It’s good to see that Supraphon will be completing Jirí Belohlávek’s Martinu cycle with the Czech Philharmonic. The conductor is extremely convincing in the Sixth symphony, a work he has recorded at least twice before (for Chandos and, in 1995, for Supraphon as well). With an orchestra that knows the music this well, he can focus on details of rhythm and texture that create a powerful feeling of symphonic continuity without stinting on the work’s evocative colors, even in the episodic finale. It’s a first-class performance, especially in the central scherzo, which features an almost balletic grace but at the same time a curious melancholy that’s extremely moving.
The Fifth symphony, however, recorded live, comes across as just a touch too limp in its central Larghetto, never mind the galloping rhythms of the finale. The audience is very well-behaved, but the sonics impart an unpleasantly breathy quality to the flutes while excessively suppressing the brass and percussion. If you’re collecting this cycle you probably will want this disc for the Sixth (which is also much better recorded than the Fifth), assuming you don’t already have one of Belohlávek’s earlier versions–but taken as a whole this program is not as fine as the first installment of this new cycle, containing excellent performances of the Third and Fourth symphonies.
