Clear but over-reverberant, boxy recorded sound (that remastering hasn’t improved a bit) does nothing to diminish the musical virtues of these stellar performances. In fact, for many collectors and music lovers this remains the performance of the lovely Dvorák concerto, and it’s probably safe to say that if you haven’t heard it, you really don’t know the work. What makes it so special? Well, first of all, there’s Dvorák’s great-grandson Josef Suk, a superb artist still underrated by many–but my word how he plays! The first movement fairly boils with passion, the tender Adagio soars on effortless flights of lyrical splendor, and the finale really dances. Karel Ancerl, of course, also makes a substantial contribution, notably in his fresh and always buoyant sense of rhythm, while the playing of the Czech Philharmonic is unbeatable. The fillers, Dvorák’s recklessly pretty Romance and a marvelously fiery performance of Suk’s neglected, concerto-length (and quality) Fantasia in G minor complete a disc that for all its sonic limitations (and the ear gets used to these pretty quickly) remains an exceptional musical experience by any measure.
