Dvorak's Den

[Brahmsian]

Johan Alert!   

I almost forgot to mention the Cypresses for String Quartet.  I personally think these are amazing, and a must listen!   

[eyeresist]

By the way, eyeresist, I haven't heard the Pesek cycle yet. Really looking forward to its appearance on Naxos Music Library soon, especially based on that word.

I have influence!  And Virgin is now on Naxos? Wow.

I guess I will listen to the birthday boy when I get home. Perhaps some of the "other" orchestral works?

[Lethevich]

I almost forgot to mention the Cypresses for String Quartet.  I personally think these are amazing, and a must listen!   

Oh, darn - first I forget the Legends, and now these The original is my favourite Dvořák song cycle, and the quartet versions are really neat too.

[Brian]

And Virgin is now on Naxos? Wow.

Not quite; Naxos has struck a deal to upload the whole EMI and Virgin catalogues onto the Music Library and their MP3 website Classicsonline.

[not edward]

So....

[asin]B0043XCKJO[/asin]

Got a rave review from Jan Smaczny on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library -- any views from here?

[Sergeant Rock]

So....

[asin]B0043XCKJO[/asin]

Got a rave review from Jan Smaczny on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library -- any views from here?

Brian loves that CD so much he takes it with him to bed

Sarge

[Brahmsian]

Brian loves that CD so much he takes it with him to bed

Sarge

[SonicMan46]

So....

[asin]B0043XCKJO[/asin]

Got a rave review from Jan Smaczny on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library -- any views from here?

Well, I picked up that CD after Brian's rave comments and cannot disagree; for those wanting to read a few reviews (including the one above), several have been reprinted HERE, including a 10/10 by Hurwitz!

[Drasko]

So....

[asin]B0043XCKJO[/asin]

Got a rave review from Jan Smaczny on BBC Radio 3's Building a Library -- any views from here?

I'll rave with BBC, especially on op.106.

On another matter, how does Bernstein's Les Choephores stack up with Markevitch? Stacks well, do I prefer it, no. Would you see some light that you haven't seen before, doubt it. Is it worth getting, yes.
Bernstein has stronger chorus and far better recorded sound; quite spectacular early 60s stereo (CBS Masterworks mastering) vs. rather indifferent mono for Markevitch, makes percussions have much more impact. Soloists and narrator I easily prefer with Markevitch; native french speakers vs. whole scale of thick american accents for Bernstein (Irene Jordan as Elektra is worst) plus Zorina who is plain weird.
Bernstein's approach is very dramatic, in full blooded theatrical way and not necessarily very french, where Markevitch is dramatic in that hieratic, arch, lets call it cocteauesque manner (if I'm making much sense).
I'd recommend the Bernstein even if you have the Markevitch, for percussions if for nothing else. And for superb Roussel 3rd and Honegger. Don't ask me how Honegger stacks up to Scherchen, it seems my Scherchen CD has gone walkabout.   

[Brian]

Brian loves that CD so much he takes it with him to bed

Sarge

oh what's the use...

(Truth be told I did buy a hard copy, but got it signed by the quartet and sent to a friend for his birthday. So it's MP3s I'm taking to bed. )

[karlhenning]

. . . Truth be told I did buy a hard copy, but got it signed by the quartet and sent to a friend for his birthday.

You are generous-hearted!

[not edward]

I'll rave with BBC, especially on op.106.

On another matter, how does Bernstein's Les Choephores stack up with Markevitch? Stacks well, do I prefer it, no. Would you see some light that you haven't seen before, doubt it. Is it worth getting, yes.
Bernstein has stronger chorus and far better recorded sound; quite spectacular early 60s stereo (CBS Masterworks mastering) vs. rather indifferent mono for Markevitch, makes percussions have much more impact. Soloists and narrator I easily prefer with Markevitch; native french speakers vs. whole scale of thick american accents for Bernstein (Irene Jordan as Elektra is worst) plus Zorina who is plain weird.
Bernstein's approach is very dramatic, in full blooded theatrical way and not necessarily very french, where Markevitch is dramatic in that hieratic, arch, lets call it cocteauesque manner (if I'm making much sense).
I'd recommend the Bernstein even if you have the Markevitch, for percussions if for nothing else. And for superb Roussel 3rd and Honegger. Don't ask me how Honegger stacks up to Scherchen, it seems my Scherchen CD has gone walkabout.

Thanks for that OT intervention; just solidifies me desire to get that CD. And everyone else is making me convinced to try the PHQ in op 106 (which is my second-favourite of the Dvorak quartets after op 105).

[mszczuj]

One of my most guilty pleasures - this very fragment (no. 11) of The Spectre's Bride.

http://www.youtube.com/v/U7_-5-VePDA&feature=endscreen&NR=1

Most romantic music ever - the spectre lead his orphaned, innocent and religious bride:

And so they flew across the plain,
Through water, meadows, boggy terrain.
There on the wet soil by a cave,
glitt'ring blue lights danced arround:
two rows of them, nine in each,
as if a grave were within reach;
and in the bog a choir of toads
sent out a chilling dirge of croaks.

And he leads the way - by leaps and jumps,
and she behind him, getting weak,
As they ran through razor-shape reeds,
the poor girl cut her sore feet;
the green bracken in those parts
turned red as she bled hard.

[TheGSMoeller]

The Grant Park Orchestra in Chicagol released their summer schedule and it includes Dvořák: The Spectre's Bride cantata being performed August 17th and 18th.

[ibanezmonster]

I have a question. I just listened to Dvorak's 6th symphony for the first time, and I recognized the scherzo!

Has this been used somewhere else before? It wouldn't make sense to be familiar with music I've never listened to before...

[mc ukrneal]

I have a question. I just listened to Dvorak's 6th symphony for the first time, and I recognized the scherzo!

Has this been used somewhere else before? It wouldn't make sense to be familiar with music I've never listened to before...

Perhaps you are mixing it up with the presto from the Slavonic Dances (or one of the other dances)? There are some similarities in style and overall sound. 

[Karl Henning]

Also, it wouldn't surprise me if a radio station played the Scherzo on its own, separate from the symphony.

I need to load the symphonies onto my mp3 player . . . .

[ibanezmonster]

Well... I don't have the Slavonic Dances, and I haven't listened to any classical on the radio for years. If I heard it on the radio, then that's quite a memorable melody. Here I am, a day later, and that tune is stuck in my head after listening to the movement once yesterday.
I don't see anything on imdb, either...

The only Dvorak I actually have is the 9th symphony, which, after listening to 6, 7, and 8, is probably my least favorite out of the four, so I might have quite a bit to discover. The only problem I have with him is that I don't hear anything strikingly original; just very good late Romantic music. Not really a problem, just an observation...

[eyeresist]

The only Dvorak I actually have is the 9th symphony, which, after listening to 6, 7, and 8, is probably my least favorite out of the four, so I might have quite a bit to discover. The only problem I have with him is that I don't hear anything strikingly original; just very good late Romantic music. Not really a problem, just an observation...

Depends how you define original, of course. By comparison with the truly minor romantic symphonists, Dvorak is unmistakably fresh and inspired.

[Brian]

The only Dvorak I actually have is the 9th symphony, which, after listening to 6, 7, and 8, is probably my least favorite out of the four, so I might have quite a bit to discover. The only problem I have with him is that I don't hear anything strikingly original; just very good late Romantic music. Not really a problem, just an observation...

The 9th is my least favorite as well. The 8th is my favorite; I hear much that's original there, because it sounds so honest and so true in a way that's hard to pin down.

Some of Dvorak's other best stuff in that vein - the string quartets 12-14, the string quintets and sextet, the Othello overture, the cello concerto, the fantastic Te Deum. I find a lot of his most original strokes to be his odd endings. Othello, the cello concerto, the Seventh Symphony, and the Noon-Day Witch all have really peculiar endings. Of course, now that I've mentioned it, the four symphonic poems - Water Goblin, Noon-Day Witch, Golden Spinning-Wheel, Wild Dove - are probably Dv's most 'original' orchestral works.