Dvorak: Symphonic Variations, Op. 78

“Kertesz was a distinguished Dvorakian. His symphonic poems and overtures are wonderfully vivid even if the vintage sound is a little thin.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 ****

“Kertesz shows the underlying grave beauty of this marvellous set of variations” Gramophone Magazine (Symphonic Variations)

“a bright and delightful performance” Gramophone Magazine (In Nature’s Realm)

“splendidly played and recorded” Gramophone Magazine (The Water Goblin, The Noonday Witch, My Home, Hussite Overture)

“an outstanding version of the Scherzo capriccioso – considered the finest available in its day” Penguin Guide

“The unashamed brassiness of the orchestra's sound marks it out as the work of an American ensemble, but alongside that there is plenty of subtlety to the wind-playing, not least the marvellous cor anglais in the famous slow movement, as well as the cameos given to flute and clarinet elsewhere in the work. The strings, on the other hand, bring a sheen more in keeping with the music's European roots. The recorded sound is particularly warm and welcoming, and both that and the superlative performances mean that the two promised successors to this disc - more Dvorák recorded under the same circumstances - cannot arrive soon enough.” Matthew Rye, The Telegraph, 28th June 2006 Disc of the Week

“It’s hard to understand why a work as enjoyable as the Symphonic Variations, by a composer as popular as Dvorak, should be so neglected. Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony remind us of its charms and richly inventive colours in this vivid, incisive account. They also do the symphony proud, proving that a warhorse such as the New World is hackneyed only in the minds of jaded performers and listeners.” Sunday Times, 22nd June 2008 ****

“It is rare to be able to say that a performance forces one to listen to a work anew, but this is exactly what Alsop's reading achieves. Excellently recorded and with an elegant and witty performance of the Symphonic Variations as makeweight, this is a superb issue all round.” BBC Music Magazine, July 2008 *****

“…a terrific reading of a firm favourite. Yet overall, Alsop's is not a histrionic reading but one full of affectionate touches… What makes this disc doubly recommendable is the superb account of the Symphonic Variations… The recording is outstanding in every way, well balanced and vivid in detail.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2008

“Dvorák's New World has already been recorded by almost everyone who matters! But Marin Alsop makes it very much her own, with her fine Baltimore orchestra responding with an account full of warmth, moments of high drama, and, above all, finely paced with a flowing, spontaneous feeling. One notes the delightful flute-playing, the bold, strong trombones in tuttis, and the luminous grace of the strings, immediately apparent at the affectionate opening of both first and second movements. The delicate close of the Largo, after the songful repeat of the beautifully simple and very lovely cor anglais melody, is memorable. The movement's central episodes are equally poetic, particularly the gentle clarinet theme over the murmuring bass pizzicati.
The Scherzo bursts in, and the finale has all the impetus one could want. Yet overall, Alsop's is not a histrionic reading but one full of affectionate touches, the appealing little nudge at the end of the second subject of the first movement for instance, while the closing retrospective section of the finale is particularly satisfying.
What makes this disc doubly recommendable is the superb account of the Symphonic Variations, inspired but surprisingly neglected. It is a work which after the mysterious opening Lento emolto tranquillo, which is perfectly captured here, needs to move on flexibly but with plenty of impetus, capturing the continual changes of mood and colour. The extraordinary variety of invention and scoring captivates the ear, sometimes perky, sometimes gentle (like the enchanting little repeated-note flute solo, followed immediately by gruff trombones), until it reaches its genial fugal apotheosis and the performance sweeps to its folksy, grandiloquent close. The recording is outstanding in every way, well balanced and vivid in detail.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“an account full of warmth, moments of high drama, and above all finely paced with a spontaneous forward flow...Throughout, the recording is outstanding in every way” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition ***

“Mackerras's reading of the Symphonic Variations would stand up well to any competition...In the wrong hands these 27 variations can seem bitty. Mackerras underlines the bigger picture with flawless handling of the tempo relationships and by building a powerful sense of expectation in the approach to the fugal finale.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 *****/***

“This live 1992 recording from Festival Hall shows Mackerras at the height of his powers. It is a joy from beginning to end. The Eighth has had many notable interpreters, but none knew better than Mackerras how to pace and colour this magical work...The Variations, too, receive a vivid, richly expressive performance, making you wonder why it is so rarely played.” Sunday Times, 31st July 2011 ****

“Sir Charles Mackerras's way with Dvorak's Eighth Symphony was invariably unaffected, bracing and energetic, and this live relay is no exception...Mackerras always directed [the Variations] with consummate mastery, edging from one variation to the next with evident ease, making the work sound the compelling entity that it is” Gramophone Magazine, September 2011

“The performance of the Symphony is truly exceptional: besides the fabulous lyrical flair and poise of the playing, Mackerras finds an interplay of darkness and light in the slow movement that's genuinely spine-tingling to listen to. Only very special conductors can come up with performances like this where, even with such a much-played symphony, it's as if you're hearing it for the first time.” Classic FM Magazine, September 2011 *****

“Pieter Wispelwey… he does bring exceptional qualities to bear in a reading that has a profound sense of drama. …coupled with a splendid performance of the Symphonic Variations, this issue is a winner from many points of view.” BBC Music Magazine, November 2007 ****

“Here we have an outstanding version of Dvorák's Cello Concerto, one to rival any version in the catalogue and imaginatively coupled with the much earlier Symphonic Variations.
Pieter Wispelwey crowns his previous releases in this electrifying live recording, brilliantly accompanied by the Budapest Festival Orchestra under Iván Fischer.
It includes applause at the end of each performance, suggesting there is far less editing here than in many other live recordings. That ties in with the high-voltage performances, well recorded in atmospheric and finely detailed sound, with the soloist well balanced in the concerto.
Wispelwey's playing is marked by crisp attack and exceptionally clean articulation, and though he allows an easing for the transition into the great second-subject melody, as well as in the mysterious G sharp minor reference to it in the central development section, he keeps romantic freedom well in check.
The Wispelwey first movement climax is triumphant with the orchestra weighty in tuttis, while the slow movement finds the soloist flexible, with magical shading of pianissimi leading to the hushed close. The finale is crisp and clean, with some wonderfully ripe-sounding horns suggesting Viennese influence. The hushed epilogue is refined, leading to a powerful final cadence.
In the Symphonic Variations Fischer holds the structure cleanly together, crisply defining each of the 27 brief variations and the fugal finale. One marvels anew at Dvorák's inventive elaborations on a simple theme, on a par with the SlavonicDances. An outstanding disc.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010

“An outstanding cellist and a really wonderful musician” Gramophone Magazine

“The orchestra is the Slovak Philharmonic, who really have this music in their blood, conducted in lively and idiomatic fashion by Stephen Gunzenhauser who has a most engaging way with Dvorák's music.” The Guardian