Search - Antonin Dvorak, Kurt Masur, Seiji Ozawa :: The Dvorak Album

Conrad L. from WALLKILL, NY
Reviewed on 2/18/2016...

For the best version ever, perfectly balancing the cello and orchestra, and the cello phrasing being, not an athletic exercise as with the Rostropovich and Ma, but the most pleasing romantic conversation, please try the Leonard Rose version with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia orchestra. Superb in every way. The recording may seem older without the fineries of the digital era, but the balance and playing of Rose and the Philadelphia orchestra sings throughout. Rose's fluid and 'heart-on-sleeve' expressiveness captures the emotion of this storied piece, without losing the strident that takes you on a journey you will enjoy from beginning to end. The only other version that has come close is that of Ofray Harnoy with the Montreal symphony orchestra. She is awesome, but at times loses the romantic flow and becomes more athletic in a piece that needs to sing not impress (esp end of 2nd movement). Anyway, IMHO, Rose has been without equal among the 5-6 versions I have had. Hope this inspires!

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Yo-Yo Ma is a genius

MR WT MAKHATHINI | Durban, South Africa | 11/16/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"words fail me on how to describe performance in this CD.It's very good, one of the best interpretations I have heard in a very long time. I must confess that since i discovered Ma du Pre I have not been able to listen to anything else nor did I attempt to do so. But out of the blue I bumped into this CD by chance & after hearing Yo Yo Ma's phraising especially the 1st movement infact the whole of Dvorak Cello was like something new to me.Ma plays with passion,emotions & strong commitment to the music in a different way.The Ochestra is in top form & allows the solo cello to shine at the right time.I never thought there is another interpretation that could surpass M.Rostropovich(Im sorry to say this I know he is a living legend & the 1969 record with Karajan is held in high esteem). Ma is accompanied by my favourate violinist Itzhak Perlman on "Humosresque no.7 for piano" & "Slavonic Dance no.10 in E minor"- the results are so sweet as many people know Perlman is a romantic specialist his tone with Ma's cello is heavenly.With regard to the "songs my mother taught me" the cello sounds good not best for the track personally im so used to hear the song being played on violin.There's nothing wrong with the cello it's just that it 's tone is a bit too strong for the composition but it's very well interpreted by Ma. They call this transcription in musical terms. Actually Ma deserves an apology as im one of those who have accused him of lacking in emotions &"look at me now i can play anything" attitude.I think those allegations are baseless & unwarranted when u hear this CD u will know u are into something beautiful. Overall grab this very fast before many people realise Yo-Yo Ma 's greatest gift of song."

Great music, great playing, very poor audio engineering

Leslie Lessinger | Brooklyn, New York | 12/08/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Do not buy this record. I did, without reading any reviews, thinking that with the lovely, lyric Dvorak cello concerto and the superb cellist Yo-Yo Ma, I could hardly go wrong. Yes, the Dvorak is an outstanding composition, and Yo-Yo Ma plays very well, but the audio engineering on this recording is a disaster.



Reviewer C. Kang senses that something is not quite right when he says "The recording sounds a bit quiet", and reviewer Robert Preziose hits the nail on the head when he says that the cello line simply gets lost because the audio engineers did not properly emphasize what should be a singing, lyric line, at least balanced with the orchestra in some places, and soaring above it in others, or clearly audible when on its own, even in the quietest passages. Having to strain to hear the cello line in this recording, from first to last, robs the listener of any pleasure in the music. Yo-Yo Ma sounds as if he were playing in a closet. The audio engineers botched this one very badly, ruining a good performance, which is a pity and a crying shame.



I was so grievously disappointed when I listened to this record that I went and bought two other recordings of the Dvorak cell concerto, both of which were immensely satisfying (wonderful lyrical music, great playing by cello soloist and orchestra, and excellent sound and balance) and can be highly recommended.



(1) Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist, with the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Carlo Maria Giulini [EMI Classics]. The Dvorak is paired with the Saint-Saens Cello Concerto No. 1, which is not in the same league as Dvorak's masterpiece, but is a nice, interesting piece of music. Rostropovich is outstanding.



(2) Pierre Fournier, cellist, with the Berlin Philharmonic under George Szell [Deutsche Grammophon Musikfest]. Fournier is also outstanding. The Dvorak is coupled with Bloch's Shelomo, which is not to my taste (lots of rhapsody but not much melody) and Bruch's Kol Nidrei, a single adagio movement, which I liked very much.



Either one of these recordings of the Dvorak cello concerto is a much better bet than this one by Yo-Yo Ma. Reviewer Robert Preziose recommends the recording by Jacqueline Du Pre, which I do not have and cannot comment upon, but which you should certainly investigate and consider."