Search - Antonin Dvorak, Colin Davis, London Symphony Orchestra :: Dvorák: Symphonies Nos. 6-9

Mediocre music-making for a good cause

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/19/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The London Sym. pioneered the venture of sponsoring their own record label, which is a good cause in these days of classical music meltdown in the recording studios. And it made sense to feature performances by their (now outgoing) music director, the famous Sir Colin Davis. However, that's about all the good news there is to tell. These readings of Dvorak Sym. #6-9 are as dull as ditchwater. Their gentility and lack of rhythmic vigor are jaw-dropping. Can this really be the incisive, energizing Colin Davis of the Sixties and Seventies? Not remotely, but since he has recorded everything in his repertoire two or three times, you can turn to Davis's far superior Dvorak symphonies on Philips with the Concertgebouw, although even those are too stiad. Meanwhile, we can all sympathize with the Gramophone, which manfully keeps up the Davis legend even as his talent dwindles."

Good and bad

M. Muckler | Pennsylvania | 12/13/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As usual Sir Colin Davis gives us a good, yet subtle, interpretation of Dvorak. This is not necessarily the Cd you want to buy if you wish to rush to the best part of the symphony. Davis doesn't allow the best players to play their brains out, instead he takes the orchestra as a whole and focuses on the main thrust of the piece. At times I disagree with the interpretation, especially in the First and last movements of the Sixth Symphony. However, and overall, I cannot deny that they are good performances that reign in some of the usual eccentricities modern conductors usually give to Dvorak and try to get back to the Brahmsian root of Dvorak."