BaL 11.11.23 - Dvorak: Symphony no.9 in E minor "From the New World"

[Ein Heldenleben]

Bolt from the blue!

Dvorak wrote very good codas didn’t he ?

[mikealdren]

Ooh didn’t see Mackerras coming up on the rails at the very last minute . Worthy winner - think I’ve got it somewhere..

I loved it from the first extract, quite a surprise and I've already ordered it.

[Keraulophone]

Dvorak wrote very good codas didn’t he ?

...especially to conclude his 7th Symphony. LSO/Dorati (Mercury) is wonderfully intense here (8'12), especially from the upward octave leap (8'26) where I'm pretty sure Dorati adds a horn or two to the bassoon part!

https://youtu.be/wx7Bs1RIwik?si=Ep9jig8v--JX7TGA

[Keraulophone]

I loved it from the first extract...

She asked us to listen to the timps. They hardly needed pointing out as they were ridiculously close-miked.

[Bryn]

She asked us to listen to the timps. They hardly needed pointing out as they were ridiculously close-miked.

And there was I hearing it as a matter of hard-headedness.

[Barbirollians]

As much as I like the Alsop and the Mackerras sounded good ( I have his earlier recording on Eminence ) this was an absurdly short shortlist .

[Barbirollians]

No mention of Kertesz,Kubelik,Rowicki,Fricsay,Macal ( former winner) etc etc

[Bryn]

No mention of Kertesz,Kubelik,Rowicki,Fricsay,Macal ( former winner) etc etc

I missed most of the programme but that is nothing short of bizarre. I will have to listen more carefully via BBC Sounds.

[RobP]

My first New World was from the New World, and still sounds thrilling...




...though it's unlikely even to get a mention .

The Toscanini was recorded in mono, not stereo and the LP shown was one of the awful solid-state fake stereo 'rmasterings' - usually with added reverb - that record companies used in the early 70s. On LP the earlier grooved Decca RB British pressings are far superior and of course the RCA 50s LM pressings are superb, but difficult to find in good condition.

There is however a stunning hi-res digital remastering from High Definition Tape Transfers, where the DSD256 is the one to go for.

It is a pity that Toscanini's live 1938 NBC SO performance isn't available. I copied it from a friend who got it many years ago from the Nathan Brown Archive and that is if anything even better.

[richardfinegold]

The winner doesn’t seem to be available on my two streaming services, Apple Music and Idagio. Mackerras would be interesting in Dvorak, but I’m not purchasing yet another NWS

[Bryn]

The winner doesn’t seem to be available on my two streaming services, Apple Music and Idagio. Mackerras would be interesting in Dvorak, but I’m not purchasing yet another NWS

It's on QOBUZ, however.

[RobP]

The winner doesn’t seem to be available on my two streaming services, Apple Music and Idagio. Mackerras would be interesting in Dvorak, but I’m not purchasing yet another NWS

It's available as part of a compilation on Presto Streaming, called Life With Czech Music, Dvorak, Smetana, not a seperate album

https://streaming.prestomusic.com/album/7990959

The compilation is also on Qobuz, but they also have it paired with the 8th as a single album.

The performance is very good, but not outstanding and the string sound is far too lightweight.

[silvestrione]

No mention of Kertesz,Kubelik,Rowicki,Fricsay,Macal ( former winner) etc etc

I hope I am usually slow, or reluctant, to criticise BAL, but this one was shallow, and, for me , very disappointing. No insights into the music, no interest in the piece as a whole (how it makes into a whole), no mention (as far as I remember)of the seemingly tragic power of the end of the first movement (not illustrated), and the very dramatic, (again, tragic?) end of the symphony. And why all that nonsense about a TV ad? (Did a modern day producer insist on that?) I imagine those conductors above would give us insights and a sense of the whole, as does Silvestri in his remarkably well-recorded (for the time) mono version to be found in his Icon box, which comes across as an exhaustingly intense journey.

[Master Jacques]

I hope I am usually slow, or reluctant, to criticise BAL, but this one was shallow, and, for me , very disappointing. No insights into the music, no interest in the piece as a whole (how it makes into a whole), no mention (as far as I remember)of the seemingly tragic power of the end of the first movement (not illustrated), and the very dramatic, (again, tragic?) end of the symphony. And why all that nonsense about a TV ad? (Did a modern day producer insist on that?) I imagine those conductors above would give us insights and a sense of the whole, as does Silvestri in his remarkably well-recorded (for the time) mono version to be found in his Icon box, which comes across as an exhaustingly intense journey.

Despite Katy Hamilton's undoubted broadcasting skill, which I admire, this did seem a bare cupboard, with oddly little sense of tradition or interpretative range. Even the basic differential between Germanic and Slav approaches to the work was skirted round, and her guess about heads on timpani sticks - as Bryn has pointed out - seemed not to be taking differing recording philosophies into account. Who was this aimed at? For me, there was neither enough meat for aficionados, nor enough basics for newcomers. As for the Hovis business, least said...

I heartily second your thoughts about the Silvestri mono disc in his Icon box, which has a driven grandeur and hard-won resolution, far in excess of most versions the reviewer touched on - especially the rhythmically imprecise Fischer and perfectly polite but middle-of-the-road Alsop/Baltimore effort. Why that nearly "won" defeats this listener, at least.

[pastoralguy]

..

Just listened to this. Interesting but a but uninvolving, imvho.