Smetana: Má Vlast (My Country) selections (3) / Podraná Nevesta (Bartered Bride) - Overture & Dances

Bedrich Smetana (Composer), James Levine (Conductor), Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Conductor: James Levine
• Composer: Bedrich Smetana
• Audio CD (May 23, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GAK
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #230,604 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Levine is wonderful, best in the Bartered Bride excerpts, November 2, 2005

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Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smetana: Má Vlast (My Country) selections (3) / Podraná Nevesta (Bartered Bride) - Overture & Dances (Audio CD)

Levine was making some brash, over-driven recordings with the Berlin Phil. and the Chicago Sym. on DG (Sibelius Second and Prokofiev Fifth are cases in point)at the same time he was all metling charm with the Vienna Phil. Who knows why? But his Mozart symphonies from Vienna are almost lilting, a quality one doesn't associate with this Szell protoge. His Tchaikovsky ballet suites are magnificent in every way, and so are the excrepts from The Bartered Bride on this CD.

The orchestra is so ravishing, and the recording captures them so well, that Levine would only need to be half as good. Yet great conductors can outshine themselves, and here he displays joy and brio throughout. The excerpts from Ma vlast are distinctly cooler, no match for Karajan's grand sweep, until the third one, which is rich and dramatic. So call this CD a treasure for at least half the music on it and very good for the rest.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great "Bartered Bride" ... mediocre "Má Vlast", January 3, 2005

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Prescott Cunningham Moore (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smetana: Má Vlast (My Country) selections (3) / Podraná Nevesta (Bartered Bride) - Overture & Dances (Audio CD)

I usually love James Levine's recordings. His versions of the Dvorak symphonies are some of my favorites. Thus, I eagerly bought this recording. I must agree with other reviewers in that the recorded sound is top notch. Vienna, as always, gives an alert and well balanced performance. However, this really is the most routine of performances. Levine does little to bring out anything from the score. This is simply a very well executed but boring recording of Má Vlast. The orchestra also sounds somewhat distant in this DG recording.

The sections from the Bartered Bride on the other hand are quite fun. The lighthearted and fast paced overture is thrilling in Levine's hands. The subsequent three dances are just as exciting. Levine is much more at home with these operatic works than with the symphonic poem.

3.0 out of 5 stars Ma Vlast distant, Bartered Bride beautiful, April 15, 2007

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C. Vidal "CMV" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Smetana: Má Vlast (My Country) selections (3) / Podraná Nevesta (Bartered Bride) - Overture & Dances (Audio CD)

I agree with the other reviews. The orchestra sounds distant in Ma Vlast, which is rather frustrating. While the Bartered Bride is beautiful. Not sure the imbalance makes this CD worth buying.