Search - Dvorak, Swf Symphony :: Symphonic Poems

***** for all of the disc, except the poor Dove

09/18/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Great music, great performances. Kubelik does this music wonderfully, but he has dry engineering by DG (drat!), and perhaps not the world's best orchestra. From the first notes of this disc, you'd have to listen hard to not think that SWF SO isn't world class (although clearly their work can be uneven; their Janacek Sinfonietta on the same label reveals many orchestral weaknesses). The Water Sprite is gripping. The Noonday Witch, a personal favorite, is quite well done--I prefer it to Kubelik. The Wood Dove is fine, but not up to the level of the Sprite and the Witch. Zinman gives a rousing performance of In Nature's Realm. The sound is great! If you don't know this music, try this disc. You'll get hooked and wonder why such great music is practically ignored...."