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Music CD - Dvorák: The Symphonies
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Music CD: Dvorák: The Symphonies
List Price: $47.98
Our Price: $28.97
Your Save: $ 19.01 ( 40% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Decca
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Tracks:
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1. Symphony No. 1 In C Minor 'Zlonicke zvony': I: Allegro
2. Symphony No. 1 In C Minor 'Zlonicke zvony': II: Adagio molto
3. Symphony No. 1 In C Minor 'Zlonicke zvony': III: Allegretto
4. Symphony No. 1 In C Minor 'Zlonicke zvony': IV: Finale - Allegro animato
5. Symphony No. 2 In B Flat Major, Op. 4: Allegro con molto
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0028943004626
Label: Decca
Manufacturer: Decca
Number Of Discs: 6
Publisher: Decca
Release Date: 1992-02-11
Studio: Decca
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Still a top choice for complete symphonies
Comment: These Dvorak symphonies, recorded by Kertesz/LSO from 1963-67, are still a fine choice if you are looking for a complete set, followed by Kubelik and Neumann (Supraphon). Symphonies 1-6 and the overtures are all excellent, with a bit of dropoff on 7-9. Not that the last three are bad by any means, but when compared to performances by Talich, Ancerl and Szell they come up a bit short. So, by all means get this complete set (especially at this price), then supplement as (or if) you see fit. The sound is fine throughout. Kertesz also has a set of Dvorak's Symphonic Poems and Overtures on a Decca 2 CD set that is very good, but may be out of print.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dvorak Symphonies review
Comment: Excellent performances of wonderful music. Disk creation leaves a little to be desired - it's awkward to start a favorite symphony on track 3 of one disk and then have it end on track two of the next. Shades of the LP era!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Benchmark Dvorak Symphony Cycle
Comment: The Amazon reviewer lists only 3 complete cycles, but this overlooks at least one other cycle by Vaclav Neumann & the Czech Philharmonic that dates from c. 1974 along with the Slavonic Dances.
I bet the ratio of Beethoven Symphony Cycles to either Dvorak or Sibelius over the last 50 years is at least 20 to 1. This is the pity of Classical Music. Beethoven and Mozart have had their music beaten to death over and over and over and over again and the horse is still dead while other great artists have hardly had the whip put to them.
The plus to all of this is that you can actually collect all of the significant Dvorak or Sibelius cycles including this fine set by Kertesz and the London Phil.
The bio on Kertesz in my Vox Box Dvorak Symphonies (LPs) says he died in April 1973 in Israel in a swimming accident.
This is a nice set in decent stereo and will give you the chance to hear the much more seldom performed first 6 symphonies. Like Tchaikovsky's first three, they are not quite the level of the last 3 but they are still a hoot to listen to.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Brilliant in tragedy
Comment: These recordings are timeless. Never have I heard music so beautifully played or more rhythmically delineated.That these symphonies still sound so fresh (in spite of some heavy home grown Czech opposition) is a glowing tribute to the memory of Istvan Kertesz and the London Symphony Orchestra.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Dvorak was an Incredible Composer
Comment: If you are intellectually compelled by the music of Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Berlioz (and Brahms too), then Dvorak will become one of your favorites.
Dvorak gets ignored or dismissed by some people as a second or even third-rate composer. This is extremely unfair, since his inspiration level was extraordinary, more than above average. Furthermore, many of their comments and arguments are merely reinforcements of already-made opinions, such as those by George Bernard Shaw. These folks have been reading, and not listening.
If you buy this set, I ask you to do a few things: throw away the notion that Wagner somehow plays an extremely influential role in Dvorak's music. Many people say that Dvorak's early symphonies are Wagnerian, and that they are naďve.
Naďve, maybe. More accurate is: healthy. Wagnerian? Hardly. Unless you have been obsessively reading G.B. Shaw's opinions on Dvorak, you are not likely to make a very big Dvorak-Wagner connection, even if the young Dvorak WAS a big Wagnerite. Instead you are going to think Dvorak-Beethoven, or even Dvorak-Mozart. Those two seem a far more prominent influence on Dvorak, in my opinion--especially in the long-term. Dvorak had a gift for Mozartian lyricism that I find unsurpassed in the music of his time, and he successfully combined it -more often than not- with a Beethovenian strength. Substantive is another good word to describe his symphonies. His third symphony is a perfect example: themes are developed very finely and boldly, augmented by the right structure (speaking on my experience aurally, NOT technically).
Dvorak's symphonies are for those who enjoy Beethoven and Mozart type symphonies, for they're the kind that don't depend on an outer, extra-musical, source for direction. It is often said that Dvorak was inspired by his Czech homeland. Don't let this confuse you to think that his symphonies are about landscapes. Nor are they merely music for music's sake.
You shouldn't worry about whether Dvorak was influenced by Wagner, Brahms, Beethoven, Mozart, or Satan himself...because in the end Dvorak is Dvorak.
Symphonies Nos.1 & 2:
This is pretty early Dvorak, he was unknown to the world as a composer. He thought big at this time: probably the only significant Wagnerian influence, largesse. As the booklet notes, these two symphonies are very long, and they are not perfect structurally, and they are a bit repetitious in spots. No doubt Dvorak WOULD have edited them and refined them if he hadn't lost them. Still, you can enjoy these...the last movement to Symphony No.1 in particular.
Symphony No.3:
This is what I consider the best Dvorak symphony of them all. I can't begin to describe how much I love the opening movement. This symphony is epic without all the cymbals and drums that other composers seem to lean on, and lyrical on an incredibly original scale. What I can say cohesively about this symphony is this: you can listen to so many (certainly not all) symphonies after Beethoven that can't keep up the thread of inspiration without breaking into some not-too-great mid-climax. This symphony is such a wonderful relief from those. It defies the notion that great symphonies after Ludwig can't be written in the traditional way, with a purely musically aesthetic direction. I urge you to listen to Beethoven's symphonies, then to this one.
Symphony No.4:
The third movement is what will propel you to listening to this entire symphony. Out of all the symphonies not counting the first two, this one can seem a little tired. Certainly not as well argued as the third. But nevertheless, you will find it a great listen if you take the time.
Symphony No.5:
Next to the third, this is my favorite Dvorak symphony. Like that one, the thread of inspiration is continuous: this is music that will stick in your head the way the "Ode to Joy" theme will... (that is NOT a comparison of the themes). The finale movement will have you convinced that Dvorak is one of the greatest composers of all time (that doesn't have to be true, but you might feel that way.) What amazes me about this last movement is that Dvorak can pull off a bring-down-the-house climax without bringing it down on himself. As I mentioned before, he doesn't need all those exotic percussions to convince you that he is great...lovable though those cymbals et al may be.
Symphony No.6:
Sometimes you are allowed to hear that this is an underrated symphony. Most people wouldn't know anyhow, since Symphonies 7, 8, and 9 are the most marketed. And this is a great symphony, though not as powerfully argued than the third or fifth. It is a little more what we think of as `Dvorakian'. Composing strong finales was something Dvorak seems to have been good at, and this is no exception. Once again, the symphony is a consistent and continuous thread of inspiration: all the movements fit together. It is exciting and lyrical. Underrated yes, but not nearly as underrated as the 3rd and 5th.
Symphony No.7:
This is the most un-Dvorakian symphony that Dvorak wrote: here it can be said that Dvorak really was under some other composer's unfluence: Brahms. The result is not as interesting as it may sound. Not to me anyhow.
Nevertheless, what we have here is wonderfully original music. In the one movement that Dvorak sounds like himself, the third movement, we hear what is probably his best movement in the entire canon. It is very arresting music aurally: this is music that makea you feel that it was MEANT to be written. When I listen to this movement, it opens with what to me sounds like a kind of `swimming' music, something in the water pushing around. Something that propels: sometimes strongly, sometimes softly. This is yet another example of how amazing Dvorak's inspiration was: beautiful and lyrical, but also propelling and powerful.
Symphony No.8:
Some rate this far higher than the New World Symphony. Partly this is because they've grown tired Dvorak's last symphony, and partly because it IS better. This symphony is to Dvorak what the Seventh is to Beethoven, top-tier, but not recognized by the general public (perhaps not true anymore). This symphony is joyous, and pure joy.
Symphony No.9:
In some ways I wish I had come to this symphony last, but like most people it was my first Dvorak. I now know this symphony like the back of my hand, and I'm still in love with it, even though I sometimes give it a more `passive' listen. But for newcomers to Dvorak, this is truly the best. A grand-scale symphony that is SO inspired you may not get it out of your head for months.
Slow movement: this was the first slow movement of any symphony that I enjoyed. Afterwards I was actually able to listen to the Adagio from that other Great Ninth: Beethoven's.
Fast movements: I suppose you're allowed to say that this is kind of a `program' symphony, but it is not written like one, and the story of Hiawatha -considered to be the inspiration--was an afterthought in any case (a big debacle too!)
In any case, Dvorak unloads the full adventurous spirit on us...this is symphonic meat indeed, full-blooded pedigree.
In some ways, you need to listen to this symphony first to get hold of the Dvorak idiom. And after you traverse from No.1 back to No.9, you can find yourself appreciating it once again.
Dvorak isn't one of those composers whom I feel sorry for because he gets beaten up verbally so much by his detractors...he can hold his own ground without my help. It's his critics I feel sorry for, for beating themselves up trying to convince themselves that Dvorak was a bad composer on the grounds that he didn't break new `ground'. Just remember who was thought to be old-fashioned in HIS day: none other than J.S. Bach himself. His own sons were embarrassed by his reputation for old-fashionedness. But Bach has more than held his own high seat in the history of music, and I believe it will be the case with Dvorak as well.
Amen.
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Editorial Reviews:
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For decades, there were only three complete collections of Dvorák's symphonies: this one; Rowicki's with the same orchestra; and Kubelik's with the Berlin Philharmonic. Kertész offers the most rustic, gutsy interpretations of all. Famous for his dislike of rehearsals, he allows the London Symphony to make a much rougher sound than his colleagues tolerate, and though not the last word in polish, the results have a spontaneous charm that's pretty hard to resist. More to the point, Dvorák's early symphonies (Nos. 1 to 5) remain sadly neglected, and each one of them is full of gorgeous tunes cloaked in mellifluous orchestration. At budget price, this set now costs less than it did on LP in the 1960s. How can you do better than that? --David Hurwitz
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