Sinfonietta / Taras Bulba / Dances

Janacek (Artist), Kodaly (Artist), Szell (Artist), Davis (Artist), Ormandy (Artist) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 16, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000029QB
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #272,440 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #78 in Music > Classical > Forms & Genres > Symphonies > Sinfonia

Track Listings

1. Sinfonietta for orchestra ('Military,' 'Sokol Festival'), JW 6/18: No. 1, Allegretto

2. Sinfonietta for orchestra ('Military,' 'Sokol Festival'), JW 6/18: No. 2, Andante

3. Sinfonietta for orchestra ('Military,' 'Sokol Festival'), JW 6/18: No. 3, Moderato

4. Sinfonietta for orchestra ('Military,' 'Sokol Festival'), JW 6/18: No. 4, Allegretto

5. Sinfonietta for orchestra ('Military,' 'Sokol Festival'), JW 6/18: No. 5, Allegro

6. Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra, JW 6/15: No. 1, Death of Andryj

7. Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra, JW 6/15: No. 2, Death of Ostap

8. Taras Bulba, rhapsody for orchestra, JW 6/15: No. 3, Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba

9. Dances of Galánta (Galánti táncok), for orchestra

10. Dances of Marosszék (Marosszéki táncok), for orchestra (transcribed from piano work)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't blame the Cleveland Orchestra!, May 4, 2010

By 

Jay Master "it's music time" (Spring, Tx) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sinfonietta / Taras Bulba / Dances (Audio CD)

I just heard the Janacek played by Szell and Cleveland on the radio for the first time.

This is a prime example of a conductor getting in the way of a fine orchestra.

Szell's tempo's are VERY slow. It forces the musicians (esp. the brass) to play

with a heavy unbalanced sound. The sound engineers are far to active in this performance. At times the full brass sound far away, and then the oboist sounds like he's sitting next to you! I love this music, and in some styles Szell is great, but his slavic blood isn't boiling here. Check out the other recordings recommended, but for me the best is still the fleet footed version by Ozawa and the Chicago Symphony recorded in the 1970's.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lackluster, October 20, 2004

By 

Marcus K. Maroney - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sinfonietta / Taras Bulba / Dances (Audio CD)

If you're expecting a typically high-voltage, sharply played account at tempos on the fast side, don't buy this album. The Sinfonietta is a disappointment - Szell's tempos are sluggish, the playing is adequate at best and excitement is never stirred up quite as well as in other recordings (Mackerras/VPO, Bakala). The other items are similarly served in more colorful performances. The disc isn't bad by any means, just adequate.

8 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well and warmly performed, but...., January 23, 2000

By 

David Anthony Hollingsworth (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Sinfonietta / Taras Bulba / Dances (Audio CD)

Allow me to start off Szell's and Davis' accounts with Janacek's Sinfonietta and Tarus Bulba-Rhapsody for Orchestra after Gogol, respectively. If I am to compare Szell's and Davis' renditions of these works with Sir Charles Mackerras marvellous performances with the Vienna Philharmonic under London Decca (which I will by the way) then it is Mackerras who clearly has the upper hand. The Vienna Philharmonic sounds remarkably fresh and idiomatic, with Mackerras having truly the provocative phrasings throughout. The winds are simply majestic and compelling with the strings full-bodied and never under-nourished. Thus, Mackerras and his team clearly has the edge over Belohlavek and the Czech Philharmonic under Chandos (albeit slight, for the Czech team is still world class, with its conductor who's hardly less than visionary). For my money though, I would try Jose Serebrier's take of the works with the Brno Philharmonic (Reference label). There's something in that album with its added picturesque feel I find absolutely gripping.

However the renditions of both George Szell with the Cleveland Orchestra and Andrew Davis with the Toronto Symphony are not without merits. Szell brings out the vividness and imagination in performing Sinfonietta well to the fore, although refinement and polish tend to be hit and miss in places, especially at the beginning bars of the work. The brass is especially rustic in places and the strings sound exposed, noticeably in contrast with the Viennese forces under Mackerras. Davis' performance of Tarus Bulba with the Toronto Symphony sounds more convincing and alert throughout, although refinement especially of the brass remains somewhat to be desired as well.

To my greater delight comes Ormandy's account of Kodaly's Dances of Marosszek and Dances of Galanta (originally in a Columbia LP album that also, incidentally, included his emotionally penetrating yet enjoyable Concerto for Orchestra). Ormandy was a composition pupil of Kodaly before the conductor decided to, well, embark on a conducting career. But the recordings here have a real sense of Ormandy's familiarity of Kodaly's sense of color & orchestral virtuosity. It's just a crying shame that this giant of a maestro chose to stop there and recorded no more of the great Hungarian's music. Nevertheless, the performances here are consistently well-played throughout, especially in the allegro vivace movement of the Dances of Galanta (the most stunning account ever in my opinion). The recording sound is more than respectable and appreciative and this CD overall is enjoyable, despite a few reservations on Szell's and Davis' performances of the Janacek.

Nonetheless, recommended, and warmly so.