Dvorak: My Home Overture, Op. 62 (Domov můj)

Following their acclaimed recordings of Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8, Claus Peter Flor and the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra come to his Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’.

Since its première, Symphony No. 9 has remained one of his most popular works. It was composed in America and, in the words of the composer, uses ‘simply written original themes embodying the peculiarities of the Indian music’, developing them ‘with all the resources of modern rhythms, harmony, counterpoint and orchestral colour.’

Dvořák performed the overture Můj domov (My Home) at the Czech première of the Ninth. Part of the incidental music for a play, the overture is based on two popular songs, one of which, Kde domov můj (Where Is My Home), would later become the Czechoslovakian national anthem.

Another of Dvořák’s ‘nationalistic’ works appears here – the light-hearted Czech Suite, consisting of five movements, all based on the dance rhythms of Bohemia, Moravia and Central Europe.

Many of the titles on this 2CD set formed couplings to Kertész’s celebrated LSO Dvorak symphony cycle for Decca. Collected here, over two generously-filled CDs, are all of the Overtures and Tone Poems of Dvorak that Kertész recorded. The fantastical, sometimes gruesome fairy tales of Erben exercised a curious fascination over Dvořák and three of his series of four Erben-inspired symphonic poems are recorded here in interpretations that capture every nuance and thrill of the stories. Also included is Kertész’s celebrated recording of the Symphonic Variations, full of invention through the 27 variations, and the Scherzo capriccioso, with its unmistakable Bohemian flavour.