Dvorak: Orchestral Works
Universal Classics (DG)
Budget-price
Lorin Maazel/Vienna Philharmonic (Symphony)
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra (Serenade)
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Universal seems to have some odd ideas about Dvorak's Ninth symphony. For their DG Panorama, they picked Karajan's Berlin recording, mostly for marketing reasons. There are a number of absolutely terrific recordings on the label—and even some more famous poor ones—that could have bee n picked for that issue. For this budget Universal Classics issue, here's Lorin Maazel's workday take on the piece. It isn't bad, but that’s largely because the Vienna Philharmonic is excellent. Maazel himself is uninteresting, he does almost nothing to distinguish himself from others who have made the piece so special. Now, this “New World” isn’t available in any other incantation, so I suppose that fans of this team might be pleased to see it at something less than full price, but that’s a stretch.
On the other hand, the coupling isn't the Carnival Overture, or a set of Slavonic Dances, so there are little things to be grateful for. Actually, the attached Serenade for Strings is lovely and is well played by the conductor free-ensemble. It's also out of print elsewhere and very hard to find used, so fans of the OCO should be pleased to see it again. This disc could have been very good, instead of OK. Oh well.
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