orchestrated the entire set.
Dvorak's 'Legends' are delicate pieces, filled with the folksy melodic touches that are constants in the composer's music. The 'Legends' are gentle in tone and touched with just a whisper of melancholy. The Budapest Festival Orchestra under the direction of Iván Fischer has this music "in their blood" and their performances are clearly authoritative. The balance of the disc is filled out with other smaller-scale Dvorák works, the most notable of which is a set of five 'Prague Waltzes,' composed a year before the 'Legends.' Once again the orchestra plays with zest and elegance, making this a worthy addition to the Dvorák discography.

Won’t nearly an hour and three quarters of music for violin and piano by the same composer be too monotonous? No it won’t because it is Dvořák… Dvořák never repeated himself; in every work, he created a different musical world. It would be hard to find another composer capable of such diversity within a single musical genre. After the earliest of the pieces, the Romance, he sent his publisher Simrock the Mazurek, which he dedicated to the Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. The almost meditative Nocturne first appeared in a string quartet and then a quintet before being heard for the first time as an independent piece in arrangements including one for violin and piano.

Piano Trio No. 4, “Dumky”, ranking among Antonín Dvořák’s most celebrated works, is one of the most frequently recorded chamber pieces there is. After attending a performance, with the composer on the piano, Leoš Janáček summed up his impressions succinctly: “A new source of light has flashed.” When it comes to Piano Trio No. 3, the renowned Vienna-based critic Eduard Hanslick called it a gem, demonstrating that Dvořák was “one of the best modern masters”.

Expectations run high for any disc of Charles Mackerras conducting Dvořák, and this one doesn't disappoint. He is at the top of his game here, and with an orchestra and soloist to match. No doubt this is among the first of many Mackerras reissues that will be appearing over the coming years. If they are all to this standard, then we are in for a real treat.

Antonín Dvorák famously complained about the sound of the cello, but if he had heard this album by Swiss-born cellist Christian Poltéra and his wonderfully sympathetic British accompanist Kathryn Stott, he might have written more for the instrument. Most of the music here was transcribed for cello and piano by Poltéra himself, with a couple of small Dvorák originals and two transcriptions by the composer rounding out the program. Poltéra has an extraordinary way with Dvorák's melodies, which require a distinctive kind of tempo flexibility: not full-fledged tempo rubato, but something of the caressing delivery of the café singer.

The threads that connect the string quartets on this "American album" by San Francisco's Cypress String Quartet are a little tenuous. The booklet speaks of the mixture of ethnic influences that has been characteristic of concert music in the U.S., but two of the works, Kevin Puts' Lento assai and Samuel Barber's String Quartet in B minor, Op. 11, do not use ethnic materials at all.

Maximilian Hornung - Saint-Saens- Suite und Romanze / Dvorak- Cellokonzert
Bamberger Symphoniker / Sebastian Tewinkel
EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 282 MB | Full Artwork: 83 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Sony Classical # 88697749252 | Country/Year: Germany 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Romantic, Cello

"Hornung setzt sich für Dvorak ein mit Haut und Haar, mit einer Intensität, die Herz und Gefühl nach außen kehrt. Mit Saint-Saëns` Suite und als Schlusspunkt die Romanze. Wunderbare Musik, die Hornung mit vollen Zügen genießt." ~FonoForum