Kubelik Dvorak

One of the very greatest collections of Dvorák recordings in the catalog, this set contains the four late tone poems based on folk legends, all of the major overtures (including the In Nature's Realm, Carnival, and Othello trilogy), and the magnificent Symphonic Variations. That's over two and a half hours of the some of the most colorful, appealing music in the history of the universe, all magnificently performed and recorded. If you don't own this set, you haven't lived.

Dvorák's music is often a source of sheer warmhearted joy. Even the sadder moments in these gorgeous dances come with a hidden smile and a gracious sense that all is right with the world. The late Rafael Kubelik led his German orchestra in a wonderful recording of these Dances, beautifully played with great affection and idiomatic rhythms (which the conductor must have taught the orchestra). As performances, these are comparable with the legendary 1950 set by Vaclav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic (Supraphon 11 1897-2). Unlike the Supraphon, though, Kubelik's recording is stereo, sounding better than ever in its new remastering.

These accounts are quite magnificent, and their claims on the allegiance of collectors remain strong. Their freshness and vigour remind one of what it was like to hear these symphonies for the first time. The atmosphere is authentic in feeling and the sense of nature seems uncommonly acute. Kubelík has captured the enthusiasm of his players and generates a sense of excitement and poetry. The playing of the Berlin Philharmonic is marvellously eloquent and, as is often the case, a joy in itself. The woodwinds phrase with great poetic feeling and imagination, and all the departments of this great orchestra respond with sensitivity and virtuosity.

The first of Dvorak's nine symphonies and the last of his symphonic poems come here in a generous coupling, both of them among the longest works he ever wrote in each genre. The only rival version of the symphony on CD is the Kubelik, and that only comes in the six-disc DG set of the complete cycle. As for The Hero's Song, this is a real rarity. It is in fact the very last orchestral work that Dvorak wrote, in 1897 some seven years before his death. Unlike earlier symphonic poems, it has no specific programme, though the journey from darkness to light in the unspecified hero's life is clearly enough established.

With superlative recordings of Dvorák's unfairly neglected Sixth Symphony by Vaclav Talich with the Czech Philharmonic, Rafael Kubelik with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and Istvan Kertész with the London Symphony, this version featuring Jac van Steen and the Dortmund Philharmonic certainly faces stiff competition, and while it may not be the very finest, it ranks with the best recordings of the piece in the 30 years prior to its release. Van Steen has the strength, energy, and sympathetic understanding to put the best face on Dvorák's unendingly cheerful Sixth.

Antonín Dvorák's Stabat Mater, Op. 58, written in the aftermath of the deaths of three of his children, is a sober and powerful work, inexplicably neglected and unlike any other work of choral music from the 19th century. Perhaps most performances don't capture its full weight, but this live recording from the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under Mariss Jansons, does so. There are many deep pleasures here. The orchestra's choir is extraordinary: rich yet without a hint of wobble and utterly clear in its sense of the text. Jansons keeps things at a deliberate pace that lets the music breathe and the currents of personal experience rise to the surface. The soloists, none terribly well known, are fine in their individual numbers, but absolutely transcendent in ensembles, nowhere more so that in the sublime "Quando corpus morietur" finale (track 10); there are a couple of other strong recordings of this work, but it seems likely that no one has ever matched this conclusion. The live recording from the Herkulessaal in Munich is impressively transparent and faithful to the spontaneity of the event. A superb Dvorák release.

The Claudio Abbado recording of the Dvorak New World Symphony has managed to secure itself a place among the top digital versions of this much-recorded work, alongside the Dresden performance of James Levine, also on DG. Taken from live performances in 1997, it shows every sign of spontaniety without any loss of dramatic bite or xxcitement. Abbado makes full use of his theatrical background to bring about this effect both in the symphony and in the welcome, perfectly-chosen fill-up, and elicits peerless and attentively-detailed playing from the Berliners.

The Scottish National Orchestra with Neeme Jarvi has traversed the entire Dvorak symphonic oeuvre with wonderful success. Jarvi brings a sense of live and vitality to each symphony and the orchestra responds wonderfully. Jarvi's rendition of the 5th is, at least in my opinion, the most convincing in the series. The playing is spectacular; the Scottish National Orchestra brings a beauty of phrasing that complements this symphony well. Of equal power and beauty is the Water Goblin, which Jarvi undoubtedly champions. This is a wonderful CD. S

Myung-Whun Chung previously has proven his affinity for Dvorák on two occasions: an excellent recording of Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8 for BIS, and later with Symphonies 3 and 7 for Deutsche Grammophon. No, there’s nothing wrong with your computer screen: he’s already recorded Symphony No. 7 twice, and this disc gives us his second reading of No. 8, undoubtedly DG’s response to millions of fan letters sent to their offices by love-struck teenage girls threatening suicide unless Chung’s Vienna Dvorák cycle was allowed to continue. His recording of Symphonies Nos. 3 and 7 was never released domestically, by the way, leading us to speculate about what makes this disc more marketable than that one, assuming of course that such considerations have anything to do with DG’s decision to schedule a recording for domestic distribution.