Suk: A Summer's Tale; A Winter's Tale

Josef [Composer] Suk (Composer), Andrew Mogrelia (Conductor), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) (Orchestra), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra Bratislava
• Conductor: Andrew Mogrelia
• Composer: Josef [Composer] Suk
• Audio CD (July 20, 1999)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B00000JMX9
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,549 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A fine bargain-basement performance of a Suk work, but..., October 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Suk: A Summer's Tale; A Winter's Tale (Audio CD)

This is the first that Naxos seems to have ventured into the work of the Czech composer Josef Suk, and I must say that they deserve praise for filling in the budget side of the catalogue when it comes to his works. Unfortunately, not everything is perfect with this recording. The op. 29 fares much better -- but I can't decide if that's because it's a bit more tightly organized than Suk's much earlier work, the Winter's Tale. In any case, Mogrelia's op. 29 has some wonderful moments, but many times he seems to let Suk's fragile masterpiece fall apart, lingering too long in spots. Libor Pesek's version on Virgin is probably the one to have of the Summer's Tale, unless you don't wish to pay more, in which case this performance will be good enough. I am not as familiar with the op. 9 work, and I think this is the first modern recording of it. Unfortunately, the music itself is a curious let-down, especially if you're expecting the melodic richness of, say, the Asrael Symphony (a must-listen, incidentally). Apparently Suk's usually burgeoning creativity was burning a little lower when he wrote this one. The recording itself is wonderful, rich and full, with no overload at the heavily scored climaxes of the Summer's Tale and clarity in the finely scored opening lines of the op. 9.