Antonin Dvorak: Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, op. 22, Serenade for Wind Instruments, op. 44 Josef Suk Meditation on the St. Wenceslas Chorale, op. 35a

Czech Music, April, 2008 by Jindrich Balek

Antonin Dvorak Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, op. 22, Serenacle for Wind Instruments, op. 44 Josef Suk Meditation on the St. Wenceslas Chorale, op. 35a

Prague Chamber Philharmonic, Jakub Hrusa.

Production: Petr Vit. Text: Cz, Eng., Ger., Fr. Recorded: 3.-5.7. 2007. Released: 2007. TT: 60:56. DDD. 1 CD Supraphon 3932-2.

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I think it is no mistake to feel that this third Jakub Hrusa recording with Supraphon has turned out to be the best. The first, of Dvorak's Waltzes, is debatable in terms of selection of music, while the second struggles in places with the necessity to get a bigger sound than is natural for the Prague Chamber Philharmonc. It is only with this third title that everything seems exactly as it should. Dvorak's String Serenade is an exceptionally appealing work in itself and many recordings of the 1990s rely simply on its popularity. The recording by the Suk Chamber Orchestra, for example, is a textbook example of a poor interpretation lacking any kind of concept, and so the mere fact that on this new recording the conductor has a clear idea of all the sound layers and tempos and the overall structure is a cause for rejoicing. The conventional Czech myth says that thinking the piece out in this way takes away from spontaneity and that Czech musicians often do not believe that one can play precisely and with immediacy at the same time. Jakub Hrusa, however, offers a conception that links up the classicist and the romantic in Dvorak's serenade. It is classicist above all in the overall transparency of sound and the precise tracing of every part. It is Romantic in its expression and in the treatment of tempo, and in both the listener comes into his own. One of the most interesting features of the new recording is the natural, logical and yet imaginative treatment of tempo. The third movement, for example, starts at almost headlong speed, then slows down strikingly before the music broadens out a few bars later--before the end of the movement everything once again almost stands still, and is then followed by a fast brilliant conclusion. In all the cantilena passages the romantic expression is underlined, but the individual structural and compositional detail is not neglected. I must say that as a contrast to this recording I shall enjoy listening to one of the romantics of the old school, headed by Kubelik, whose musical sensibility is about something else. But with a work so often recorded it is appealing to find that the young conductor does not in fact want to be different and claim an individual approach of his own at any price. At the same time let us add that Belohlavek's recording, strongly classicising in approach and entirely exceptional in purity of sound and intonation, is indeed different enough ... More than malicious tongues suggest when commenting on the similarity of the gestures of the two composers. The recording of the Serenade for Wind Instruments gives the impression of vibrant, brilliant and entirely relaxed music-making. And for the Prague Chamber Philharmonic wind section is it is the best visiting card as far as sound and virtuosity is concerned. While in the recording of the string serenade you could have the sense that the rational element has the upper hand in some passages, in the wind serenade the feeling immediately vanishes. The two serenades are complemented by Suk's Meditation on the St. Wenceslas Chorale, where the heroic choral side has been marvellously brought out as well as the interior meditative aspect. The text in the booklet, where instead of analyses we find an interview with the conductor, full of clever insights, is also fresh and lively.