Many collectors will welcome the chance to obtain István Kertész’s Dvorák symphony recordings at bargain price, though Eloquence’s set faces strong competition from the Colin Davis/Concertgebouw survey of the final trilogy on Philips Duo. In No. 5 (and in the “New World”) Kertész includes the first-movement repeat. Tempos are well judged but horns and trumpets are consistently balanced too far forward. Also, the clarinets’ opening motif is louder at its reprise than at the outset. Though Kertész directs with authority (summoning beautiful playing from the cellos at the start of the Andante), there’s some roughness and untidy ensemble at the start of the finale–and throughout you’re left with the sense that the LSO was less familiar with this symphony than the others included here.
Symphony No. 7 gets a powerful performance imbued with many vivid contrasts, but it’s never so overwhelming in effect as Davis’ Concertgebouw version (compare the first movement’s coda for evidence). Kertész’s scherzo isn’t as neat and well-finished, and with the Concertgebouw the soaring cello theme part way through the Adagio is more even-toned and better in tune. Kertész certainly is gripping in the finale, but the Kingsway Hall recording is closer miked than Philips’ production, and the huge final chords suffer from distortion, especially at high volume.
Kertész’s performance of the G major 8th Symphony is the highlight here. Memorable passages include the first-movement development and the clear double bass triplet figures that come after the trumpets’ reprise of the opening theme. And how ably Kertész dissipates the tension later, as the English horn offers its calming version of the second theme! The daring chromatic trumpet “smear” in the final measures of the work also is much bolder and more striking than on the Philips version. There also are lovely episodes in the Adagio, particularly the middle section with its fine violin solo. Kertész highlights dynamic contrasts more effectively here than Davis, achieving one especially breathtaking moment as the cellos’ hushed trill brings back the opening material after the central crisis. The “New World” finishes the deal. Again the performance is admirable though many listeners certainly will prefer the conductor’s early Vienna recording. Perhaps it would have been more valuable to have included the Sixth or perhaps the Wagner-influenced Fourth instead of the Ninth, since Kertész really was at his best as an advocate of those Dvorák symphonies that are not as commonly played or recorded.
