Search - Dvorak, Alsop, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra :: Dvorak: Symphony No. 9; "From The New World"

A decent price for a good ninth

William A. Christian | Huntsville, Alabama USA | 06/28/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I just downloaded this and wanted to see what others were saying about this recording and discovered a single star. Sorry but this is a very decent recording of an old chestnut. It is worth more than a single star. I can't count how many time I have heard this piece played on recordings over 40 years. Alsop's interpretation is a good one and the recording is decently priced. I really do not think that anybody can claim to the greatest recording of this piece since most of the recordings of this are older. I also find that there is a good controlled emotional aspect to this recording. I realy do believe that this recording deserves a listen and the Naxos price is always good."

Beautifully Crafted, Warm and Light, Only Occasionally Idios

Leslie Richford | Selsingen, Lower Saxony | 02/16/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904): Symphonic Variations, Op. 78; Symphony No. 9 "from the New World", Op. 95. Performed by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, dir. Marin Alsop. Recorded at the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Maryland, from 8th to 10th and 14th to 17th June, 2007. Published in 2008 as Naxos 8.570714. Total playing time: 64'44".



Thank heavens that, as an early music fan, I have nothing to do with all the petty squabbling and jealousies which seem to surround certain classical music artists. I have just been listening to this CD on good stereo equipment (see my profile; I find it ridiculous that people actually write reviews after just hearing this on the radio or after downloading it, presumably in some low-quality compressed format.) What I heard was a beautifully crafted, warm and light, only occasionally idiosyncratic version of Dvorak's "New World", played by first-class musicians and captured, by Naxos standards at any rate, in superb stereo sound which reveals all the detail in a natural and very pleasing acoustic. The thundering brass of the last movement came over really well, the English horn of the Largo was evocatively played, the rhythms and the dialogue between the sets of strings and woodwinds were all not merely audible but also revelatory. The Largo was taken at a fairly relaxed pace, made up for by what I take to be some rather odd tempo variations in the Molto Vivace (although I am judging this from previous hearings of other performances, I don't own a score). But generally I would say that this is a recording of which Naxos can be proud and which may well prove to win many for classical music, which is what it's all about, I guess. Very pleasing indeed! - The disc opens with the "Symphonic Variations", which are not nearly as dull as another reviewer has suggested. In fact, if you listen to them on good-quality headphones, you will hear not only some extremely fine, well-crafted music, but also some excellent musicianship - I had never realized that the strings could sound so sweet in places, and also the flutes made my heart beat a little faster. The whole disc makes Naxos's first attempt (a recording by Stephen Gunzenhauser with a Slovakian ensemble) pale into insignificance. At the Naxos price, nobody can go wrong here - and I beg casual listeners not to pay too much attention to the somewhat bitter remarks made by those who always seem to know better."

A fizzy reading with real personality -- Alsop's best foray

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 09/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Marin Alsop is far from my favorite conductor, but her new CD of the Dvorak 'New World' doesn't deserve the lamebrained reviews it's gotten here so far. The program begins with a cheerful reading of the less-than-inspired Symphonic Variations. Ms. Alsop shows a deft touch throughout, but I have never been able to sustain enough interest in this work to get to the end, and I didn't this time.



Her 'New World' is appealing for one great virtue: it is unfussy and unpretentious. The mood is considerably lighter than in any other version I've ever heard. Instead of making the Scherzo sound rustically Czech, for example, Alsop takes it like a tarantella, whirling and light on its feet. The reviewer who implies that this is a studied account has rocks in his ears. It's practically effervescent -- clearly the conductor wants to pull us away from the kind of inflated interpretations one hears from big-name conductors in Vienna and Berlin.



The Baltimore Sym. backs her up with comitted playing, more lightweight at times than I'm used to hearing but skillful throughout. (I don't hear really talented woodwind or brass soloists, however.) After a truncated period under the great Yuri Temirakanov, ensemble sounds crisp, and one must say that Naxos has come a long way form its early use of third-rate Eastern Euroepan orchestras. As for shortcomings, Alsop can't maintain dramatic tension when the music gets soft, and her transitions tend to be mechanical rather than expressive. Still, this reading has a real personality and strikes me as one of her best."