Search - Antonin Dvorak, Vaclav Talich, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra :: Dvorák: Piano & Cello Concertos

Definitive performances in very good mono sound

Daniel W. Fowler | Austin TX | 05/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Vaclav Talich was one of the world's foremost interpreters of Dvorak's music, and the Czech Philharmonic's unique tones have made them one of my favorite orchestras for Dvorak's orchestral works. While his musical tenure ended before the age of stereo recordings, Supraphon has made an exceptional effort to preserve his recordings with the best possible sound. That holds true for this disk, which was initially recorded in 1951 (piano concerto) and 1952 (cello concerto) and digitally remastered from the master tapes in 2005. The result yields a very clear, mono sound that effectively captures the distinctive sounds of the strings, woodwinds, and brass of the CPO. The conversations between the piano and the cello in their respective concertos are effectively balanced in the recording.

The performances are consistently great: beautifully phrased, elegantly paced, with plenty of lyricism intertwined with rhythmic urgency. I had not heard of the pianist Frantisek Maxian, but his playing is stellar, and Mstislav Rostropovich is one of the foremost interpreters of the cello concerto, having recorded it successfully many times (I also recommend strongly his recording of the cello concerto with Boult on Testament as well). All lovingly accompanied by Talich and the Czech Philharmonic. 78 minutes of gorgeous music."

Talich conducts two famous recordings of Dvorak concertos

Robert Coulter | Delaware, USA | 05/30/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In recent years, the Czech label Supraphon have produced two outstanding series, each promoting an outstanding conductor: the Karel Ancerl Gold Edition and the Vaclav Talich Special Edition. The release under review is Volume 5 of the Talich series.



Vaclav Talich was chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1919 to 1941 (excluding a brief period in the early 1930s) and was personally responsible for establishing them as a world-class orchestra. It would be hard to underplay his significance to Czech music.



Dvorak wrote 3 concertos, one each for piano, violin and cello. Generally, these are viewed as good, very good and world class, respectively. On this release we get first class recordings of the piano and cello concertos dating from the early 1950s.



First up is a celebrated recording of Dvorak's piano concerto played by the Czech pianist Frantisek Maxian. Dvorak's original version has been described as more an orchestral work in which the piano plays a significant role rather than a true concerto. A "revised" version by Vilem Kurtz, aimed at increasing the opportunities of the soloist, has been more commonly performed and recorded (a return to the original version has gained favour in recent times). Maxian plays the Kurtz version splendidly in this release. There are several other significant recordings of this concerto, including a recording by Richter (I think in the original version). The Czech pianist Rudolf Firkusny championed the piece for many years (Martinu was another Czech composer he was associated with) and made several recordings of it -- see here for a well-received example. Maxian and Talich give a performance at least the equal of either of these.



Following the piano concerto comes a famous recording of the cello concerto in B minor with a young Mstislav Rostropovich as soloist. This was the first time Rostropovich recorded the concerto and despite recording it many times afterwards, he maintained that this recording with Talich remained his preferred recording (yes, better than his recordings with Karajan or with Ozawa). In fact, he claimed Talich more or less taught him how to play this piece properly. Dvorak's cello concerto is, of course, one of the foremost concertos for the instrument and certainly worthy of more than one recording in your collection. There are quite a few stand out recordings of it -- apart from the two already listed, others often mentioned reverentially are those by Fournier and Du Pre (which comes in an excellent 3 cd set, including a legendary recording of the Elgar). This recording by Rostropovich with Talich, though in mono rather than stereo, certainly holds its own against any and all of these other recordings.



Both recordings are mono, but have been superbly remastered. Unless you just cannot stand mono recordings, there is absolutely nothing to complain about regarding this disk. First-class performances and accompaniments, top-drawer interpretations with a top-drawer orchestra. In particular, the performance of the piano concerto certainly gives the lie to the claim it is inferior to the cello concerto. If you're a fan of fine music (which should account for basically everyone!), then this is a must buy."

One of the great Czech recordings of Dvorák

Ralph Moore | Bishop's Stortford, UK | 04/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Poor old C Miller gets a hammering from his fellow Amazon.com reviewers for moaning in his 2007 "review" about the fact that he did not realise that these were a historical mono recordings from 1951 and 1952 and therefore in limited sound. Well; it's true that this is no aural feast but the re-mastering is skilful, and played on decent equipment the supremacy of the performances on this disc soon emerges. We have here an unbeatable combination of perhaps the finest Czech conductor of his generation directing the orchestra he built up to be one of the world's finest, playing the nation's greatest composer with two soloists of stellar talent: the little-known master pianist Frantisek Maxián, whose majesterial playing is a revelation, and the twenty-five-year-old Rostropovich in perhaps his best - and certainly his favourite - recording of the Dvorák 'cello concerto. There is a sweep and grandeur to these performances which amply compensates for sonic limitations; they make the music - especially the piano concerto, which is here played in the souped-up version devised by Vilém Kurz in 1919 to give the piano more opportunities for virtuosity - seem even greater than it is.



This is an important historical document which preserves wonderful performances - just be sure that you do not mind not having modern sound."