Recording Review #46: Desultory Dvořák

Dvořák: Symphonies Nos. 7-9; Nature, Life and Love. Semyon Bychkov, conductor; Czech Philharmonic. Pentatone PTC5187216. 

I put off listening to this for a while because I just couldn't bear the thought of MORE late Dvořák symphony performances that are blah. The available reviews/impressions I was sampling weren't reassuring. But while I can't see that this recording adds anything world-altering to the catalogue, I don't think it's as bad as some would have us believe. That doesn't mean it's particularly good. While I'd only call only two of the symphony movements' performances "poor" (I'm referring to the opening movement of 7 and the scherzo of 8, which are especially leaden), there is a general lack of sonic brightness. The strings in particular come off pasty. This isn't helped by a sound quality that makes it seem like there was a thin window erected between the recording equipment and the playing musicians. 

I think the basic problem here is that Bychkov doesn't have a strong vision for these works. He's just conducting and recording them with his Czech Philharmonic Orchestra because that's what he's expected to do. In a way this is better than someone like Fabio Luisi taking the reins of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra and conducting the Nielsen symphonies as if they're by Mahler or Bruckner. Nothing comparably irritating happens here. But with so many excellent options available I just can't imagine that most people would need these Nos. 7-9. They're serviceable overall but nothing more. I wish Bychkov and Co. had recorded Symphonies Nos. 1-6 instead. At least there the competition isn't so fierce, and we'd have another option for works that deserve more exposure. 

Speaking of which, the best reason to buy this recording are the three Nature, Life and Love overtures included. These sparkle in a way the symphonies don't. But that's just under 40 minutes of music next to nearly two hours of second-rate symphonic performances. Is all of this worth the time and money? I guess it depends on how much of a Dvořák collector you are. 

Verdict: Indifferent

Recording Review #4: Sedate Smetana

Smetana: Má Vlast. Semyon Bychkov, conductor; Czech Philharmonic. Pentatone PTC 5187203. 

This is a perfectly respectable recording, thank you very much. The direction is competent. The playing is nice and polished. Nothing in it offends. There's just one problem: we're mostly missing the nationalist fervor that gives Má Vlast so much of its flavor. I know, I know...in this day and age we're PAST all of that. Now we're just one, big, happy world community...or at least European community...or at least that's the idea. Which means 'unpleasant' stuff like nationalism (a word virtually interchangeable with jingoism these days) should be on the outs. None of that cultural pride, if you please! We're all "Posties" now...post-nationalist, post-modernist, post-historical, post-religious, post-military, post-borders, post-truth, post-this, post-that. Blech. 

Okay, I'm off-track. Just a bit, though. Because when one considers this release against a huge recording catalogue, and particularly the much-loved Vltava/The Moldau, Bychkov and the CPO come across as just a bit post-passionate. Which is ironic, because so many great Má Vlast outings have featured this very orchestra: Talich 39 and 54, Ančerl 63 (my personal FAVORITE), Neumann 75, and Kubelik 90 among others. Nor do the Czechs necessarily have a monopoly on playing this music with suitable heart, as interpretations by Berglund, Järvi, and Levine (for example) demonstrate. 

The tone is set immediately after the fine opening harp passage in Vyšehrad. When we come to the next material, and especially the march, the gestures are too staid. We need more gusto, more color, and more life, especially in the fanfares. Similarly, Vltava opens nicely, with fine woodwind playing...these are good musicians! But when the main theme enters in the strings, it is too timid and too limp, missing the zeal you hear in so many classic Czech performances. The wedding dance portion is good but not special, and it has an oddly muted climax. The moonlit segment is just too SLOW; the strings shimmer nicely, but the melody needs to move to be properly heard. Things improve at the climactic finish, when the castle theme grandly re-emerges. There is more energy at this point, but it comes across somehow as clock-gearish. Šárka simply requires more fire...not much more to be said about it. Perhaps the performance's best number is the Bohemian Woods and Fields movement. Yes, almost everything from the horns theme onward needs oomph, but the pastoral material early on comes across extremely well. If all the work were like this, we'd have a top-notch recording. Tábor and Blanik are traditionally the hardest parts of Má Vlast to bring off, but by the same token they're the hardest parts to really mess up. A certain amount of aggressiveness is written into them by virtue of their punchy motives and martial themes. Bychkov navigates these areas well, and while one could wish for more Ančerl-style sweep and virility, they do impress compared to earlier. 

Enjoying nationalist music as such shouldn't be attached to shame. So far as I know, I have not a drop of Czech blood in me. I've sadly never been east of Western Europe, let alone the Czech Republic. I can't speak a bit of their beautiful language. But when I listen to music like Má Vlast I want to imagine being there, and have the referenced scenes, stories, and other folk elements come vividly to my imagination. What I don't want is for the musicians (and principally the conductor) to perform like Good Cosmopolitans™... not even a little...not even when their musicianship is otherwise so good. 

Recommended to Collectors; Mildly Recommended to Everyone Else