Dvorak - Symphony 9 'From The New World' [Jansons-Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra]
Another lovely clear recording, this is my equal favourite version of Dvorak's Ninth, along with Jarvi on Chandos, in fact Jansons made another disc on EMI of the same work, this time with the Oslo Philharmonic, which is also in my Blog [1st November 2012], they're both worth getting to know, this disc doesn't have a great deal of music on it, just over forty minutes, but it is a SACD disc, and it's superbly presented.
Mariss Jansons is Latvian, he's now 72, and he made this recording in 2003, the front booklet cover is absolutely brilliant, now i like colours, and so of course this is right up my street, showing what seem to be fishing flies, but they can't be, it shows very colourful insects and birds, with yellow feathers, whatever it is they look great, and the lettering in white, with orange and maroon bands is great also, it's a tremendously great visual product
It was the middle movements that were the best, i would like to talk about something other than the famous second movement Largo, but it's cast its magical spell over me, it was a terrific musical statement, full of the most sublime music, and who cannot be enchanted by that cor anglais!, of course it's a Largo, meaning Broadly, like a slow meandering river, after the horns begin the piece, it doesn't take long for Dvorak to introduce the cor anglais and his genius of a tune [0:41-2:10], it's very much a plaintive refrain, a sad weeping, the strings take up the same tune, and really caress it in a sublime way [2:40-3:36], but in a lot of ways it's like the slow movement of a Cor Anglais Concerto, and the main character / melody reappears [3:35+], there's a middle section, and Dvorak changes tack, and this is mainly reserved for the flutes [4:36-5:58], another sad song, but a bit faster, i like the way some of the woodwind join in to make a gentle chorus, and like in the first section the strings take over this melody, giving it a different variation [5:58-7:57], with the same flutes / woodwind in the background, and even a variation on the lower strings, and then it bursts into a sort of birdsong on the woodwinds [7:57-8:22], sort of reminiscent of a Dvorak's Slavonic Dance, of course the movement wouldn't be complete without a return to the opening cor anglais theme [8:50+], and the lower strings create a hesitant version of this theme [9:18-10:07], a real piece of nostalgic beauty, i like Jansons interpretation, in lovely sound, and the audience are so quiet!.
Here's Jansons conducting the Symphony on YouTube, the work starts at 3:20, and the Largo starts at 14:10.
Mariss Jansons is Latvian, he's now 72, and he made this recording in 2003, the front booklet cover is absolutely brilliant, now i like colours, and so of course this is right up my street, showing what seem to be fishing flies, but they can't be, it shows very colourful insects and birds, with yellow feathers, whatever it is they look great, and the lettering in white, with orange and maroon bands is great also, it's a tremendously great visual product
It was the middle movements that were the best, i would like to talk about something other than the famous second movement Largo, but it's cast its magical spell over me, it was a terrific musical statement, full of the most sublime music, and who cannot be enchanted by that cor anglais!, of course it's a Largo, meaning Broadly, like a slow meandering river, after the horns begin the piece, it doesn't take long for Dvorak to introduce the cor anglais and his genius of a tune [0:41-2:10], it's very much a plaintive refrain, a sad weeping, the strings take up the same tune, and really caress it in a sublime way [2:40-3:36], but in a lot of ways it's like the slow movement of a Cor Anglais Concerto, and the main character / melody reappears [3:35+], there's a middle section, and Dvorak changes tack, and this is mainly reserved for the flutes [4:36-5:58], another sad song, but a bit faster, i like the way some of the woodwind join in to make a gentle chorus, and like in the first section the strings take over this melody, giving it a different variation [5:58-7:57], with the same flutes / woodwind in the background, and even a variation on the lower strings, and then it bursts into a sort of birdsong on the woodwinds [7:57-8:22], sort of reminiscent of a Dvorak's Slavonic Dance, of course the movement wouldn't be complete without a return to the opening cor anglais theme [8:50+], and the lower strings create a hesitant version of this theme [9:18-10:07], a real piece of nostalgic beauty, i like Jansons interpretation, in lovely sound, and the audience are so quiet!.
Here's Jansons conducting the Symphony on YouTube, the work starts at 3:20, and the Largo starts at 14:10.
