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


Support us financially by purchasing this from

Alexander MOYZES (1906-1984)
Dances from Slovakia
Dances from Gemer, Op. 51 (1955) [16.26]
Down the River Váh, Op. 26 (1935/45) [23.09]
Pohronie Dances, Op. 43 (1950) [31.21]
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra/ Ondrej Lenárd
rec. 1989, Concert Hall of Slovak Radio, Bratislava, Slovakia
NAXOS 8.555477 [71.12]

It sometimes seems as if composers from central Europe are expected to write sets of Symphonic Dances, almost as Scholastic philosophers had the provide commentaries on the Sentences of Peter Lombard. But, just as the Sentences acted as a discipline to remind scholars of central theological questions, so dance is essential to the rootedness of Czech, Slovak and Hungarian composers. And when they are as striking as those of Moyzes, there is nothing dry or limited in the enterprise.

This welcome reissue, which first appeared on Marco Polo 8.223278 is a valuable addition to the Naxos series of Moyzes’ orchestral works. The dances, from different stages in his career, are immediately attractive, colourfully orchestrated and distinctive in character.

The earliest set, Down the River Váh, is especially interesting. Its origins were a commission to write incidental music for a radio programme on a power station on the Váh. The 1945 version was an expansion from four movements to five, with expansion to a full orchestra. The model of the final Suite was Vlatava: tracing the river from its source to its eventual flowing into the Danube, Moyzes provided an explicit programme, reproduced in the accompanying notes. ‘Dances’ is perhaps too simple a term, and certainly misleading: dance elements are present in all movements, but it is wiser to think of these as short tone poems, by turns dramatic and bucolic, superbly orchestrated. Moyzes was a student of Novák, and the nationalist spirit is strong. There are lovely moments, not least in the opening of the second movement ‘From Liptov to Orava’, or the Finale, ‘Into the Danube’s Embrace’. Overall, it is intrinsically fascinating and enjoyable.

Dances from Gemer are genuinely dances, based on the folk music of the Gemer region of Southern Slovakia. The orchestra includes a cimbalom, a characteristic Central European instrument - a kind of jumbo dulcimer with hammered steel strings. The four dances are strongly characterised, with piquant orchestration and rhythmic excitement. The mood is less serious than in the earlier work, but as examples of symphonic dance, they are masterly.

The Pohronie Dances – another set of four, display similar features. The inspiration comes from the Hron countryside, with dances for highwaymen, a maiden, woodsmen and finally a merry village celebrating after work. These are some of the longest pieces on the CD, and they gain from the development this makes possible. There is something of the sinfonietta about the whole work, with music both striking and attractive.

The thirty-year-old digital sound does not detract from enjoyment in any way, despite occasional slight congestion of orchestral sound in a couple of places. Ondrej Lenárd and his orchestra seem to have this music in their bones, and one senses their pleasure in the playing.

Michael Wilkinson

Previous review: Rob Barnett



Advertising on
Musicweb


Donate and keep us afloat

 

New Releases

Naxos Classical
All Naxos 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