Early on in his recording career José Serebrier recorded a very good Dvorák Eighth in Australia (issued on RCA), so his affinity for this music isn’t in question. This is a good performance of the symphony, with lively tempos and some effective interpretive touches–the stretched tempos in the first-movement recapitulation, for example. But the playing is not particularly distinctive, and the performance joins a multitude of good but not great versions. It’s that simple. The Czech Suite goes quite well; the piece isn’t as ubiquitous as the “New World” and so perhaps for that reason its presence “tells” more vividly. On the other hand, the two dances fall flat, particularly Op. 46 No. 1, which is remarkably faceless. The sonics are good, but perhaps not ideally clear. This series has started off respectably, but there’s room for improvement.
