Composer: Antonín Dvořák
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra
Conductor: Witold Rowicki
Number of Discs: 6
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Catalogue: 4782296
Release: 2010
Size: 2.03 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
CD 01
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 3 – “The Bells of Zlonice”
01. 1. Maestoso – Allegro
02. 2. Adagio di molto
03. 3. Allegretto
04. 4. Finale (Allegro animato)
05. Carnival Overture, Op. 92
06. Muj Domov Overture, Op. 62 (My Country)
CD 02
Symphony No. 6 in D, Op. 60
01. 1. Allegro non tanto
02. 2. Adagio
03. 3. Scherzo (Furiant: Presto)
04. 4. Finale (Allegro con spirito)
Symphony No. 2 in B flat, Op. 4
05. 1. Allegro con moto
06. 2. Poco adagio
CD 03
Symphony No. 2 in B flat, Op. 4
01. 3. Scherzo (Allegro con brio)
02. 4. Finale (Allegro con fuoco)
Symphony No. 4 in D minor, Op. 13
03. 1. Allegro
04. 2. Andante sostenuto e molto cantabile
05. 3. Scherzo (Allegro feroce)
06. 4. Finale (Allegro con brio)
CD 04
Symphony No. 3 in E flat, Op. 10
01. 1. Allegro moderato
02. 2. Adagio molto, tempo di marcia
03. 3. Finale (Allegro vivace)
Symphony No. 5 in F, Op. 76
04. 1. Allegro, ma non troppo
05. 2. Andante con moto
06. 3. Andante con moto – Allegro scherzando
07. 4. Allegro molto
CD 05
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70
01. 1. Allegro maestoso
02. 2. Poco adagio
03. 3. Scherzo (Vivace)
04. 4. Finale (Allegro)
Symphony No. 8 in G, Op. 88
05. 1. Allegro con brio
06. 2. Adagio
07. 3. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace
08. 4. Allegro ma non troppo
CD 06
Symphony No.9 In E Minor, Op.95 “From The New World”
01. 1. Adagio – Allegro molto
02. 2. Largo
03. 3. Scherzo (Molto vivace)
04. 4. Allegro con fuoco
05. Othello Overture, Op. 93
06. Husitská Overture, Op. 67 (Hussite)
Witold Rowicki’s cycle of the symphonies of Antonin Dvorák with the London Symphony released on Philips in the late ’60s and early ’70s was only the second complete cycle of those works ever recorded. The first, István Kertész’s Decca set from the mid-’60s, was also with the LSO. Rowicki’s cycle has one huge advantage over Kertész’s: the London musicians really knew the early symphonies after having learned them under the Hungarian conductor, and their playing here is much more polished than it was prior. Rowicki’s cycle, though, has one huge disadvantage: Kertész’s performances have a freshness and a sense of happy discovery that Rowicki cannot match.
Beyond advantages and disadvantages, the two cycles are wonderfully complimentary. Where Kertész’s Dvorák is at heart a lyrical composer in the style of Schubert, who wrote symphonies full of great themes and beautiful melodies, Rowicki’s Dvorák is essentially a dramatic composer in the style of Beethoven, who wrote symphonies full of strong forms and powerful rhythms. Rowicki’s Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh are big-boned, hard-muscled works, while Kertész’s are more openly heart-on-the-sleeve. Where Rowicki’s Eighth and Ninth are rhetorical works of imposing magnificence, Kertész’s have a celebratory, almost populist bent. The biggest contrast, however, is between the first four symphonies, works that were thought lost until after the Second World War. Kertész finds all the beauty there is in these youthful works, but Rowicki’s more cogent and much more driven interpretations make a better case for them as symphonies. Sonically, both cycles exemplified the best of their companies at the time. Decca gave Kertész lush, deep, and colorful sound, while Philips gave Rowicki crisp, bright, and immediate sound. In the end, both sets are superlative and both belong in the collection of anyone who admires and enjoys Dvorák’s symphonies.