Given the severe competition and overcrowded marketplace where
Dvořák symphonies are concerned, the reappearance of Harnoncourt’s
Concertgebouw recordings at budget price immediately makes them
more competitive. This superbly played Seventh has a lot going
for it, though I didn’t find it any more persuasive than my two
long-standing library versions, Colin Davis with this very orchestra,
recorded by Philips in 1975, and Christoph Dohnanyi with his crack
Cleveland Orchestra from the 1980s.
Dvořák’s most
dramatic symphony needs to have, above all in the first movement,
a feeling of tension and urgency. Harnoncourt’s opening strikes
me as too slack and tentative, though it does improve as things
unfold. Davis gets it just about right, with a slightly brisker
tempo and feeling of simmering drama. The playing is just as
fine – probably a lot of the same players – and the recording
does not betray its age one jot. Harnoncourt is impressive in
the great adagio, where his famous ear for detail pays dividends
with the glorious horn and woodwind passages from 2’32 onwards.
He doesn’t make as much as Dohnanyi of the famous Tristan
reference at 5’37, though that is typical of Harnoncourt and
is not a downside. He keeps things flowing quite naturally and
overall this movement is a success, if not quite as warm as
Davis.
The liner note,
in the form of an interview with the conductor, mentions the
scherzo specifically, with Harnoncourt saying ‘At the start
of the scherzo I always go weak at the knees ... you’re aware
of a sense of national identity in this music’. Not surprisingly,
this movement is a great success, with razor-sharp accents and
a wonderful feeling of rhythmic buoyancy. The finale comes off
well enough, though once again I had a nagging doubt about the
all-important atmosphere which Davis manages to convey so effectively,
though the energy and octane level improves as the movement
progresses. The recording is splendidly full and resonant, with
every detail registering.
One of the best
aspects of these Harnoncourt Dvořák discs has been the
inclusion of the late symphonic poems, major works all of them.
The Wild Dove, like the others, is based on a gruesome
folk ballad by Erben and Dvořák, clearly with the examples
of Liszt, Smetana and Strauss in mind, is suitable inspired.
The orchestration is masterly (listen to the cascading strings
at 5’32) ant the thematic development brilliantly conveys a
sense of the narrative. You may also hear Berlioz at 8’10 (shades
of the Le Corsaire ) but ultimately you’re never in doubt
that this is the Czech master fully engaged with his nationalistic
material. Perhaps it’s because I’m less familiar with the piece,
but Harnoncourt struck me as quite inspired here, with his typically
probing sense of re-discovery bringing the teeming details to
life without losing sense of the symphonic line.
So, a successful
performance of The Wild Dove and a relatively ordinary
one of the symphony which, given the short-ish playing time,
makes it hard to completely recommend. Things are further clouded
by the fact that all the symphonic poems are themselves now
neatly re-packaged on to a budget double-disc set, available
online for as little as Ł7.00. For the record, Davis and Dohnanyi
are also on budget doubles, both with Symphonies 8 and 9, but
Davis offering the marvellous and under-rated Symphonic Variations
as extra incentive, while Dohnanyi includes the shorter
Scherzo Capriccioso, so both are outstanding, well-filled
bargains.
Tony Haywood
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Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Nikolaus
Harnoncourt
