This version of Dvorak's New World Symphony (no 9) by Ferenc Fricsay has appeared many times on LP and a couple of times on CD. The music is thrilling and superbly played by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This recent release on DG's Originals label seems to have even more presence and clarity than previous CD versions. The couplings, Fricsay's Ma Vlast (Smetana) and Les Preludes (Liszt), are equally exciting. The whole package is produced well, with interesting notes, and at a good price. I would thoroughly recommend this.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb! A thrilling performance, very well recorded, 29 Mar 2008

By	Mike "dmh220551" (Hampshire, UK) - See all my reviews

This is a classic performance of Dvorak's New World symphony. Though committed to disc some decades ago, the sound has come up remarkably well in this reissue on CD, and the performance gains from the vivid and bold orchestral picture. Fricsay's reading is full of passion and endearingly lyrical passages, especially for the woodwind. It is "old-fashioned" in the best sense: Fricsay's orchestra being allowed to express itself fully, while the conductor manages the tempi to maximise the work's emotional impact on the listener. It is a tragedy that this gifted conductor died relatively young. This performance, as well as his unforgettable Tchaikovsky 6th Symphony with the Berlin Phil on mono DG, testifies to his special quality as an interpreter of major romantic classics.

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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch Dvorak adorned by other good stuff, 25 Aug 2004

By	Larry VanDeSande (Mason, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews

Ferenc Fricsay's old recording of the Dvorak "New World" Symphony is about as individual as you can get in this music. It is also about as good as you can get, in my opinion. Not everyone feels this way, of course.

Third Ear, a fine publication that suffers from having only one person review a composer or a large slice of his music, dissed this CD. Steven Ritter, one of American Record Guide's stable of reviewers, grouped this CD with recordings by Marriner, Eschenbach, Tennstedt, Klemperer and Slatkin that he said, "...may safely be dismissed on musical or sonic grounds."

This is to say, I suppose, that this critic can only accept the music a certain way, for everything musical and sonic about this recording -- especially in its newest reincarnation -- is satisfactory. The recording always sounded good and it is splendid in the new rendering. Since its release in 1962, the performance has been on many crtiics short list of the very best renderings of the New World Symphony. The add-ons in the current recording -- Smetana's "The Moldau" and Liszt's "Les Preludes" -- are exceptionally well done by Maestro Fricsay (apparently pronounced Free-shoy much as I'd like to say FREEK-sigh).

Fricsay's way with symphonic staples was similar to others in his day. I'll never forget his recording of the Beethoven Symphony 7, which took a deliberate pace throughout until the closing pages, where he picked up the pace and completely turned around the musical experience.

In romantic music he tended to add a lot of syrup to what was already pretty thick, and he did that with this music as well. Phrases often begin slowly and build dramatically, with a burst of ongoing romantic sensibility that can seem overwrought. I think this approach works fine in the music although I agree with those who say it varies from score markings. Indeed, it is what separates his recordings from all others.

I have a co-worker that loves the music who told me his current favorite recordings was by the New York Philharmonic and Kurt Masur. This is a recording that has received plentiful critical acclaim over the years. I burned a copy of the Friscay recording and gave it to him. His verdict: "I think this is the best performance of this symphony I've ever heard." If you buy this CD, you will say that too.

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