Customer Reviews

Dvorak: Slavonic Dances Op.46 & Op.72

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was a little skeptical about this cd when I bought it because it was at budget price, but after one listening I am sold. These performances are full of character and feeling, and the excellent recording quality itself is a step above most of the Sony "Essential Classics" series. The dancing rhythyms come through clearly and the distinctly Czech feel is abundant throughout. A truly satisfying account of these great works.

George Szell seems to have held a patent on performing Dvorak's Slavonic Dances. Each dance -- whether fast or slow, or some combination of the two -- is a brilliant little gem, with every rhythm, lilt, and nuance handled superbly. Add to that the fact that the orchestra is the Cleveland Orchestra in its prime and this CD is a treat that no music lover should resist.

Here is a happy instance of the best performances coming on a generously filled CD which is also budget priced. Hallelujah. George Szell (1897-1970), one of the greatest conductors of the twentieth century, was born in Budapest, studied piano, conducting, and composing in Vienna and Berlin, and learned his craft as a conductor in the opera houses of Europe. World War II brought him to America, where he conducted at the Metropolitan Opera (1942-1946), and finally led the Cleveland Orchestra from 1946 until his death, "molding the ensemble into one of the world's finest," as the Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music notes. Szell and the Cleveland became as distinguished a collaboration as Toscanini and the NBC or Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic. Szell brought the Cleveland Orchestra to such a peak of perfection that many good judges considered the Cleveland under Szell the premier conductor/orchestra team in the world.

In the late 1950s and the 1960s, the procession of marvelous Szell recordings with the Cleveland Orchestra that came rolling out of Severance Hall became for discerning music lovers a benchmark of excellence; many of them have never been surpassed. (My own list of these nonpareils would include the complete Beethoven symphonies, the complete Beethoven piano concertos with Leon Fleisher, the Beethoven overtures, the Mahler Fourth Symphony, Strauss's Don Quixote, the Wagner orchestral excerpts from the Ring, and the Dvorak Slavonic Dances under review here, but there are plenty of other worthy candidates from the extensive Szell/Cleveland discography). Szell's hallmarks as an interpreter were vigor, tension, clarity, avoidance of extremes and excess, complete lack of sentimentality, and masterful control of an orchestra that had become awesomely virtuosic and perfectly responsive in his hands. In sum, a typical Szell/Cleveland performance was taut, disciplined, bristling with energy, insight, and conviction, and immaculately played. His performances virtually never sounded routine, usually had a fresh-minted quality, and had a way of unfolding with an uncanny sense of rightness, of inevitability, conveying the impression that this is the way this music ought to be played.

This CD contains the complete Dvorak Slavonic Dances: the eight dances of Opus 46 and the eight dances of Opus 72; the recordings were made in 1963, 1964, and 1965. All the performances are superb, as fine as any in the catalog. The sound is OK, clear and full, certainly adequate and listenable, if not up to the best standards of today. The Penguin Guide to Compact Discs, in reviewing this CD, awarded it their highest honor, a rosette, and said of it: "In Szell's exuberant, elegant, and marvelously played set of the Slavonic Dances the charisma of the playing is unforgettable and, for all the racy exuberance, one senses a predominant feeling of affection and elegance. The warm acoustics of Severance Hall ensure the consistency of the orchestral sound." As noted, the CD is very generously filled (74 minutes of music) and budget priced. Talk about a good deal! So what are you waiting for?

Enthusiastic discussion of this bargain CD can be found on the internet, in buyers guides, and review magazines. Listening to it again today, I was most impressed by something that reviewers sometimes neglect - namely, the endless variety of ideas, dance styles, tempi and forms that Dvorak includes. He makes his contemporaries such as Brahms seem predictable, and the Strauss Brothers hide-bound. This richness and variety has additional appeal to those of us who live in an age when the press of a button can provide an hour and a quarter of dances, one after another.

So that is my response to the many reviews this CD has prompted. The accolades for Szell, the Clevelanders, and engineers and the budget marketers are all deserved. I don't want Dvorak, however, to be forgotten.

Many people had told me that George Szell's recording of the Slovanic Dances was THE recording to get. Being a skeptic of older recordings, I was hesitant to break down and order this, but at such a cheap price, I figured it wouldn't be a big loss. Putting the CD in, I expected to hear hiss and crackles, but to my surprise, I hear neither. The performances are have excitement, full sound/range, and in general are excellent. Time and time again, I am surprised what "they" are able to do in restoring old recordings. If you're interested in these masterpieces by the Melody Maker (Dvorak), save yourself money as well as get the best recording (i.e. this one).

Without question, this set of recordings of the Dvorák Slavonic Dances by George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra are among the finest imaginable. I was first came across these back in the 1970s (really) and they have remained at the very top of my list of favorites ever since. I quickly learned that I can no longer loan out my own copies because every time I've let others borrow them, they disappear (and I've had them in many formats - vinyl records, cassettes, CDs, etc.). What has delighted me even more, however, is that I've meet many classically trained musicians over the years and, when the topic of what their favorite recordings are, this specific set is mentioned time after time. Simply put, Szell's interpretations are exemplary - the dances are lively, energetic, and simply filled with life. Of course, the musicianship is also superb. As I mentioned in the title, these recordings should be a required item in any collection of classical music - if you don't have them, you're really missing something.

the slavonic dances are some of the best in the classical world. dont forget to own some yourself. this is a great recording of the collection.

I have owned this in so many incarnations; LP's, cassettes, and CD's, including a Japanese Sony CD (without the repeats). Sony has remastered and jacked up the price on all of the Szell recordings. I am waiting to hear the hybrid SACD. But most of the Szell recordings are not about sound. If you agree, move fast before these disappear, as they most certainly will at this price. But this one would be worth any price. This one is the real deal, the perfect convergance of literature, orchestra, and conductor. Reiner made Chicago play like Hungarians, and Szell made Cleveland play like Czechs. Jet set conductors can't do this, and we probably won't see the likes of these performances ever again.

Szell's work here has a lot to recommend it: superb playing, pretty good acoustic, lots of raw dance that will make you run for your dancing shoes. He also loosens up for once and the severity and austerity that mars so many of his recordings is not in evidence here.

However, it does NOT outclass Dorati and the Minneapolis Symphony on Mercury where the dance elements come to the fore and almost seem anthropological. That same feeling of travel documentary carries over to Dorati's Bamaberg remake though while the orchestra's not as good, Dorati gets the same idea.

Just get both Dorati's and this Szell and have yourself a good old furiant at your next garden party. Just be prepared to have your guests prefer the Dorati for idiom and sound.