Antonín Dvořák - Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9 (István Kertész)

Information

Composer: Antonín Dvořák

• Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88
• Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 - "From the New World"

London Symphony Orchestra

István Kertész, conductor

Date: 1963; 1966

Label: Decca

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Review

Kertesz’s LSO Dvorák cycle has held up very well, and his recording of the Eighth remains one of the best versions available. Much of the reason stems from the sonority of the orchestra, with forwardly balanced woodwinds and really brazen, rustic horns. That makes the scherzando episodes in the finale (not to mention the closing pages) even more raucously festive than in most other performances, but there’s also plenty of sensitivity in the middle movements. Most of all, Kertesz knows how to keep the music moving while relaxing now and then over a particularly romantic moment; witness the transition between first and second subjects in the opening movement. It’s a beautiful job all around, attentive both to detail and to the big picture, nowhere more obviously so than in the very last bar. Listen to how Kertesz brings out the all-important timpani rhythm, without which the ending lacks the necessary emphasis.

The “New World” also is very good, if perhaps not quite so fine as the Eighth. Here Kertesz is competing with his own early Vienna Philharmonic recording for Decca. Although missing the exposition repeat in the first movement, that version is even more exciting than the remake, and perhaps a touch better played. Still, no one hearing this performance would find much to carp about. Its virtues are very much the same as we find in the Eighth, where lively rhythms, perky woodwinds, and clarity of ensemble all add up to an idiomatic Dvorák sound. The sonics were always good–perhaps a bit grainy by today’s best standards, but somehow, with those prominent winds, are right for the music. An easy recommendation, and a welcome reissue.

— David Hurwitz

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Antonín Dvořák (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer. He was the second Czech composer to achieve worldwide recognition, after Bedřich Smetana. Following Smetana's nationalist example, many of Dvořák's works show the influence of Czech folk music, such as his  two sets of Slavonic Dances, the Symphonic Variations, and the overwhelming majority of his songs. Dvořák wrote in a variety of forms: nine symphonies, ten operas, three concertos, several symphonic poems, serenades for string orchestra and wind ensemble, more than 40 works of chamber music, and piano music.

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István Kertész (28 August 1929 – 16 April 1973) was a Hungarian conductor. He studied with Zoltán Kodály and Leó Weiner at the Liszt Academy, and with Fernando Previtali at the Accademia di Santa Cecilia. Following the 1956 Hungarian uprising, he left Hungary with his family and later became a German citizen. Kertész led the Cologne Opera and London Symphony Orchestra, and collaborated with major orchestras worldwide. A Decca artist, he recorded admired cycles of Dvořák, Schubert and Brahms, and was praised for his Mozart interpretations. Kertész died tragically in an accident while working with the Israel Philharmonic.

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