Let’s not waste our time. Belohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic sleepwalk through Dvorák’s Slavonic Dances from the opening Furiant onwards. This being the Philharmonic, they know the music cold, and that’s exactly the problem. They aren’t even trying. Compare this to any number of recordings of this music by the same ensemble, form Talich, to Sejna, to Neumann, and you hear the difference immediately–not so much a matter of tempo, but in terms of accent, phrasing, ensemble balance (especially in the woodwinds)–in short, all of those little touches that bring the music to life and lend proprietary pride to an interpretation.
Lay the blame squarely at the conductor’s podium. Rarely have I heard such interpretive laziness from an artist who has what can only be called a moral duty to preserve his country’s rich heritage in this music. Can it be that he no longer cares? Sure sounds like it here.
