Search - Ludwig van Beethoven, Antonin Dvorak, Paul Hindemith :: Hindemith: Concert Music for Strings and Brass; Dvorák: Symphony No. 7; Beethoven: Egmont Overture

An epic, exuberant Dvorak Seventh, and rare Hindemith, from

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 01/04/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The two main works here are from the same concert in 1969 with the New Philharmonia in very good form. The acoustics of Royal Festival Hall are not good, however, and the BBC engineers didn't solve any problems by placing their microphones so far away -- the sonics are dull and out of balance, with thin lower strings and a lack of color throughout. I wanted to post that warning first because in all other respects this was a sterling occasion. It gave us a rare chance to hear Giulini in Hindemith -- he never recorded any of the composer's music in the studio. This version of the Concert Music for Strings and Brass is unusually affectionate; so often Hindemith is taken to be a dry neo-classicist. Giulini clearly loves the work, and the orchestra responds with a sleek, sumptuous reading, one of the very best I've heard.



But the high point of the concert is an exuberant, edge-of-your-seat Dvorak Seventh, played as if it were as great and as epic as a Brahms symphony. Giulini recorded it four times, counting two stuido versions and two from concerts. I only know the studio recording on EMI, and it pales beside this highly charged one. The orchestra isn't note perfect, but they play with total commitment. You'd never guess that the Seventh is the most problematic of Dvorak's last three symphonies to pull off. All the more pity, then, that the sonics are so disappoinnting -- marginal broadcast stereo at best.



If you love Giulini's way with Dvorak, as many experienced listeners do, the limitations of the recording shouldn't hold you back from a great performance."