Dvořák: Symphony 9, Smetana: The Moldau, Liszt: Préludes

Album review

Only a chosen few can captivate listeners with a work that has been brought out over and over again hundreds of times. But that is what is achieved here with a Symphony "From the New World" byAntonin Dvořák which doesn't seem to have aged a bit. Recorded in 1959 in Berlin in excellent stereo, this feverish performance also shows the miracle that an invited leader can create. In a few short recording sessions, Ferenc Fricsay was able to bring forth from the Berlin Philharmonic a sound that was the polar opposite to Karajan's softness. Everything here, with the exception of an irresistibly dreamy Largo is sharp as a knife and whip-smart, in the the style of the Czech Philharmonic. It is the magic of an orchestra that can instantly adapt itself to the personality of a leader who knows how to convince.
Recorded in 1960, but with Fricsay's Berlin RIAS (Radio in the American Sector) Orchestra, the symphonic poem by Franz Liszt, Les Préludes, is cut across by an epic gale, reinforced by a slow and majestic tempo. As for The Moldau (Vlatva) by Bedřich Smetana, so close to Czech hearts, Fricsay recorded it several times, most notably in 1960, with the Südfunk Orchester, the film of a rehearsal of which is one of the few visual records of the great Hungarian conductor. It was over the course of that same year that he made this recording, at the head of the Berlin Philharmonic.
In 1948, Ferenc Fricsay had signed an exclusive contract with Deutsche Grammophon, becoming one of the few artists never to record for another label. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the conductor's birth in 2014, the yellow label published an impressive box set (available on Qobuz) which brings together all of his recordings. It is a treasure trove for music lovers, because among the records which remain famous to this day, we find a whole series of forgotten works. The recordings were mainly de in the Titania-Palast in Steglitz in Berlin, which was the only concert hall which was spared the Allies’ bombs. © François Hudry/Qobuz

Details of original recording : Recordings: Berlin, Jesus-Christus-Kirche, 9/1959 (Liszt), 10/1959 (Dvorak), 1 & 2/1960 (Smetana)