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Complete sets of the Dvořák concertos
are not numerous. In fact at this moment
I cannot think of another. This is presumably
down to the widely disseminated ‘wisdom’
that the Piano Concerto is a flop. Certainly
there is room for such a set. This one
however is good rather than outstanding.
It is at bargain price so not a great
deal is in hazard. The design decisions
are good. The text is legible and there
are some great session photographs.
Altogether the production proclaims
a thoughtful approach and good judgement.
The two discs can be purchased separately
and each comes in its own jewel case
with the two cases slid into a hard
card sleeve. Shame that a compact single
width double case could not have been
used.
The Piano Concerto
is one of those works that
plays best when treated as another Brahms
Piano Concerto No. 1. That’s the way
I learnt it from a broadcast tape of
Rudolf Firkusny with the Czech Philharmonic
Orchestra and Karel Ančerl. This
however is more smooth and contemplative
and when it becomes
more dramatic it reminded me of another
favourite work, the Saint-Saëns Second
Piano Concerto. The strings are sweet
enough but become rather scrawny-toned
when the pressure is on. One the other
hand Čechová gives what may be
the work’s most poetic interpretation
ever. Although things fly along in the
finale this lacks the tawny fire we
might have had from Serkin had he tackled
the work. The stereo spread is open
and full of spatial detailing. The Violin
Concerto seems orchestrally torpid
when it should be more vehemently flammable.
Predictably the middle movement works
better under this regime and the finale
recaptures the necessary fire. I was
not very taken with Nováková’s
vibrato although she is recorded very
sympathetically indeed. All these recordings
ring out in a resonant and very agreeable
acoustic. It is entirely predictable
that Vavřínek will treat the Cello
Concerto in the same way as the
other two concertos. There is some passion
but overall this is another poetically
softened reading when my preference
runs to the sort of nobility and heat
we hear in the Sony recording with Leonard
Rose and Ormandy. Not wanting to be
too negative I must mention that the
orchestral contribution glows and shines:
listen to the sweet-toned and steady
as a rock French horn solo in the first
movement. Also a good sampling point
is the start of the finale which stalks
in exactly as it should, tense yet yielding.
Páleníček
excellent elsewhere loses some definition
at the very start and does not burn
with ardour. On the other hand who cares
when he duets with the solo clarinet
at 3:00 onwards. As might be expected
what can seem a demerit in emotionally
mercurial works can be a virtue
where the work is predominantly a reflective
soliloquy as is the case with Silent
Woods. The Rondo
could do with mercury’s wings to get
it to fly; still, in these hands, it
remains companionable enough.
Not a library recommendation
but there are many strengths here including
an over-arching poetic and thoughtful
temperament presumably imparted by Vavřínek.
It’s not the whole picture but there
is much that is very likeable indeed.
Rob Barnett
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Jitka Čechová (piano) 
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