Customer Reviews

Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 - From the New World / Smetana: Bartered Bride Overture / Weinberger: Schwanda - Polka & Fugue

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

RCA has a vast and incredible library of classical music recordings, particularly in its LIVING STEREO series, and over the years has re-released some of its great titles. One of the more popular and enduring recordings in this series is Fritz Reiner's recording of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. People familiar with the LP version will instantly recognize it distinctive cover with a photograph of the Statue of Liberty, the same monument which would have greeted Dvorak when he first visited the United States and where he was inspired to write this great work.

The showpiece of the recording is Dvorak's 9th. Recorded in 1957, the orchestra has a hearty sound. Both Reiner and the orchestra seem familiar with the work. Reiner moves the work along, and is particularly vigorous in his conducting of the fourth movement, which may not be to everyone's liking, but works well with this recording. The CD also contains three other works that are in keeping with Dvorak's 9th. Two are overtures: a robust version of Dvorak's "Carnival Overture," and a lively recording of Smetena's overture to "The Bartered Bride." The third piece is Weinberger's Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda the Bagpiper." Interestingly, while he conducts the Dvorak's pieces with energy, the Weinberger piece, while conducted and performed beautifully, is a bit slower paced than other recordings of the work.

One bonus of the re-release of the "Living Stereo" recordings is that they contain the original liner notes from the LP. Since this CD is a compilation from two different LP's, the liner notes from both are included in this set. RCA has not re-released as many of the titles as they promised ten years ago when they first opened the vaults. Let's hope some of the other great titles will be released in the near future.

The Dvorák "New World" Symphony as recorded by Reiner and Chicago in 1958 is a great recorded performance, although the sound is not as good as has been given Reiner on other occasions. But the show stoppers on this CD are the recordings of Dvorák's "Carnival" Overture and Weinberger's Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda the Bagpiper." Both of these shorter works date from the period (1956) where in my opinion, Reiner and Chicago were given the best overall sound they ever got from Richard Mohr and Lewis Layton, the RCA classical producer and engineer. You will literally jump out of your chair from the fortissimo cymbal crash that opens the "Carnival" Overture. When you sit back down from the shock, be in for a treat to hear some virtuoso orchestral playing, plus the most tenderly-rendered love section I've ever heard anywhere of this piece. The Polka and Fugue from "Schwanda" is the best encore-type work recorded by Reiner and his band, and the Chicago brass are in their heyday in this piece. You will almost experience the same red-faced sweat along with Chicago 1st trumpet Adolph ("Bud") Herseth as he fights to sustain the long fortissimo phrase leading into the coda of the piece! The closing brass notes of the piece had to have been difficult to get onto the master tape without overloading - you can just imagine how this must have sounded live despite the limitations of the analog tape formulation technology at this early date in stereo.

All I can say, is WOW!

The other reviews are very accurate, the pieces that go with the showcase New World 9th are also very good, BUT GET THIS FOR THE NEW WORLD 9th, the rest is frosting. None of the other recordings of the 9th I have compare. Fritz Reiner indeed had brought the orchestra from ho-hum to one of the world's finest if not the best (on Boston's back)just at this time and the brass section is filled with "principal" quality players in every chair. But it just not the brass here (although I think that a teacher could use this CD as a start & stop tutorial on how brass should sound in playing powerfully yet still blending and in and complimenting the strings & woodwinds)..the woodwinds (e.g. Ray Still on Oboe) and strings (Frank Miller on cello) are fabulous. For non classical fans who still are looking for a few classical pieces that really can stir you (played by a true world class group in it's prime)this should be one of your selections.

On the evidence of this one CD, I reckon Chicago must have been the place to live in the 1950s. What a superb orchestra! What an ideal sound venue the Orchestra Hall, Chicago must be! The CD is also testimony to the greatness of conductor Fritz Reiner and the astonishing results obtained by the producer and recording engineer.

While listening to each of these items of Czech music, I had the feeling that the performances satisfied me on all counts. The wish to re-hear other recorded performances never obtruded. Above all, there was the way that Reiner, like all great conductors, controlled the balance of sounds. Instead of a mush of sound, tiring to the ear and stultifying to the mind, there were clear aural perspectives, delighting the ear and refreshing the mind. I like a conductor who can make a large orchestra easy to listen to. Reiner left me in no doubt that Smetena wishes the first violins at Bar 31 to enter fortissimo while the second violins continue "sempre pp".

This CD should be proudly featured in every residence in Chicago, and in most others throughout the world.

Reiner and the Chicago Symphony are playing at the top of their game on this CD. It is an excellent rendition of Dvorak's "New World Symphony." But also, the Bartered Bride Overture, the Carnival Overture, and the Polka and Fugue are excellent also, especially the Polka and Fugue. It is one of the best pieces in music literature and should be played more than it is. Overall, this is a great CD with a great conductor and a great orchestra.

This is an absolutely wonderful recording of The New World, but I have just acquired it on the super premium XRCD series by JVC and it is a world apart. Amazon will surely have it soon and you will not believe the difference when this is upgraded to an audiophile recording! Its' sweeping beauty and grandeur will make you grin so hard your face will hurt...and it's perfectly legal!

To add to the comments of the music fan from Alexandria, VA , April 21, 1999, I would like to share a comment from my trumpet teacher Rudolph Nashan who played second trumpet on this and the other Chicago/Reiner recordings. On the Weinberger Schwanda: Polka and Fugue he said: "That ending has to be the loudest I recall ever playing!"

The Polka & Fugue from Weinberger's opera "Schwanda the Bagpiper" is one of my favorite examples of the CSO trumpet section utilizing their incredible dynamic range (this time on the ffff end of the spectrum)to provide one of the most exhilarating musical experiences imaginable.

How did he do it? Fritz Reiner was mean-spirited and uncomuniative with his musicians. He didn't even bother to move to Chicago during the period in the Fifties when he conducted the CSO. Yet in retrospect he presided over a golden age of performance and recording. Almost without exception the CSO's records for RCA, most in excellent Living Stereo, have survived as first-rate and sometimes first-choice in everything Reiner conducted.

This controlled, magisterial Dvorak 'New World' is no exception. There's nothing Czech about it--it's an international, virtuosic interpretation given to us in wonderfully detailed, natural sonics. Really, there's no reason to own another CD of this work unless you are in pursuit of the peculiarly Czech flavor imparted by Vaclav Talich in Prague. Czech conductors make the Scherzo a more earthy furiant, and Czech woodwinds have a rustic tang. The CSO floats on a cushion of effortless technique and perfect ensemble. Reiner's reading is dramatic but warm, lyrical and incisive by turns.

His pupil Leonard Bernstein made his own, more exuberant New World some years after this one but without a shade of Reiner's refinement and discipline. I can't claim to have any particular interest in this symphony, which I left behind some time in college, but I still appreciate the absolute quality of Reiner's performance.

These are 'spot on', the lodestones for Dvorak's "From the New World" & Smetana's "Carnival Overture" Wow‼ The local classical station, KBAQ, had played "...'Carnival Overture'... Fritz Reiner directing the Chicago Symphony...", so I searched for it here and found it -- fortunate me.
[I hasten to add that there are a lot more of these 'Living Stereo' titles available at cdnow.com than you will find by searching 'Living Stereo' -- don't know why that is.]