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Product Description
Neeme Jarvi brings great energy and drive to these extraordinary symphonies. Originally a BIS recording, now offered at an extraordinary price for a 3 disc set!
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29 of 33 people found the following review helpful
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This is an amazing bargain. The performances are good and the music is attractive, enjoyable and fascinating. It is not so easy to describe Martinu's symphonies. They don't span his whole career - like, say, the symphonies of Sibelius or Beethoven or Shostakovich - but all come from a relatively brief period in his life (after he had moved to the USA). It wasn't so much because of a Brahms like reluctance to tackle the symphony until he was ready. It was just that the form suddenly interested him. So the set shows him during a particular time in his career - these are all mature works - discovering a musical form and exploring what it offered to his vision.
For some reason the symphonies bring paintings to my mind - city scenes, somewhat stylised, filled with people going about their daily lives but without a central focus ... as if letting it all pass by observed but not participated in. The works are contemporary, unique, memorable and attractive. There is a slightly disembodied feel to the symphonies but that may be partly a matter of how the works are played here. The luminosity of Martinu's orchestration is the key element for Jarvi and the works can seem lacking in density or red bloodedness in comparison with some other performances of odd symphonies that I have heard. And yet Jarvi also doesn't go for mystery. It is all a little disconcerting but it is not without its own magic. The symphonies come over as very attractive works and quite unlike anything else you will hear. There appear to be different views as to which Martinu set is the best but these seem committed, well played and well recorded.
I will aim to try out other accounts as I am not sure I am getting everything that is in the music from these but in the meantime this set has been a find and is a true bargain. That it has made me want to hear other accounts of these works is a sign of the impact it has had on me.
Postscript (November 2011): I eventually succumbed and bought the recent set by Jiri Belohlavek (to download is fairly cheap) and think it is probably superior to this set by Jarvi. It is certainly very different and is, I think, a more central recommendation: the works seem larger and more significant under Belohlavek. He finds the narrative line and locates the moments of true magic much more reliably. But the picture of these marvellous works that Jarvi gives us is still something that I value enormously and I am sure the new set will eventually help me to return to these Jarvi accounts with increased pleasure (if you ever buy multiple versions of great music you will probably know what I mean). Jarvi remains a true bargain.
For some reason the symphonies bring paintings to my mind - city scenes, somewhat stylised, filled with people going about their daily lives but without a central focus ... as if letting it all pass by observed but not participated in. The works are contemporary, unique, memorable and attractive. There is a slightly disembodied feel to the symphonies but that may be partly a matter of how the works are played here. The luminosity of Martinu's orchestration is the key element for Jarvi and the works can seem lacking in density or red bloodedness in comparison with some other performances of odd symphonies that I have heard. And yet Jarvi also doesn't go for mystery. It is all a little disconcerting but it is not without its own magic. The symphonies come over as very attractive works and quite unlike anything else you will hear. There appear to be different views as to which Martinu set is the best but these seem committed, well played and well recorded.
I will aim to try out other accounts as I am not sure I am getting everything that is in the music from these but in the meantime this set has been a find and is a true bargain. That it has made me want to hear other accounts of these works is a sign of the impact it has had on me.
Postscript (November 2011): I eventually succumbed and bought the recent set by Jiri Belohlavek (to download is fairly cheap) and think it is probably superior to this set by Jarvi. It is certainly very different and is, I think, a more central recommendation: the works seem larger and more significant under Belohlavek. He finds the narrative line and locates the moments of true magic much more reliably. But the picture of these marvellous works that Jarvi gives us is still something that I value enormously and I am sure the new set will eventually help me to return to these Jarvi accounts with increased pleasure (if you ever buy multiple versions of great music you will probably know what I mean). Jarvi remains a true bargain.
29 of 35 people found the following review helpful
So, Neeme Jarvi's Martinu set is now on Brilliant (from the Bis label originally). This is the set which is most highly acclaimed, and for those of you still without a Martinu symphonies cycle, now is the time, especially with his anniversary coming up. If you don't know this composer, you MUST!!
18 of 25 people found the following review helpful
This is the definitive Martinu cycle in demonstration sound and it's at budget price and well packaged. What are you waiting for?
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