Composer: Antonín Dvořák, Josef Suk
Orchestra: Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Conductor: Mariss Jansons
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: BR Klassik
Catalogue: 900145
Release: 2016
Size: 728 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
01. I. Allegro con brio
02. II. Adagio
03. III. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace
04. IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Suk: Serenade for String Orchestra in E flat, Op. 6
05. I. Andante con moto
06. II. Allegro, ma non troppo e grazioso
07. III. Adagio – Più andante
08. IV. Allegro giocoso, ma non troppo presto – Vivace
09. Dvořák: Carnival, Op. 92, B. 169
Dvořák’s lyrical and cheerful Eighth Symphony, which premiered successfully in Prague on February 2, 1890, is one of the famous Bohemian composer’s most often-played works. He succeeded here “in writing a work different from my other symphonies, with individual thoughts elaborated in a new way”. Every movement and every melody in this music reflects the fact that it was wholly inspired by the landscape of Bohemia. Dvořák’s close familiarity with and love of Slavonic folk music can be clearly heard, as can his deep preoccupation with the symphonies of Tchaikovsky: the rhapsodic Adagio and the waltz-like Scherzo, for example, in their melodic inventiveness as well as their formal structure, are both highly reminiscent of the famous Russian composer. – Alongside Dvořák’s much-performed Ninth Symphony, his Eighth is a further masterpiece of late 19th-century instrumental music. Josef Suk’s Serenade for Strings of 1892 is far more than a mere time-filler on this CD. The first successful composition by this budding Czech composer – who was Dvořák’s pupil and son-in-law – is audibly influenced by the musical and aesthetic ideas of his teacher and mentor, but is also a highly individual work in its own right and an important example of the genre. In the recordings of the two concerts performed in the Philharmonie im Gasteig on January 29 and 30, 2016, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under Mariss Jansons successfully demonstrated that Dvořák’s traditional yet visionary symphonic writing continues to retain all its validity today: the interpretation is sensitive, dynamic and majestic. Suk’s Serenade for Strings was recorded in a studio only a few days beforehand.