Customer Reviews

Dvorak: Symphony Nos.7 & 8

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

 

 

I have long been a fan of The Cleveland Orchestra, but this recording of Dvorak's 7-8 is top of the line. The precision, expression, and energy present in the conducting, performance, and recording are unbeatable. This is the Cleveland Orchestra at the zenith of symphonic performance. It is not only the best recording of these two works, though there are many outstanding ones to be recommended, but it is a nearly flawless display by the Cleveland Orchestra and among the best of any symphonic recording ever produced! A must have!

Initially, these recordings were no bargain at all despite the excellence of the performance and recording. They were stingily issued by Decca/London on two separate CDs. But as the LP went away and the industry grudgingly admitted a CD could successfully accommodate more music, two Dvorak symphonies on a disc became the norm. Hence this oxymoronic pairing--Dvorak's darkest and most dramatic symphony along with one of his sunniest and most refulgent. The Seventh must also be accounted his greatest symphony, with a finale that is obviously autobiographical: the hard-won semi-triumph of the turn from D minor to D major in the cadence is a portrait of Dvorak himself in his rise from obscure local musician to international figure. More, it reflects the stoic acceptance of tragedy that was the lot of nineteenth-century folk, ignorant of the boons of modern medicine. Dvorak, after all, knew the heartache attendant on the death of one's children.

That tragic sense, that great tension, are captured beautifully in this performance and recording. The Cleveland play with incredible intensity and provide a dark but beautiful sound top to bottom, as do the London engineers. I venture to say this is a great recording of a great symphony, one that will be treasured long into the future, I predict.

Then there is the sunny Eighth Symphony. The performance is just as apt, just as attuned to Dvorak's muse.

If this is the pairing of Dvorak symphonies that you're looking for, given the marriage of executant excellence and first-rate recording, certainly it must be the first choice regardless of price.

When I first purchased this disc, it was my first experience of Dvorak. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. I fell in love with Dvorak's music because of this disc. The Cleveland Orchestra has a long history of performing Dvorak well, and it really shows in this disc. Also, it is immediately clear this is a digital recording because the sound is unusually clear and defined. The final movement of the 8th is particularly spine tingling. At mid price it is a great choice.

Dvorak's 7th symphony is a thrilling work, from beginning to end. It is a stormy, dramatic piece, and has become one of my favorite symphonies of any composer. Though it enjoys less performances than his 8th or 9th symphonies, many critics consider it his finest symphonic work.

The Cleveland orchestra is in top form here. The sound quality of this CD is superb. I should also mention that the timpanis are particularly well-recorded. In many recordings they sound mushy and reverberate too much, but here, they are wonderfully punctuated and emphatic.

$ is a great price for a recording of this quality. I would highly recommend it for anyone who hasn't heard the 7th or 8th symphonies or who has but is looking for an excellent recording of them.

I have long been a fan of The Cleveland Orchestra, but this recording of Dvorak's 7-8 is top of the line. The precision, expression, and energy present in the conducting, performance, and recording are unbeatable. This is the Cleveland Orchestra at the zenith of symphonic performance. It is not only the best recording of these two works, though there are many outstanding ones to be recommended, but it is a nearly flawless display by the Cleveland Orchestra and among the best of any symphonic recording ever produced! A must have!

I bought it to get familiar with Dvorak #8. Mission accomplished. The orchestra will play it next month and I listened to it over and over.

I add my 5-star vote to the others. I think Dvorak's 7th and 8th are among the most under-appreciated pieces in all the symphonic literature. In this recording you get the combination of great artistry and sound quality. The mixing, too, is very good, with the timpani in the 8th practically launching out of your speakers. I do have one quibble on the mixing: In the 3rd and 4th movements of the 8th, I think the horns should be louder in that oft-repeated theme that shows up where the 4th movement is just getting started. That may be because that's what I'm used to from my old LP recording, but I think the horns are really supposed to carry that theme and in this recording they get washed out by the other instruments.

Overall, for the price, you can't go wrong with this one.

Kudos and thanks to the other reviewers. With astonishment ('cause I haven't been a big Dohnanyi fan up until now) this is really a gorgeous CD. Dohnanyi must just adore this music, being if not Czech, at least from Eastern Europe-he's Hungarian by ethnicity. The Cleveland, as is usual, plays magnificently and the recordings are beautifully engineered and recorded, especially the Eighth, which may be the most perfect recorded sound of any orchestral work on CDs. The string playing is rendered as lifelike as any CD (or even vinyl) that I've heard. In fact, the Dvorak Eighth has never been a favorite of mine until this recording, so this scores on many fronts. It is more tautly rendered than the 7th, which only in the first two movements suffers slightly in comparison. Not to gainsay other Dohnanyi/Cleveland recordings but maybe he should have spent less time with the classics and just concentrated on this type of romantic literature. Really wonderful.

As a high schooler first exposed to classical music by way of some scratchy family LPs of Tchaikovsky and Dvorak symphonies recorded--as memory serves--by Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia, this spirited Czech composer has a special place in this reviewer's heart.

Dvorak is nothing if not large and lyrical, not least in his symphonies 7 and 8, performed here by Christoph von Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra.

Dvorak is capable of evoking in the unschooled listener's ears all four seasons, but especially Summer and Fall. It seems as though he was incapable of tossing off a symphony without at least one birdsong motif. The lushness of his lines brings one, as well, to autumnal sentiments, particularly when he sets himself down to writing an Adagio.

This is the way of the Romanticist and Dvorak practically incarnates the type.

This inexpensive CD is an excellent way to enjoy Dvorak or introduce him to someone who does not yet do so.

Dvorak is a grossly under-appreciated composer. His music is, for the most part, very pleasing. This disc contains perhaps his two greatest masterpieces, the 7th and 8th symphonies. Not only are the selections terrific, but the interpretations by Dohnanyi and the Cleveland Orchestra are superb! Add to that the great sound, and this is a CD to rush out and buy at any price! Yet it is available for a pittance! By all means, if you are, as I am, an unabashed fan of great orchestral and symphonic music, rush out and add this magnificent CD to your collection.