# SS 15.03.14 - Dvorak #8



## realdealblues

A continuation of the Saturday Symphonies Tradition:

For your listening pleasure this weekend:

*Antonin Dvorak (1841 - 1904)*

Symphony #8 in G Major, Op. 88

1. Allegro con brio
2. Adagio
3. Allegretto grazioso - Molto vivace
4. Allegro ma non troppo

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Post what recording you are going to listen to giving details of Orchestra / Conductor / Chorus / Soloists etc - Enjoy!


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## realdealblues

This weekend I'll listen to...

View attachment 37048


Vaclav Neumann/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

This is from Vaclav Neumann's first cycle recorded in the 1970's.


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## DaDirkNL

A great masterpiece, worthy of the Saturday Symphonies. I will listen to Kubelik with the Berlin Philly.


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## GioCar

I'll go with










Ivan Fisher with his Budapest ensemble.

Although I cannot really say that Dvorak is among my "number ones", I agree with DaDirkNL, this is a true masterpiece.


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## Itullian

DaDirkNL said:


> A great masterpiece, worthy of the Saturday Symphonies. I will listen to Kubelik with the Berlin Philly.
> View attachment 37058


I'll go with Kuby as well.


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## AClockworkOrange

Itullian said:


> I'll go with Kuby as well.


I think I'll hop on this train of thought go with Kubelik as I have just gotten this set and haven't heard this recording yet 

The Vaclav Neumann/Czech Philharmonic Orchestra cycle has been my mainstay for Dvorak's symphonies and my introduction. If I get time, I think I'll try to squeeze this in too


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## Mahlerian

Myung-Whun Chung with the Vienna Philharmonic.









I like Dvorak's Seventh and Eighth far better than the Ninth, which feels a bit thin to me these days.


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## Vaneyes

I'll be a copycat. 

View attachment 37090


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## Guest

Mine will also be Neumann on Supraphon. The Czech Philharmonic is superb with this repertoire.


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## CyrilWashbrook

I always listen to Kubelik/Berlin, so for a change of pace (quite literally), I'll try out Giulini's rather more elongated recording with the RCO.


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## samurai

I'll go with Witold Rowicki and the London Symphony Orchestra. Great symphony choice for Saturday listening, btw! :cheers:


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## maestro267

EDIT: Changed my mind; found the other recording. Oslo PO/Jansons. Thinking of pairing it with Brahms' 1st Piano Concerto.


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## Rhombic

Conducted by Václav Talich in 1938, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Certainly interesting, being one of my most beloved recordings of the seventh and eighth symphonies.


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## Machiavel

Such a glorious recording. I have listen to many Dvorak recordings but I always come back to it.


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## senza sordino

By coincidence this is what I'm playing currently with my local amateur orchestra. I'll listen to us for the next few weeks, rougher round the edges than famous recordings, but great sound sitting in the middle of the orchestra. 

When we play a piece, for obvious reasons, I really get to know it well. And after a few rehearsals once I start to know my part well, I can listen for everyone else.


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## Mika

Herbert is my choice


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## Haydn man

My choice this week
Davis and the LSO


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## Olias

My personal favorite. Its a great live recording.


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## CyrilWashbrook

Really enjoyed the Giulini/RCO recording that I listened to last night. It's a good five minutes longer than most performances and would certainly not correspond to the composer's intentions as far as tempo choice is concerned. But I think Giulini's contemplative approach provides an interesting perspective, lending an autumnal feel to a piece that normally engenders thoughts of summer.

I might add that my favourite rendition of the Dvorak cello concerto is the Giulini/LPO recording with Rostropovich, which is similarly on the long side, so I'm certainly sympathetic to Giulini's vision here.


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## CyrilWashbrook

senza sordino said:


> By coincidence this is what I'm playing currently with my local amateur orchestra. I'll listen to us for the next few weeks, rougher round the edges than famous recordings, but great sound sitting in the middle of the orchestra.
> 
> When we play a piece, for obvious reasons, I really get to know it well. And after a few rehearsals once I start to know my part well, I can listen for everyone else.


On a somewhat related note: the weird thing for me about this piece is that I feel that I know it _as though I have previously played it_, yet I can't pinpoint if/when I actually played it.

EDIT: I just went searching through my old school's website and discovered that we performed it in my final year, so I wasn't imagining things.  My most vivid memory of playing it (now that I realise that it was a memory associated with this particular work) is the conductor screaming at the trombones during rehearsals for repeatedly botching the fanfare at the start of the fourth movement...


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## Jeff W

Oh dear, I'm a little late! Anywho, Witold Rowicki leading the London Symphony Orchestra is my pick!


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## mtmailey

His symphony 9 sounds better but i still like the symphony 8.


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## nightscape

Dohnanyi/Cleveland


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## Funny

The ninth is a far more important symphony, and has better motivic integration as well as more hummable melodies, and is generally one of the great symphonies of Western music. But the 8th will still always be my favorite Dvorak symphony.


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## Steve Wright

nightscape said:


> Dohnanyi/Cleveland


(Sorry, over a year late. Wanted to talk about Dvorak 8 and figured this was probably the place - apologies if not.)
Dohnanyi's disc of the last 3 symphonies certainly seems a gem to me.







I bought it on the strength of a very fulsome review on Arkivmusic.com and I must say, it has made me fall in love with 7 and 8, and (all over again) with 9.
I'm now casting covetous glances at Dohnanyi's Cleveland's Brahms cycle, which I gather is one of the very best.


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## GKC

Steve Wright said:


> I'm now casting covetous glances at Dohnanyi's Cleveland's Brahms cycle, which I gather is one of the very best.


His 1st is terrific, his 4th just OK (IMO). Don't know about 2 and 3.


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## Brahmsian Colors

In respone to Machiavel's earlier posting praising Kertesz's Dvorak Eighth: Agree completely. This has been my favorite interpretaton for many years. As much as I also enjoy Kubelik's Berlin version on DG, I find Kertesz's view to constitute a virtual inspiration. I only wish his Dvorak Seventh contained more of the magic he brought to the composer's Eighth.


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