Smetana - Complete Orchestral Works [Box set]

American conductor Theodor Kuchar and Vitkovice, Czech Republic-based Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra collaborated with Brilliant Classics to bring us this three-fer of the orchestral music of Bedrick Smetana (1824-84) who was, with Dvoark, the father of Czech national music. It arrives at a time when two other integral sets of Smetana music, led by Vladimir Valek and Gianandrea Noseda, are also available in the musical marketplace. I haven't heard anything from the latter pair.

Kuchar and his band have the tenor of Smetana; you can hear that from the opening pages of Ma Vlast on the fist CD. However, they don't match the vigor and power Kubelik brought to this music in his mono Mercury recording with Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I would compare Kuchar's approach more to the softer-grained attacks of Zdenek Macal and Milwaukee Symphony and Kubelik's later (and vastly overrated) recording with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Kuchar's approach to the composer's three "Swedish" tone poems -- Wallenstein's Camp, Hakon Jarl and Richard III -- also lacks the panache, power and individuality Kubelik displayed in his early 1970s stereo recording on DG with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra. There, Kubelik more closely defined each score while Kuchar, in part because of his birthright and youth (he is still in his 40s), does less to make difference between the three. While exceptionally well done here, they tend to sound a bit like each other.

From this point on, however, Kuchar's collection of Smetana's orchestral music is as good as any ever recorded and is probably the best single collection of this music ever offered. The conductor and band breathe fire in their no holds barred approach to selections from The Bartered Bride (overture, polka, furiant and dance of the comedians) that make me wonder why they were not equally outgoing in the Tabor and Blanik sections of Ma Vlast. The orchestral virtuosity is a thing to behold in this later music, as well.

Almost everything that comes after this is going to be new to everyone but Smetana junkies aside from a hearing or two you may have had of the Festive Symphony Op. 6. This 45-minute symphony in four parts is so light and airy it has the feel of a Dvoark serenade. The rest of the combined orchestral music is high in fun quotient (especially for a composer that died in an insane asylum because of venereal disease!) The lengthiest treatise is the near 9-minute Festive Overture; everything else is reminiscent of carnival music, light-hearted Dvorak and even a tad of early Shostakovich. The Janacek Philharmonic plays its heart out in these little-known pieces and they will have you tapping your toe, humming and smiling along.

Brilliant Classics built its reputation in recent years by buying rights to hundreds of older recordings and packaging them in 20-, 30-, 50- and 100-CD sets of music by Beethoven, Bach, Shostakovich and others. The label has also released a lot of good origianl recordings including last year's decidedly masterful concert one off of Handel's Israel in Egypt. This set follows on the heels of those successes.

Kuchar, who was trained in Cleveland and has held numerous conducting jobs around the world since the 1990s, built his reputation mainly through Naxos recordings when he was conductor of the Ukraine National Symphony Orchestra. This recording is a big feathers in his cap and quite a notch in the bedpost for both he and Brilliant. This is a very fine set of Smetana's orchestral music and anyone with interest will not regret putting out the small investment Brilliant requires to bring it home.

I'm a relative newbie to classical music beyond the obvious big names and to Smetana in particular. I bought this great value CD set on the basis of the overture to the Bartered Bride and the Moldau from Ma Vlast and what a cracker the rest is. I'm also unfamiliar with the conductor and orchestra but what they do here is a fine job, well and powerfully played. I'm unable to compare the interpretation here to Kubelik's but at the price there's nothing to complain about.

See other reviews or product details for music lists on each disc.
I was familiar with Ma Vlast and the range on disc three but unfamiliar with the content of disc two. Being a cheaper edition, it makes wonderful music available to a wider range of listeners without detracting from the quality. I was not disappointed with the enthusiastic rendition of Ma Vlast, the main reason I purchased the boxed-set; the others were a bonus.
At this price, I recommend it but not just for the price.