Search - Antonin Dvorak, Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky, Riccardo Muti :: Dvorák: Symphony No. 9; Tchaikovsky: Romeo & Juliet

Another installment in the 'three-buck library'

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 05/22/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"It's amazing how full a library of well-recorded staples one can buy from great orchestras without spending more than $3-$5 on the used market (or more than the price of a Naxos CD on the new market). This Dvorak "New World" from Muti and the Philharmonia Orch. is a case in point. It doesn't rank with the very best for good reason: Muti seems indifferent to making the work sound anything better than a familiar warhorse.



But then you stand back and look at the price, and his conventional reading is very competitive. It's civilized, nicely recorded, and performed by a world-class orchestra. I'm not out to promote second-rate CDs, but there's a big difference between second-rate and second to the best, the respectable niche that this vigorous New World belongs in."