Dvorák: Tone Poems [CD]

These are late works of Dvorak, written after all the symphonies and just before Rusalka. Yet, over the years, they have been curiously underrated. If they appeared at all it was usually as a fill-up to the symphonies once CDs made longer timings desirable. Thus, they turn up under Kertesz as a part of his wonderful and ground-breaking 60's survey of Dvorak's orchestral music. Also as part of Jarvi pere's recordings of the symphonies. The great Vaclav Talich was a master of these pieces. And recently the complete set appeared in fine performances under Harnoncourt with the Concertgebouw.

The reasons for their neglect are hard to figure out. They are all based on folk-style poems by Karel Erben, official archivist of the city of Prague in the middle of the Nineteenth Century. The poems are all dark and of a fairly Grimm nature, but they all have a strong narrative thrust. Dvorak sticks to these narratives pretty tightly as he tells the stories in music, even going so far as to indulge in some Janacek-like use of Czech speech rhythms, especially in The Golden Spinning Wheel. It was this that freed him up from the classical Viennese symphonic forms of the symphonies and perhaps led inevitably on to the full operatic drama of Rusalka.

They are all substantial pieces, running to around 20 minutes each. The music is just wonderful - all the melodiousness of the symphonies is here given even freer rein. And all his mature skills as an orchestrator come to fruition in wonderful colouring and shaping.

It is the latter aspect of Rattle's performances that will probably strike you first. He elicits magical playing from the Berlin Philharmonic, conjuring an amazing range of colours and tones as they follows the twists and turns of the stories to their usually grisly ends. Then you will be captivated by the sparkling and lithe way he manages to lift rhythms to give them real bounce and life - almost Beecham-like and he too was a fan at least of the Golden Spinning Wheel. Finally you will realise that, while the form of these pieces may be a more old-fashioned ballad structure rather than classical sonata-form, Rattle is fully alive to the importance of holding their shape and musical logic together.

Smashing performances of wonderful pieces. And worthy demonstration that the Berlin Philharmonic is back to its heyday as one of the great orchestras of the world.

Who would ever have associated Rattle with Dvorak - especially the lesser known works ! Well we have another champion now. These are quite stunning performances with breathtaking orchestral playing and readings by Simon Rattle that are just so alive. I was brought up on the old Supraphon recordings of these tone poems dating from the 60's and 70's and wonderful they were (and still are) too with delightful playing and the "half drunk" brass sound that you only get from Czech performances. I was convinced they could not be bettered. I was wrong. These Simon Rattle performances are something else. Go for it - you won't be disappointed !

Let's straighten some things out. Some reviewers find almost no merit in this set at all, while others find it to be a winner. If you're trying to decide who to believe, I'm going to try to explain what is causing the differences in opinion. Not that I'm the final word on the subject, of course!

To begin, let me tell you that this recording features what has got to be the world's greatest orchestra with what was then their newly acquired conductor, Sir Simon Rattle. And, in case there's any doubt, the Berlin Philharmonic can play like no other orchestra under the sun, with a big tone that is a joy to hear. They also feature first desk soloists that are simply that best around. That's going to be very apparent in this recording. Rattle sure knows that his orchestra has a wide range of capabilities. The range in dynamics is huge; he surrounds the listener with the big sound of the Berliners in the climaxes and lets his first desk soloists shine in the quiet, yet equally dramatic, soft passages. I'm not sure what is more compelling, those exhilarating moments where everything is taken full throttle or the enchanting moments where the music is almost whispered. You won't fall asleep, that's for sure, for Dvorak has incorporated a large amount of drama into the works. Why don't we hear those poems more often? They contain endless soaring melodies that are possibly even more satisfying than those of the symphonies.

It's the qualities I mentioned above that will make listeners love this recording. However, we still haven't explained what it is about this disc that makes some reviewers look upon it very critically. Is this disc lacking anything? Well, I guess you could say that it is. What Rattle is unable to deliver is anything distinctively Bohemian. You can give Dvorak more fun, more sparkling energy that goes beyond bigness of tone. Perhaps more specifically, these works thrive when they're made light and airy. In his readings of these symphonic poems with the Concertgebouw, Harnoncourt instills all these desired qualities. As if though that's not enough, Harnoncourt is able to deliver nostalgia that washes over the listener in waves. Overall, I think Rattle is probably the better conductor, but Harnoncourt simply is more interesting in Dvorak, who happens to be one of his best composers. That's not to say that Rattle doesn't give any of these qualities; he's just not on the same level.

To summarize, I find myself somewhere in between those who find this a failure and those who find it a winner. There are certainly some very special moments, and the sound of the world's greatest orchestra never grows old. On the other hand, Harnoncourt is more interesting all around. I would recommend his recordings of the tone poems, coupled with the symphonies 7-9 and the piano concerto as the real recordings to have.