MusicWeb International One of the most grown-up review sites around 2024
60,000 reviews
... and still writing ...

Search MusicWeb Here Acte Prealable Polish CDs
 

Presto Music CD retailer
 
Founder: Len Mullenger                                    Editor in Chief:John Quinn             


Some items
to consider

new MWI
Current reviews

old MWI
pre-2023 reviews

paid for
advertisements

Acte Prealable Polish recordings

Forgotten Recordings
Forgotten Recordings
All Forgotten Records Reviews

TROUBADISC
Troubadisc Weinberg- TROCD01450

All Troubadisc reviews


FOGHORN Classics

Alexandra-Quartet
Brahms String Quartets

All Foghorn Reviews


All HDTT reviews


Songs to Harp from
the Old and New World


all Nimbus reviews



all tudor reviews


Follow us on Twitter


Editorial Board
MusicWeb International
Founding Editor
   
Rob Barnett
Editor in Chief
John Quinn
Contributing Editor
Ralph Moore
Webmaster
   David Barker
Postmaster
Jonathan Woolf
MusicWeb Founder
   Len Mullenger


 
REVIEW


Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos reviews

Chandos recordings
All Chandos reviews

Hyperion recordings
All Hyperion reviews

Foghorn recordings
All Foghorn reviews

Troubadisc recordings
All Troubadisc reviews



all Bridge reviews


all cpo reviews

Divine Art recordings
Click to see New Releases
Get 10% off using code musicweb10
All Divine Art reviews


All Eloquence reviews

Lyrita recordings
All Lyrita Reviews

 

Wyastone New Releases
Obtain 10% discount

Subscribe to our free weekly review listing

 

 

alternatively
CD: AmazonUK AmazonUS
Download: Classicsonline


Antonín DVOŘÁK (1841-1904)
Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70 (1885) [37:06]
Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (1899) [36:51]
Philharmonia Orchestra/Sir Charles Mackerras
rec. live, 9 October 2008 (7); 12 October 2008 (8), Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, London. DDD
SIGNUM CLASSICS SIGCD183 [73:52]

Experience Classicsonline

In the last few years a significant number of orchestras have established their own labels on which to issue performances, usually taken from live concerts. In London both the London Symphony Orchestra and the London Philharmonic come to mind. Another of the city’s orchestras, the Philharmonia, seems to be following a slightly different path in forming what is now a well-established and successful partnership with Signum Records. We’ve already had some fine recordings of works by Brahms, Schubert and other great composers and whilst it might be argued that the repertoire to date has been rather more confined to the mainstream than some of the releases on the aforementioned LSO and LPO labels there’s no denying the high artistic values of the Philharmonia/Signum releases. Now they turn to Czech repertoire under the leadership of arguably the finest non-Czech conductor of that country’s music.

The booklet reminds us that Sir Charles Mackerras is now eighty-five years old - and was eighty-three when these performances were given. Can that really be true? Many conductors have gained in wisdom as they’ve grown older - and I’m sure that applies to Sir Charles also - but by no means all have retained their vitality in the way that he most evidently has. These fresh and vital performances defy the years.

As well as the vitality what impresses as much in these readings is how natural and effortless they sound. It might be argued that these are standard repertoire pieces; that an orchestra such as the Philharmonia can play in its sleep. But these symphonies, familiar though they may be, most definitely don’t play themselves. These performances have surely been prepared scrupulously yet not so strictly as to squeeze the freshness out of them.

In both these symphonies the orchestra sound to be enjoying themselves. The winning third movement of the Eighth, for example, flows delightfully and with charm - and with a delicious but not overdone amount of portamento. The trio has a lovely, natural swing to it. Earlier in the same symphony - my personal favourite among the Dvořák canon - the slow movement is warmly sung, the phrasing supple and affectionate. The trumpet fanfare that introduces the finale is a true, proud call to attention. The main body of the movement, memorably labelled a set of “footloose variations” by the late Michael Steinberg, is splendidly performed here, with Mackerras and his players alive to all the changes of emphasis and mood in this most engaging movement. The gently nostalgic pages near the end are lyrically phrased but then Mackerras whips up a red-blooded coda which understandably draws an ovation from the otherwise commendably quiet audience.

The Seventh, considered by many eminent judges to be the composer’s symphonic masterpiece, is darker-hued with the influence of Brahms more evident. Again, Mackerras is a most convincing guide to the symphony. He establishes a mood of suspense at the very start and then ensures that the energy is properly channelled and released during the course of the first movement, He relaxes nicely for the more lyrical episodes but never lets the tension and intensity drop.

The slow movement begins disarmingly enough, though at times during its course Dvořák becomes more searching. Mackerras brings out all the lyricism in this gloriously-scored music but doesn’t short-change the moments when the skies darken. The very Czech cross-rhythms of the third movement are inflected beautifully - the music is always kept on its toes. The finale contains the most dramatic music in the symphony and Mackerras’s conducting is full of fire and momentum though, as ever, he relaxes perfectly when the score calls for it.

Throughout these performances the Philharmonia produce top-notch playing in all departments. Some of the woodwind playing is a particular delight but it would be invidious to single out sections or players when the corporate response is so keen and excellent. Most of these players will have played these scores umpteen times in their careers but there’s no sense of routine. The recorded sound for both performances is very clear and pleasing.

Sir Charles Mackerras has given us some splendid records during his long career, not least in the last few years - one thinks of his wonderful Beethoven cycle for Hyperion, for instance (see review) - and here he’s on top form again. There are countless versions of both of these great symphonies in the catalogue and a good number of them couple the two works. However, these spirited, authoritative and, above all, highly enjoyable readings are a match for the finest in the field.

John Quinn


 


EXPLORE MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL

Making a Donation to MusicWeb

Writing CD reviews for MWI

About MWI
Who we are, where we have come from and how we do it.

Site Map

How to find a review

How to find articles on MusicWeb
Listed in date order

Review Indexes
   By Label
      Select a label and all reviews are listed in Catalogue order
   By Masterwork
            Links from composer names (eg Sibelius) are to resource pages with links to the review indexes for the individual works as well as other resources.

Themed Review pages

Jazz reviews

 

Discographies
   Composer
      Composer surveys
   National
      Unique to MusicWeb -
a comprehensive listing of all LP and CD recordings of given works
.
Prepared by Michael Herman

The Collector’s Guide to Gramophone Company Record Labels 1898 - 1925
Howard Friedman

Book Reviews

Complete Books
We have a number of out of print complete books on-line

Interviews
With Composers, Conductors, Singers, Instumentalists and others
Includes those on the Seen and Heard site

Nostalgia

Nostalgia CD reviews

Records Of The Year
Each reviewer is given the opportunity to select the best of the releases

Monthly Best Buys
Recordings of the Month and Bargains of the Month

Comment
Arthur Butterworth Writes

An occasional column

Phil Scowcroft's Garlands
British Light Music articles

Classical blogs
A listing of Classical Music Blogs external to MusicWeb International

Reviewers Logs
What they have been listening to for pleasure

Announcements

 

Community
Bulletin Board

Give your opinions or seek answers

Reviewers
Past and present

Helpers invited!

Resources
How Did I Miss That?

Currently suspended but there are a lot there with sound clips


Composer Resources

British Composers

British Light Music Composers

Other composers

Film Music (Archive)
Film Music on the Web (Closed in December 2006)

Programme Notes
For concert organizers

External sites
British Music Society
The BBC Proms
Orchestra Sites
Recording Companies & Retailers
Online Music
Agents & Marketing
Publishers
Other links
Newsgroups
Web News sites etc

PotPourri
A pot-pourri of articles

MW Listening Room
MW Office

Advice to Windows Vista users  
Questionnaire    
Site History  
What they say about us
What we say about us!
Where to get help on the Internet
CD orders By Special Request
Graphics archive
Currency Converter
Dictionary
Magazines
Newsfeed  
Web Ring
Translation Service

Rules for potential reviewers :-)
Do Not Go Here!
April Fools






Untitled Document


Reviews from previous months
Join the mailing list and receive a hyperlinked weekly update on the discs reviewed. details
We welcome feedback on our reviews. Please use the Bulletin Board
Please paste in the first line of your comments the URL of the review to which you refer.