Ančerl Gold Edition 31. Brahms: Double Concerto, Symphony No. 2

Album review

Certainly one of the all-time great recordings of Brahms' Double Concerto is coupled with surely one of the better recordings of Brahms' Symphony No. 2 on this, the 31st disc in Supraphon's Karel Ancerl Gold Edition. Ancerl was certainly one of the better conductors of the postwar years and surely one of the two or three great Czech conductors of the twentieth century. In these recordings from the '60s, Ancerl is at his peak: graceful, lyrical, expressive, and often very, very powerful. In the 1964 recording of the Double Concerto with violinist Josef Suk and cellist André Navarra, Ancerl is as one with the soloists: as they sing and sigh and soar, he is with them, turning in a performance of surpassing passion and conviction. In the 1967 recordings of the Symphony No. 2, Ancerl is sure and sweet and distinctive, but not always completely convincing. In the Concerto, the Czech Philharmonic plays with poise and precision. In the Symphony, the Philharmonic plays with a bit less poise and a lot less precision -- listen to the ensemble of the winds and horns in the opening movement. On both recordings, Supraphon's original stereo sound was clear and warm and on this 24-bit remastering, the digital sound is clearer and warmer.

© TiVo