Dvorak: Mazurek for violin and orchestra, Op. 49 (B89)

You would be hard pressed indeed to find a great cellist who didn’t have Dvorák’s Concerto in B minor in his repertoire. There are dozens of recordings of various interpretations of the piano and violin concertos, which are among the very finest that have ever been written for these instruments.

This collection, intended for Dvorák devotees, also contains the lesser-known Cello Concerto in A major in orchestral instrumentation, originally composed with piano accompaniment. The smaller mood pieces for violin (Mazurek, Romance), cello (Rondo, Silent Woods) and orchestra supplementing this collection are a certain antipode to the large concertos.

If there can be said to be a “Dvorák” interpretative tradition, then the soloists on this CD, headed by the violinist Josef Suk (by the way, the composer’s great-grandson) and the pianist Ivan Moravec, are undoubtedly its standard-bearers.

And would it be possible to name an orchestra more deeply rooted in the Dvorák tradition than the Czech Philharmonic (conducted at one time by Dvorák himself)?

This CD presents Dvorák’s complete concertante oeuvre performed by those with a true calling.

Collectors and admirers of Dvořák’s music bearing the hallmark of the Czech performance tradition can now add another comprehensive album to put alongside the previous complete Supraphon CDs mapping his chamber (SU38152, SU39212), piano (SU40182) and symphonic works (SU40902). The acclaimed recording of the symphonies, conducted by Václav Neumann, is now followed by Supraphon’s 8-CD box set featuring Dvořák’s orchestral pieces and concertos. In addition to the celebrated Slavonic Dances, it contains a number of rarely recorded symphonic works (the Hussite Overture, My Home, A Hero’s Song), as well as splendid compositions for chamber and string orchestras. Besides recordings made under the baton of Neumann, it provides scope to other great Dvořák conductors – Mackerras, Bělohlávek and the rising star Jakub Hrůša. The set of orchestral works is rounded off by recordings of concertos, ranging from the virtually unknown Cello Concerto in A major, written by the young Dvořák, to the most frequently performed, the Cello Concerto in B minor. Supraphon has again carefully put together top-quality and time-honoured recordings of works performed by world-renowned soloists.