Search - Bedrich Smetana, Antonin Kubalek :: Bedrich Smetana: The Complete Czech Dances

This one is the best

R. Pohl | Brno, Czech Republic | 04/19/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I heard five performances of Czech dances, so I'm quite familiar with this cycle (actually, I'm playing some of them) and I must say - the Kubalek's version is the number one. Now and forever. Lovely music, recommended to all music lovers."

Piano music that deserves more attention than it has gotten

chefdevergue | Spokane, WA United States | 03/02/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Antonin Kubalek has graced us with a series of sparkling recordings courtesy of the Dorian label. As a Czech emigre to Canada, Kubalek has remained somewhat out of the mainstream in classical music, but a fair amount of the Dorian label was available via BMG a few years ago, which is how I first became acquainted with Kubalek's artistry. I was indeed delighted to make the acquaintance, as Kubalek possesses as fine a musical maturity as one is likely to encounter today.In this album, he devotes his attention to the two books of Czech Dances by Smetana. Both Smetana & Dvorak are well-known to mainstream classical audiences, but certainly not for their piano music. Smetana more than Dvorak might remind the listener of a Czech version of Chopin, as the vast majority of his output was for piano. These collections of miniatures are in the same vein as Chopin's Polonaises or Mazurkas, all based on native Czech folk dances. Smetana wrote all of these dances fairly late in his life, by which time he had gone totally deaf (but had not yet gone insane).Kubalek, as is usual, gives beautifully-wrought performances, carefully shaping every phrase, tempo & dynamic. It has been 14 years since Dorian released this album, yet one can only hope that Kubalek may yet again get the opportunity to record more of Smetana's & Dvorak's wrongly-neglected piano music."