Anda-Louise Bogza is a leadering operatic soprano who performs in renowned opera houses across Europe. She has performed in starring roles such as Aida and Tosca, and here presents a programme of songs from composers Glinka, Chopin, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. Especially notable on this release is the inclusion of the songs by Chopin, which have been rarely recorded. Talented pianists Marcel Javorcek and Galina Aleshkevich accompany Bogza for these works.

Venezuelan-American cellist Carmine Miranda is a renowned international soloist and recording artist. He studied first at the Carabobo State Music Conservatory in Venezuela, then at the Latin-American Academy of Violoncell, the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. For this release, Miranda has chosen cello concerti by Schumann and Dvorak. When Miranda was only twenty two and twenty three years old, he recorded Bach’s Six Cello Suites, as well as Alfredo Piatti’s 12 Caprices for Solo Cello. He was one of the youngest in the world to ever record these works. “It’s natural, then, that Miranda’s performance of the Schumann Cello Concerto sounds like a love letter—attention is paid to moments of delicacy and tenderness.” (Huntley Dent, Fanfare Magazine)

Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 6 in D major was composed for the Vienna Philharmonic, and dedicated to its principal conductor at the time, Hans Richter. Following the Symphony No. 6, this programme includes Dvorak’s Slavonic Dance Op. 72, No. 3, and Slavonic Dance Op. 46, No. 8. Performing these outstanding works is the Houston Symphony, conducted by Andres Orozco-Estrada. Colombian violinist and conductor Andres Orozco-Estrada began taking conducting classes in 1992, and in 1997 he began studying conducting at the Hochschule fur Musik und darstellende Kunst, Wien, under such teachers as Uros Lajovic. He has been Music Director of the Houston Symphony since 2014.

REVIEW:

Orozco-Estrada and his musicians play with great warmth and energy, and this live multichannel recording brings out all the rich colors and textures of Dvorák’s symphonic score. The two Slavonic Dances are welcome choices for their close thematic resemblance to the symphony and jubilant feeling, bringing the program of this hybrid SACD to a lively close.

-- AllMusic.com (Blair Sanderson)

Since its premiere in Prague in 1890, Dvořák’s Eighth Symphony has become one of the composer’s most-performed works. Josef Suk, Dvořák’s son-in-law and student-is obviously influenced by Dvořák, but displays his compositional skills in his own right in his Serenade for Strings. Consistently praised for his interpretation of Slavic music, Mariss Jansons conducts the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks in this live recording.

REVIEW

This disc contains three very fine performances and I thoroughly enjoyed it all. The BR Klassik recording is very good indeed. I’ve come to expect clarity and very pleasing, natural sound from this label and this latest disc is another excellent example of their work.

--MusicWeb International (John Quinn)

Born in 1934, the Czech jazz composer Milan Dvořák, no relation to his better-known classical composer namesake, has been active since the 1960s leading big bands and swing ensembles and remains active today. This is the debut recording of his 45 Jazz Piano Etudes which combine transcriptions of popular songs with classical influences and features the pianist Milan Franěk.

Written during the summer of 1875, Anton�n Dvor�k's Symphony No. 5 in F Major, Op. 76 is considered the first work in which Dvor�k found his way to a new symphonic idiom. It's noticeable inflections of Bohemian folklore, accompanied by almost Schubertian phrases, infuse the symphony with light and give it buoyancy. Two of Dvor�k's many one-movement orchestral pieces, In Nature�s Realm Op. 91 and the Scherzo capriccioso Op. 66, serve as considerable, substantial encores. Karel Mark Chichon (OBE) is Chief Conductor of the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbru�cken Kaiserslautern.

Following on from their most successful album “sound escapes” (Capriccio C5239) the young, aspiring Signum Quartet address Bohemian music culture. Beside Antonín Dvorák’s famous String Quartet Op. 106 and Josef Suk’s Meditation on the Old Czech Chorale ‘St. Wenceslaus’ (1914), an impressionistic offering on the beginning of WWI, is the 1923 composed Five Pieces for String Quartet by Erwin Schulhoff, which experiments with dance forms and provides a most virtuosic challenge. “… the Signum Quartet, which must already be counted among the best ensembles of its generation…” (Pizzicato)

Classical Music

This new SOMM release features two perennial favorites, the Glazunov and Dvorak Violin Concertos. They are often recorded together, deriving their inspiration from Russian Bohemia's musical heritage whilst still remaining close to Brahmsian Viennese traditions. Greek-born violinist Efi Christodoulou has been reviewd by The Strad as "a powerful violinist, demonstrating a high level of technical achievement" Efi is developing a career in the UK where she has recently given recitals at St. John's, Smith Square and Wigmore Hall.

Dvořák composed the Biblical Songs op. 99 in 1894 during his time in America (1892-95), working as artistic director and professor of composition at the New York Conservatory of Music. His 9th Symphony, appositely termed ‘From the New World’ was to be followed by a further symphony, but Dvořák opted instead for treating the Biblical Songs, which, in their austerity, hardly allow scope for an American scent but rather are possibly reminiscent of the composer’s Czech homeland. Dvořák, the Catholic, had long demonstrated his faith with numerous works of fervent piety: Stabat Mater (1876), Requiem (1890), the Mass in D major as well as the pieces for solo voice and organ, for instance, the works that can be heard on this CD - Ave Maria, Ave Maris Stella and Hymnus ad laudes in festo Sanctae Trinitatis (1877-79) as well as the organ preludes and fugues of 1859 by the then 18-year-old composer.

Classical Music

The latest [2015] release from the Seattle Symphony’s Grammy-nominated label is a provocative coupling of two great works by European composers reflecting their response to the vibrant culture of the New World. Varèse’s Amériques, written only 30 years after Dvo?ák’s beloved “New World” Symphony, is a pivotal masterpiece that changed the course of music forever. In live performances of electrifying energy, and recorded in stunning sound, this is a mind-bending combination of masterpieces. - Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Antonín Dvořák’s op. 53 is now part of the repertoire for all the world’s great violinists. Josef Suk’s G minor Fantasy For Violin and Orchestra is a kind of virtuoso, rhapsodic symphonic poem. Janáček’s late, concise Violin Concerto, ‘The Wandering of the Soul’, combines great energy and urgency. Josef Špaček, the youthful concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, recorded these concerts live with “his” orchestra under its principal conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. The Forbes Magazine in the Czech Republic included Josef Špaček in their 2014 list of most influential “30 under 30” people.

This release marks the first appearance of the chief conductor of the German radio philharmonic orchestra, Karel Mark Chichon, on the SWR music label, and for his debut, the young London-born conductor has done nothing less than a complete recording of the symphonies of Anton Dvorak. but that's not all! in addition to the symphonies are other orchestral works of the Czech master, as is the case here with the early, Slavic-patriotic themed rhapsody, op. 14. future releases will include all the overtures and interludes from Dvorak's operas - works of exquisite beauty, but rarely appearing on recordings.

The American Born Cellist Zuzanna Szambelan Began Her Music Education in Piano in Poznan? at Age Five. A Year Later, She Also Began Cello Studies. The List of Her Award Wins Notably Includes the Special Award at the 18th Int'l Johannes Brahms Competition in Portschach (Austria, 2011) and a First Prize at the 8th Int'l Kazimierz Wi Komirski Competition in Poznan. Ms. Szambelan Is Presently a Student at the Hochschule Fu R Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin. She's Heard Here in Dvorack's Cello Concerto, Op. 104 and Smetana's the Moldau from His Magnum Opus Ma Vlast.

Founded in 2003, the Daroch Trio is a family affair, made up of three siblings: Anna Daroch (violin), Maria Daroch (piano), and Tomasz Daroch (cello). Their debut in their native city of Łódź, Poland met with high critical acclaim, inspiring them to continue along their artistic path. They are all graduates of the Henryk Wieniawski Music School in Łodź. Their new Dux CD finds the trio playing three important and challenging piano trios well-established in the chamber repertoire, by Dvořák, Debussy and Ravel.

The Slavonic soul of Antonín Dvořák is undoubtedly present with violinist Thomas Albertus Irnberger in conjunction with PKF – Prague Philharmonia under the direction of Petr Altrichter. The violin concerto in a, op. 53, like the Mazurek, op. 49 and the Romance op. 11 for violin and orchestra exhibit many Bohemian folk dance and song references. The Sonatina in G, op. 100, written at the end of Dvorak's relocation to the “New World” exhibits Negro Spiritual as well as Irish and Scottish folk tune influences. The Slavonic Dance, op. 46/2 and the Humoresque, op. 101/7, appear here as well.

Dvorák’s Requiem seems to be making a comeback, with new recordings by Järvi, Jansons, and best of all, this one by Antoni Wit, featuring the excellent Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir and four first-class soloists. It’s not an easy work to bring off as far as requiems go. Less histrionic than the Berlioz, less operatic than the Verdi, the work is symphonic in conception and structure, with a chromatic “death” motive that runs through most of its movements, and tightly integrated textures requiring careful balances between the soloists, choir, and orchestra.

The work’s architecture is impressive: two parts, each containing a central pillar marked off by repetitions of a big chorus, the Dies irae in Part One, and the Quam olim Abrahae (the catchiest choral fugue in the entire 19th century) in Part Two. That Dvorák was clearly thinking in terms of balance and large-scale structure is shown by his placement of the Pie Jesu between the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei. Normally it forms part of the Dies irae sequence, but here it represents an island of repose before the large-scale, recapitulatory finale, while bringing the timing of the second part more in line with the first.

One of the most interesting things about the Requiem is that, unlike almost all of its predecessors, it does not end with a vision of consolation. In fact, the conclusion is remarkably unsentimental, even grim, with Dvorák returning to the “death” motive and staying in a minor key right up to the final bar. Conceptually it’s more like Mahler’s Sixth, with its “fate” motives, than virtually any other contemporary work, and this fact may account for the music’s comparative neglect. It is, without question, a masterpiece.

Hitherto there have been two great recordings: Ancerl’s on Supraphon, and Kertesz’s on Decca. This one effortlessly joins them. Wit just may be the best conductor around these days for big choral works such as this (remember his knockout Mahler Eighth). He finds more ear-catching detail in the music than anyone else has to date. Even the biggest climaxes of the Dies irae never turn thick and heavy. The flowing tempos certainly help, but there is throughout a remarkable clarity to the textures that reveals a real podium master directing a first-class ensemble.

The soloists, who have a lot to do, are also uniformly excellent. In Christiane Libor we have a soprano with plenty of heft to the voice without a hint of shrillness; tenor Daniel Kirch never sounds like he’s crooning; Janusz Monarcha is a real bass, with no trace of wobble anywhere in his tone, while Ewa Wolak never sounds like she’d be better off taking the contralto lead in Gilbert and Sullivan. They are marvelous both singly and as a group, particularly in the mostly solo Recordare. First class engineering makes this a wonderfully satisfying release that hopefully will win many new friends for this powerfully expressive and masterful work.

– David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

This new Dux release, Slavonic Duets, features the work of four romantic era composers of Eastern European and Russian origin: Stanisław Moniuszko (1819-1872, Aleksandr Dargomyzski (1813-1869), Cesar Cui (1835-1918) and Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904). Dvořák stands somewhat apart here in that the other three composers remained on European soil and were known to one another personally, whereas Dvořák came to America late in life. The outstanding Polish alto and Music Academy, Gdansk professor Jadwiga Rappé and mezzo Urszula Kryger are heard in the company of pianist Mariusz Rutkowski.

The centerpiece of this program is the first ever recording of the Hiawatha Melodrama, a concert work for narrator and orchestra designed to show the kinship between Dvořák's New World Symphony and Longfellow’s poem The Song of Hiawatha, which Dvořák said had inspired him in the symphony. It takes music from the symphony, as well as passages from the American Suite and Violin Sonatina, and fuses them with the poem, which is recited by a bass-baritone. Also included is music by Arthur Farwell, who was influenced by Dvořák, and was a proponent of Native American music. This recording thus celebrates the crosscurrent of influences between the Czech composer and American music and culture.

Antonín Dvorák’s Cello Concerto is one of the absolute masterpieces of the genre, and every world-class cellist naturally takes it into his repertoire. This is also the case for Daniel Müller-Schott, who will be performing it in the great concert halls of Europe in 2014 and in the Lincoln Center in New York: thus in the very same city where Dvorák worked as conservatory director and where he wrote the concerto. Dvorák began his work in passionate, stormy mood, but completed it in lyrical, elegiac vein under the shadow of the illness and death of his sister-in-law Josefina, who had been his own first love. Müller-Schott’s new recording also includes several chamber music works and arrangements that offer insight as to how Dvorák gradually accustomed himself to the cello, up to the point when he composed his concerto in 1894-5. There is the catchy 'Rondo' that Dvorák wrote in 1892 for a chamber music tour, and 'Silent Woods', an arrangement made for the same tour, heard here in Dvorák’s own orchestral versions. Together with the pianist Robert Kulek, Müller-Schott has also recorded arrangements of the four Romantic Pieces op. 75 and of 'Songs my mother taught me' from the Gypsy Songs cycle. The latter is perfectly suited to the cello’s cantabile character and Daniel Müller-Schott’s interpretation.

Classical Music

Carlo Maria Giulini's very high level of achievement was the result of profound study, human and artistic sensitiveness and a great deal of experience. This double CD box collects four of his most beloved symphonies recorded between 1957 and 1968 with “ his” Philharmonia Orchestra, a period considered the best of his career. The performances, all extraordinary, have been long unavailable on CD.

The young Sitkovetsky Trio plays Smetana's G minor trio and Dvořák’s Trio Op. 65, two large-scale works, complemented by Josef Suk's one-movement Elegy in an arrangement for piano trio. Formed in 2007, the Sitkovetsky Trio performs worldwide and has received numerous awards and critical acclaim, but is here making its début on disc.

This is a hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. Antonín Dvorák’s American String Quartet is a prime contender for a top slot on the all-time hit list of classical masterpieces – and rightly so, as this new recording by the Leipzig String Quartet demonstrates. Here it is heard along with the same composer’s magnificent String Quintet, and the outstanding bassist Alois Posch joins forces with the Leipzig musicians on what promises to be a favorite album for all chamber music fans. And such a program calls for the finest SACD sound.