Though the title of this series is “Decca Legends”, the real legend here is Rafael Kubelik himself, and not these recordings. These performances are neither the last nor the best Dvorák Seventh and Ninth he committed to disc. The later recordings with the Berlin Philharmonic on Deutsche Grammophon (now similarly coupled at mid-price) reveal greater depth in Kubelik’s interpretation, and much greater attention to the subtle nuances of the music. Thus, with the Berliners the first movement of the Seventh becomes truly tragic rather than merely fierce as it is in this Vienna version, especially in the coda. Similarly, the New World’s finale gains an element of fantasy not present in the older recording–the transition from the pastoral clarinet theme to the blazing brass peroration before the coda had not yet acquired its seamless mastery. The Vienna Philharmonic plays with far less refinement than its German counterpart: intonation problems plague the woodwinds and the brass make loud and coarse sounds. The hissy 1950s recordings don’t help the situation. Even though the engineers have successfully removed the tubbiness that was present on the old London Stereo Treasury LPs, the strings still sound thin and screechy. So if you want Kubelik in this repertoire, go for the DG. Those performances are truly legendary.
