It’s Douglas Bostock’s unhappy fate to be championing “rare” repertoire that isn’t as rare as it used to be–and rightly so since Viteslav Novák’s vintage late-Romantic music deserves the widest possible exposure. Both tone poems enjoy excellent documentation on disc, most notably by Karel Sejna and the Czech Philharmonic (from the 1950s, on Supraphon), and recently by Libor Pesek and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic for Virgin (a fabulous disc). The lovely Melancholy Songs of Love also saw the light of day on Supraphon not too long ago. The sad fact is that on this new CD the distinctly second-rate orchestra (whose thin strings make the prospect of Eternal Longing sound like a dire threat), average recorded sound, and Bostok’s own less-than-optimally charismatic leadership offer little comparative enticement. Even a CD premiere in the form of the song cycle South Bohemian Motives proves no attraction at all, given the wholly inadequate notes and complete absence of texts (let alone translations). A second-rate presentation, then, of second-rate performances.
