ANTONÍN DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)

 

Symphonic Variations, Op. 78;

Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, ‘From the New World’

 

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra / Marin Alsop

 

This recording by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Marin Alsop is the first of three discs of Dvořák symphonies taken from live performances at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.

 

The most popular of all Dvořák’s works, Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ makes an immediate appeal by virtue of a seemingly inexhaustible flow of melody and sparkling orchestration.

 

Based on a melody he had composed earlier for men’s chorus, ‘I am a fiddler’, the Symphonic Variations are one of the composer’s most beautifully crafted and beguiling works.

 

“Alsop’s triumphant cycle of Brahms symphonies with the LPO comes to a climactic end with this hugely impressive account of the Fourth. She has that ability, vital in music as dense as this, to hurry nothing, to make the most of the moment, yet always to maintain a sense of impetus.” The Sunday Times on Naxos 8570233

 

“Certainly the playing here, in Ms. Alsop’s first New York appearance as music director [of the BSO], was excellent…..[Ms Alsop] showed complete control, infectious enthusiasm and canny pacing.” New York Times concert review

 

Naxos 8570714