Dvorak: Slavonic Dances (FLAC)

Orchestra: Chamber Orchestra of Europe
Conductor: Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Composer: Antonin Dvorak
Audio CD
SPARS Code: DDD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks+cue)
Label: Teldec
Size: 319 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes

# Slavonic Dances (8) for orchestra, B. 83 (Op. 46)
Composed by Antonin Dvorak
Performed by Chamber Orchestra Europe
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

# Slavonic Dances (8) for orchestra, B. 147 (Op. 72)
Composed by Antonin Dvorak
Performed by Chamber Orchestra Europe
Conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt

01. No. 1, Furiant
02. No. 2, Dumka
03. No. 3, Polka
04. No. 4, Sousedská
05. No. 5, Skocná
06. No. 6, Sousedská
07. No. 7, Skocná
08. No. 8, Furiant
09. No. 1, Odzemek
10. No. 2, Starodávný
11. No. 3, Skocná
12. No. 4, Dumka
13. No. 5, Spacirka
14. No. 6, Starodávný
15. No. 7, Srbske Kolo
16. No. 8, Sousedská

An outstanding modern version

I’d say life has been kind to this music. There are the fabulous Szell recordings and both of Kubelik’s, then Rodzinski’s on old Westminster. I’m sure plenty of others. Great stuff. A good conductor with a top-notch orchestra always seems to have fun with these and why not, they’re made to have fun with. Generally, modern recordings of this repertoire don’t work for me, flawless playing is usually paired with an odd lack of spirit–like the performers really don’t believe in the music; like everyone’s playing with one eye on the 401K and another on the resume, in other words like most modernistical people do things these days. Kind of sad when a sort of antiseptic perfection is the only standard–there’s something Byzantine or Manchu court about that.

Harnoncourt seems to both fire people up and get the maximum impact out of the music. If anything, he’s a man of his times in that his performances–although enthusiastic and sometimes eccentric–can seem a hair fussy and over-focused. That’s the only drawback. This recording shows him actually cutting loose more than usual and it’s refreshing. Sound is phenomenal.