Dvorak - Symphonic Variations [Sawallisch-The Philadelphia Orchestra] A very underestimated bunch of variations, nowhere near as well known as Elgar's Enigma Variations, and yet just as thrilling and inventive, one of the things that sets Dvorak's work apart, is that there are 27 variations [plus a theme and finale] all in roughly 21 minutes of music, and considering that the finale is 4 minutes long, that makes on average 36 seconds per variation, it chops and changes rapidly, another feature is the way Dvorak oftentimes blends the end of one variation into the start of the next, and without track listing it's hard to find your way around, but it's a great device, there's a nice continuous flow, i spoke about these variations nearly a year ago [28th March 2010], and what i said there very much applies here.
Wolfgang Sawallisch was born in Germany, now 87 years old, this disc was recorded in 1991, the front cover booklet very much suggests that this is really a disc for Dvorak's Cello Concerto, and the Symphonic Variations are there to just fill the disc up, but they're certainly not filler!, the front cover booklet is a nice shot of Sawallisch with the Cellist Natalia Gutman [photo by Bonnie West], with a bright and colourful blue background, and the red logo 'nicely clashes'.
Well i found that each variation is actually quite evenly weighted against every other variation, but for me i suppose, it's in the middle of the work where the best 2 variations lie, in numbers 14 and 15, here's a little synopsis,
Variation 14 [track 18], starts off as if something coming out of his Ninth Symphony [0:00], and there's a lovely place for a quiet solo flute to weave some peaceful magic [0:07-0:31], this is taken up by the bassoon [0:31-0:47] that has a little bit more of a lilting tune, and the flute now becomes a background rhythm to this bassoon solo, with a nice delicate quiet version of the main theme.
Variation 15 [track 19], in complete contrast this variation is quite vulgar, sounding loud and brash, it starts off with the dark brass blasting out the theme in forte [0:00-0:12], and in contrast a quieter woodwind have their little say / reply [0:12-0:22], but the brash brass come back, this time with the orchestra in tow [0:22], which naturally leads into a brass fanfare [0:33], and the lower strings start to build up [0:44], with the higher strings joining in, which fuses into the short 16th variation [only 19 seconds long], which strangely sounds as if it's the finale of the previous variation?, or did they splice the track listing wrong? [and another little point, the variations are individually cued, which really helps in a work like this].
either way these two 'opposite ends of the spectrum' variations show how Dvorak juxtaposes intense contrast one with another, get to know them all, they reveal all sorts of nice surprises.
Variation 14 [track 18], starts off as if something coming out of his Ninth Symphony [0:00], and there's a lovely place for a quiet solo flute to weave some peaceful magic [0:07-0:31], this is taken up by the bassoon [0:31-0:47] that has a little bit more of a lilting tune, and the flute now becomes a background rhythm to this bassoon solo, with a nice delicate quiet version of the main theme.
Variation 15 [track 19], in complete contrast this variation is quite vulgar, sounding loud and brash, it starts off with the dark brass blasting out the theme in forte [0:00-0:12], and in contrast a quieter woodwind have their little say / reply [0:12-0:22], but the brash brass come back, this time with the orchestra in tow [0:22], which naturally leads into a brass fanfare [0:33], and the lower strings start to build up [0:44], with the higher strings joining in, which fuses into the short 16th variation [only 19 seconds long], which strangely sounds as if it's the finale of the previous variation?, or did they splice the track listing wrong? [and another little point, the variations are individually cued, which really helps in a work like this].
either way these two 'opposite ends of the spectrum' variations show how Dvorak juxtaposes intense contrast one with another, get to know them all, they reveal all sorts of nice surprises.
Here's Dvorak's Symphonic Variations being played on YouTube, Variation 14 starts at 7:36, and Variation 15 starts at 8:36.
