Customer Reviews

Ostrcil: Symphony in A Major / Sinfonietta

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Otakar Ostrcil (1879-1935) was an important composer and conductor back in the days, but his music - of which the main feature is a series of operas - haven't managed to retain much of a hold in the repertoire even compared to his near-contemporaries Suk and Novak. The disc at hand couples his relatively early symphony in A major (from 1905) with his much later Sinfonietta (1921), and the stylistic development between them is rather striking - both works are memorable and eminently worth getting to know, however.

The symphony is a 40-minute, big-boned romantic work stylistically reminiscent of the music of Fibich or Foerster and perhaps Dvorak. It is a finely crafted, even distinguished work of generally sunny temperance, late romantic and often dramatic but with few traces of angst or real darkness. On the other hand there is plenty of atmosphere and elements of almost Mendelssohnian fairy music. While not a masterpiece, perhaps, much of the thematic material is strong and well handled, and the result is a playful, enjoyable and engaging work that everyone who enjoys any of the composers mentioned will have to sample.

The Sinfonietta (which at more than 37 minutes could easily have passed for a symphony) is a much darker affair. The basic tonal language is still late romantic, but this time around it is used to create music of rapidly flickering shadows, glimmers of radiant light that are quickly extinguished, blurry, menacing creatures that skitter around in the darkness, and twistedly grinning and grimacing faces, and when the music gains momentum it does so to shamble off with a macabre swagger. That said, there are actually traces of optimism and non-spiteful joy in the music as well, and I guess the booklet's claim that the music is optimistic can be justified - but it is optimism acquired after a long, dark and ominous journey. It is, in fact, something of a major work, though it could perhaps have benefited from a little trimming.

The performances by the Prague SO under Jiri Belohlavek are fine; the strings are full-bodied, the woodwinds chuckling and atmospheric and the brass powerful and warm. The sound quality is perhaps less uniformly excellent - it is generally full-blooded, but the strings have a dryish edge to them and the recording has a brightness that is, although effective, a little wearisome on the ear. Still, this is a significant release and one that is easily recommended to anyone with a sense of adventure.