DVORAK: Sym. No. 6 in D Major; 2 Slavonic Dances – Houston Sym. Orch./ Andres Orozco-Estrada – Pentatone

by | Aug 16, 2016 | SACD & Other Hi-Res Reviews

A nicely recorded and persuasive performance.

DVORAK: Symphony No. 6 in D Major, Op. 60; 2 Slavonic Dances, Opus 72, No. 3, Opus 46, No. 8 – Houston Sym. Orch./ Andres Orozco-Estrada – Pentatone multichannel SACD PTC 5186 575 [Distr. by Naxos] ****:

There really isn’t any kind of consensus on the best recordings of the Dvorak Sixth. Written in response to a Vienna commission by Hans Richter after the wild success of the Slavonic Dances, the 1880 work has served as the Cinderella to the more famous stepsisters of Symphonies 7, 8, and 9. That’s unfortunate, because the piece is as fresh and charming as one could ask for, not as “profound” as the subsequent issues—though that term doesn’t really fit Dvorak in general—but full of ingratiating and fully lyrical impulses of gratifying propensity.

My favorites are Kertesz and Kubelik, and until now, Colin Davis’ remake for LSO Live (SACD). But hearing the Davis now makes him seem rather lackluster, and LSO Live had not yet perfected the rather boxy sound that makes so many of their live issues sound like concert-in-the-park recordings under a closed acoustical shell. Enter Orozco-Estrada, with a renewed perspective and high energy content, and the excitement level rises two or three digits in this lovely shaped and dynamically pointed performance. Mel Martin found these same forces in the Seventh and Eighth symphonies lacking string sheen and clearer “highs” in the sound, and I am not unsympathetic, though it didn’t bother me as much, maybe because the nature of this work is not quite as dramatic as those two. But in general the sound is excellent, with ghosting found in the back speakers to an acceptable degree such that the sonic panoply is quite satisfying. A fine issue, made better only by the inclusion of some more Slavonic Dances— though 51 minutes is rather small.

—Steven Ritter

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