This disc offers a very mixed bag, despite the obvious attraction of having all of this music on a single CD. José Serebrier encourages the SWF Symphony Orchestra to spin out a couple of fine tales in the Háry János Suite, and they respond with playing full of the right color and swagger, especially in “The Battle and Defeat of Napoleon” and the finale: the “Entrance of the Emperor and his Court”. The other three works, though, which feature the Brno State Philharmonic, offer some of the most flat-footed and charmless responses to Kodály’s delightful music–the two sets of dances in particular–that I have ever heard. This is all the more surprising given Serebrier’s generally excellent relationship with the orchestra, and its responsiveness in music ranging from Janácek to Chadwick. Here, the ensemble sounds strangely thin (strings especially) and the playing uninvolved. I’m tempted to speculate on the ethnic difficulties of Czech musicians playing Hungarian music, but I’d prefer to simply chalk it up to an off day for all concerned. It’s a pity, though, because the Háry János really is good.
