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Review by seth August 28, 2004 (1 of 1 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
Next to the Cello Concerto, the Slavonic Dances are Dvorak's greatest orchestral achievement. Despite some of the dances lasting only three minutes, each one is a substantial work on their own, exhibiting a unique character, richly orchestrated, thematically lush, and fairly complex structurally.
Nearly 40 years later, Szell's recording remains one of the two or three best, with the only recent competition coming from Mackerras. Szell's tempos, phrasing, and balance are all utterly convincing. He's also aided by the brilliant playing of the Cleveland Orchestra.
Sound wise, this SACD is significantly better than past LP and CD issues. The sound is fuller, the bass is more pronounced and tighter, and gone is a harsh brittle texture that infected all of the instruments. Depending on the dances (which were recorded over a number of years), there is more air around the instruments and a greater sense of depth.
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Review by tfkaudio January 16, 2004 (1 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
If you just bought an SACD player, make this one of the first 5 SACD titles you buy. The combination of 1) Inspired performance, 2) 1st rate composition by one of the all-time great composers, and 3) FANTASTIC SACD sound, make it a must-have.
This recording is doubly-satisfying, because I was initially concerned that old recordings might suffer under the high-resolution microscope. Not the case here! The SACD sound is just tremendous, and makes me wonder why some other older recordings came out so badly on SACD (See reviews of DG's Beethoven 9th Symphony - Karajan 1976). Either the analog masters were in bad shape, or DG just did a very bad job, which I find hard to believe. Anyway, I digress. Congratulations, Sony Classical, on a job very well done!
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Review by Ed T January 27, 2003 (1 of 2 found this review helpful)
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Performance: Sonics: |
A must! The performances on this disc have been lauded ever since they were first issued back in the 1960's. The sound is unbelievably better than some of the early issues. Very fine sound even on an absolute scale IMO.
Szell was a master of the Bohemian idiom and of Dvorak's work. The Cleveland of this period may have been the finest symphony in the world. This one is for the ages.
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