Customer Reviews

Dvorak: Symphonies 8 & 9

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Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra have produced a disc that sets a new standard in this repertoire, and one that should stand for many years to come. Two things set this disc apart from other versions. First, Fischer and the BFO read Dvorak's text with scrupulous care, cleaning away much of the excesses of tradition. Like the cleaning of a great painting, this approach reveals Dvorak as a more sophisticated master of the orchestra, with a more vibrant variety of color and articulation then can be heard on any other recording. Also, freed from any "help" from conductors overinterpreting small details and taking gross liberties of tempi, Dvorak's mastery of form emerges with ringing authority. The second thing that sets this disc apart is the extraordinary unity of purpose in the BFO's playing throughout. Wind and brass chords are not merely fantastically in tune, but balances, colors, articulations and releases are all scrupulously matched. The strings, led by Gabor Takacs Nagy, formerly of the Takacs quartet, play like a great chamber ensemble throughout. The performances both combine a sense of drive and architexture with freedom, charm and passion. A masterful achievement, and beautifully recorded as well.

There have been a number of excellent reviews for this recording by Ivan Fisher and the Budapest Festival Orchestra (it was Gramophone Magazine's "Recording of the Month" in October of 2001). Fisher's recording has good orchestral transparency and excellent sound. The horns and timpani stand out quite nicely.

Overall, however, I found Fisher's version less moving and less powerful than Kondrashin's with the Wiener Philharmoniker-my favorite version. To my ear, the Budapest Festival Orchestra sounds less like a sumptuous symphony orchestra and more like a large chamber ensemble-partly because of Fisher's way of handling tempo and orchestral textures. Fisher employs greater dramatic contrast than others do-this is not always advantageous. For me Fisher's version is this: too much modulation and too little repetition and pausing for emphasis. Passages that stand out to me in Kondrashin's version are glossed over here or just don't stand out. I find this especially the case in the slow movement of Symphony No. 9 (the cor anglais in Kondrashin's version is quite beautiful) and in the finale, where I found myself wishing that Fisher's had lingered a bit more on those closing chords.

While some people may find Fisher's way with these symphonies refreshing, I came away from this recording unmoved and slightly disappointed.

Fisher's version is not bad, but it cannot displace Kondrashin (in No. 9) or Chung (in No. 8).

Fischer and his Budapest orchestra have recorded some wonderful stuff in recent years, particularly Bartok and Liszt. Therefore, it was with great anticipation that I purchased this generous (78 minutes)coupling of the 8th and 9th Dvorak symponies. I found the 9th to be a mixed bag. The lovely Largo second movement is played splendidly with really beautiful string tone. This is a very big plus, but ultimately I found... many details were lost in an overly spacious acoustic, which also gave the climaxes less impact. The final Allegro con fuoco is exciting, but there are a few drastic tempo changes that seem to not serve any larger purpose. Compare this to Harnoncourt's recent Teldec version, Kertesz, Szell, or Dohnanyi and my opinion is Fischer's New World just doesn't compete.

The 8th is a different matter. There are many more interesting details that can be heard. Take the trumpet calls in the middle of the Adagio. It seems as if they are played at least a half beat too late compared to any other version out there, but it sounds completely right. There are some tender moments near the end of this movement that the strings play wonderfully. The Allegretto Grazioso is played well, but it is taken too fast for my taste (compare here to Szell or Chung's Vienna version on DG), but here again the coda to this movement is a piece of genius with the strings and trumpets playing some fantastic trills that I've never heard before quite that way. The thrilling finale Allegro ma non troppo is played fine, but not nearly as well as other versions out there. The horn trills so characteristic of this movement are almost not heard at all (compare here to Dohnanyi's fine Decca version or better yet Chung's Vienna version). Again, Fischer is good but not the best by a long shot.

I would say unless you are a real fan of Fischer and his orchestra that you might look elsewhere for these works.

Without a doubt, this new CD from Maestro Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra should be regarded as one of the finest recordings of Dvorak's 8th and 9th symphonies in recent years. It is certainly comparable in quality with Nikolaus Harnoncourt's Teldec recordings with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Yet unlike Harnoncourt, Fischer isn't interested in a vivid new interpretation of Dvorak's music marked by substantial changes in tempo. Instead, he conducts with a brilliant determination to shake loose some of the cob webs residing in Dvorak's music that other conductors have fallen prey to, yielding a vividly fresh interpretation of both symphonies noted for the clear, concise warmth of the string and wind sections. This may be the closest we've heard of Dvorak's symphonic scores played by a chamber orchestra in a long time. I won't say that this is indeed a new definitive recording of both symphonies, yet with its impressive sound and excellent playing by this Hungarian ensemble, it certainly comes close.

There are too many overlaps of the Dvorak Eighth and Ninth in the catalog to count, and one could be forgiven for choosing an old favorite -- from Szell, Bernstein, or Bruno Walter, say -- and sticking with it. . Ivan Fischer has made a career of fresh interpretations of familiar scores from the Hungarian canon, from Liszt to Bartok. I find him less convincing in other music, and even though Czech and Hungarian idioms are cousins, he doesn't seem to find the folk element in these familiar symphonies. On the other hand, he doesn't take the grand German line, either, which is the usual route, playing the music for Brahmsian depth and drama.

Instead, Fischer resorts to his signature fresh approach with faster than usual tempos, light textures, and a lean, propulsive line. It's all skilfully done, certainly, and I liked both readings on first listen. But so many other conductors have found more emotion here that I lost interest. After all, this is thrice-familiar music, and one expects to be moved in a new way.