Dvorak's Den

[Que]

Admittedly in not very learned opinion but these should do.

Most excellent choices, seconded! 
Save for the volin concerto for which the old "warhorse" recording by Suk/ Ančerl is still my favourite:



Q

[DFO]

My favorite version of the v.c. is Milstein-Dorati
Two works rarelly played and beautiful; string sextet and string quintet op.1

[karlhenning]

Organist Stuart Foster also played a transcription of his own device, of the first movement of the Dvořák New World Symphony.  Worked very nicely.

[Cato]

I have been listening - in some cases after more than 45 years       - to all the Dvorak symphonies on the CD's by Witold Rowicki and the London Symphony Orchestra.  (I understand that this set – sold in three separate packages – is for some reason getting hard to find.)

I originally heard them all via the famous Istvan Kertesz cycle.

My impression (from decades ago) of the Symphony #1 had been that it was something of a mess, but after hearing the Rowicki version I was impressed by its form, inventive tunefulness, and energy!  As with many early works by great composers, there is an abundance of material: the first movement especially seems written by someone with Adult Attention Deficit Disorder, but the ride is a merry one.  If the material throughout is not particularly memorable, it does occasionally have its moments of interest. 

The Second Symphony almost (almost!) seems like a step down in comparison: its material, in general, is rather weak. The first movement seems more tightly constructed than its parallel in the First Symphony: however, I find the little motifs Dvorak uses of minor interest.  To be sure, what he does with them in development is very good, but you end up with much ado about not too much.  The Second (Slow) Movement has some of the same problems, but the material here is better, more expressive, with some interesting interplay/conversations among the instruments.  An improvement comes in the galloping Scherzo, which has a very nice "Bohemian" dance-like theme to contrast with a slower, distant, triumphant theme in the horns and strings.  The last movement, the best of the four, begins with a long yet memorable theme which acts as a unifier for the first three movements.  Here you detect Dvorak is becoming Dvorak!  (The notes indicate several struggling revisions of the score throughout the years, implying that becoming Dvorak was not easy!     )


But then comes Third Symphony: a minor masterpiece. Here the themes are much more individualistic and memorable, the form more cohesive and linked.  The first movement contains an aroma of Wagner here and there, but that should not be held against it!  The main theme is at once balletic yet with a martial subconscious: the ensuing drama is organic and proceeds with some fascinating twists and turns. The central slow movement again contains themes of a dramatic, dance-like character: at times a Brucknerian majesty is even heard.  The last movement especially shows that Dvorak has now indeed become Dvorak!  The exuberant main theme is handled with ingenuity (again, there is a Wagnerian aroma floating around, but Bohemia prevails!) and resolves the drama found in the previous movements, again in an almost Brucknerian fashion: listen to those closing bars, which besides making the local boozers sad,     should convince you that Dvorak might have had some familiarity with Old Anton.  If not, it remains an interesting coincidence!

[Lethevich]

Fine post, Cato. Dvořák really does become a major player with the 3rd and 4th symphonies!

[karlhenning]

(* applauds *)

[Cato]

Continuing my tour of the early and middle Dvorak Symphonies: in some cases more than 40 years have gone by, since I have heard them other than in my memory.

Dvorak's thematic genius in the Fourth Symphony shows that the balletic elements in his melodies easily contain seeds of drama, near tragedy, and ultimate conquest, as the symphony evolves.  The first movement has an opening theme swirling with the drama of despair and triumph, followed by a dance-like melody magically transporting the listener into a sighing field of wistfulness, one of Dvorak's finest creations.  The contrast between the two sections might seem too disparate, but as I mentioned, Dvorak shows you that the two are related precisely because they are so different.  

The second movement is almost Beethovenian in its somber introspection, and yet there is an echo of that marvelous dancing theme from the first movement in it.  The longest of the four movements, its drama is "novelistic" in that you often hear an unexpected yet logical transformation in the melodic characters.  Some mystery about everything remains, as well as a bit of lightness from a puckish clarinet at the end to lead into the Scherzo.

The Scherzo is a bouncing galumphing triumphant delight, and again there is a contrast between two main themes (like in the opening movement) which would not seem to mesh.  A march is heard in the center, which disintegrates into something rather mysterious for a kind of slow short trio, but then we are back suddenly to that awkward "galumphing" syncopated opening, followed by the triumphal melody.

The opening of the Finale seems almost too slight: it recalls the Scherzo, and the First Movement's beginning, but in a smaller way.  There is - again -  a Beethovenian terseness in the opening motif, and you almost wonder what can Dvorak do with such a small idea.  But with patience one hears how the drama builds and leads to another marvelously flowing melody, the counterpart to that second melody in the opening movement, and to my ear one hears an affirmation that all the contrasting dramatic struggles of the earlier movements are hereby resolved, all the mysteries are explained, and Life is good, Sabu!   0:)

[Brian]

Third Symphony: ...  at times a Brucknerian majesty is even heard. in an almost Brucknerian fashion: listen to those closing bars, which besides making the local boozers sad,     should convince you that Dvorak might have had some familiarity with Old Anton.  If not, it remains an interesting coincidence!

Very interesting! The Third Symphony was composed sometime between 1872 and 1874, at about the same time that Bruckner was working on the Symphony No 2 (so Dvorak was writing after the premieres of 00, 1 and 0, though of course we have no idea if he heard them).

[SonicMan46]

Cato - thanks for those excellent posts on the early Dvorak symphonies - enjoyed and giving me the urge to pull out one of my sets this weekend!  Dave 

[ChamberNut]

Cato - thanks for those excellent posts on the early Dvorak symphonies - enjoyed and giving me the urge to pull out one of my sets this weekend!  Dave 

Especially the first.  Don't forget the first! 

[Cato]

Especially the first.  Don't forget the first! 

Wise guy!   

But, okay, for the sake of completeness, sure, The Bells of Zlonice!  0:)

[Ciel_Rouge]

I like Ivan Fischer and was delighted to see that he conducted Dvorak's Legends:

http://www.amazon.com/Dvor%C3%A1k-Legends-Dvorak/dp/B00004YMLT/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1254440255&sr=8-3-fkmr0

It is an orchestration done by the composer himself. Here is what the original piano version sounds like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbjeE22DsHU

[Sergeant Rock]

My impression (from decades ago) of the Symphony #1 had been that it was something of a mess, but after hearing the Rowicki version I was impressed by its form inventive tunefulness, and energy...

Testify Cato! I've been preaching the Rowicki gospel for 34 years but have made few converts. Perhaps your post will help convince. Rowicki's performances of the early symphonies (1-4) are simply incomparable...as are his Othello and Hussite Overtures.

Sarge

[Cato]

Testify Cato! I've been preaching the Rowicki gospel for 34 years but have made few converts. Perhaps your post will help convince. Rowicki's performances of the early symphonies (1-4) are simply incomparable...as are his Othello and Hussite Overtures.

Sarge

Amen!   0:)

Okay people!  If Sarge and Cato übereinstimmen, it must be true!    

Order your copies today!

[Brian]

Everyone adjust your dial, or your CD, or your Naxos Music Library, to the Humoresques for piano. No, not THAT one! What I'm interested in is No. 4, in F major. It's charming. It's sweet. It's totally wonderful.

And, I would argue to you, it's jazz! Listen to those harmonies; listen to those swingy rhythms; listen the jazzy chords. And then, just when you're starting to wonder if I'm crazy, listen in awe as Dvorak plays out the tune to "Jeepers Creepers, Where'd You Get them Peepers"!!

What an unbelievable little piece. Surely not influential, surely not the birth of jazz - but I think I can safely add Dvorak to Gottschalk as a composer who wrote jazz without knowing what jazz was, or when jazz would ever be invented. A man before his time. 

EDIT: No. 3 in the set is also worth listening to, as it contains some elements of early piano jazz as well.

[Ciel_Rouge]

Oh yeah? Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcZGPLAnHA

[Brian]

Oh yeah? Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYcZGPLAnHA

If you like that, you'll love what Tatum does to Massenet's "Meditation"!

[Guido]

We all know Rusalka, but what are Dvorak's 8 other operas like? Surely there must be some good arias in there?!

[Brian]

Well, as the Masked Dvorak Avenger, I just edited Wikipedia. The Wikipedia page for Dvorak's Seventh stated in the opening paragraph that the symphony was "reminiscent of Brahms' Symphony No 4." I changed that to "the symphony anticipates Brahms' Symphony No 4," the better to illustrate the fact that, contra popular belief, Dvorak actually came first. The two symphonies were, to be fair, written roughly at the same time.

Chronology:
Dvorak 1-5
Brahms 1
Brahms 2
Dvorak 6
Brahms 3
Dvorak 7
Brahms 4
Dvorak 8-9

This edit is part of my general campaign to get people to realize that Dvorak's influence on Brahms is underrated, and Brahms' influence on Dvorak is overrated. Next step in the battle: a MusicWeb review I'll be submitting tomorrow, blasting Marin Alsop for her new recording of the Seventh, in which she sadly attempts to "Brahmsify" the music.

[kishnevi]

I have been listening - in some cases after more than 45 years       - to all the Dvorak symphonies on the CD's by Witold Rowicki and the London Symphony Orchestra.  (I understand that this set – sold in three separate packages – is for some reason getting hard to find.)

Update on availability--
Now available in this format

This is a 6 CD set, with Symphony 2 split between two discs