I first heard this version of Vltava on Classic FM. Nikolaus Harnoncourt has prodcued a beautiful, rich, lush, swirling rendering. I also have the Jiri Belohlavek recording which is good though in comparison I find it angular and crashy at points. I recommend this Nikolaus Harnoncourt version as the better of the two.
5つ星のうち5.0Achieving success in Ma Vlast in the most difficult way possible--the first choice?
2011年11月22日にアメリカ合衆国でレビュー済み
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Smetana's Ma Vlast is patriotic work that exploits nationalism but it can be challenging for today's interpreters to make it come alive instead of paying respect to a monument. Without definite ideas, the work is reduced to glibness. It's a common mistake to go for aloof grandeur, meaning the work becomes stately and dull. Zubin Mehta managed to finish the work in 70 minutes, but he sounded merely rushed and impatient--not the solution either. I was delighted to find Vaclav Smetacek's unjustly neglected reading on Supraphon, a recording that goes for sheer joy and momentum with the Czech Phil playing with infectious exuberance. (Timings can be arbitrary parameters, but Smetacek clocks in at 73 min.)
Enter Nikolaus Harnoncourt, our dour-faced conductor known for his rethinking. Harnoncourt's refusal to follow the crowd can make him look alternately like a refined genius or a stubborn dissident. But in this case, Harnoncourt's ideas are decidedly worthy to my ears. He spots the need for interpretive involvement, and takes the work's challenges into consideration. His daring move is to dig below the surface, taking slower tempi and an often meditative mood. It's a dangerous tactic since it risks a feeling of ponderousness; if the conductor struggles with concurrent commitment, the pulse will sag and boredom will dominate. Harnoncourt transcends the many threats because he is always finding a way to say something new. Every phrase is carefully turned, but not to the point of crossing over into fussiness. The Vienna Phil is peerless in this music and they bathe the listener in their rich, autumnal tone.
I can't sufficiently laud this recording. Harnoncourt takes us on an unforgettable journey that lets us feel the work's weight without being crushed by it. It's amazing Harnoncourt found success in his approach, but he did and the results are tantalizing.
Great conductors are rare enough, but even rarer are those who become much better with age. Right now I can think of three who are currently on the podium: James Levine, Fruhbeck de Burgos, and Harnoncourt. The last has always specialized in the maverick re-think of great composers--Bach, Mozart, Beethoven. Now he has begun to retract some of his more aggressive, eccentric, and perverse gestures. We are getting pure mature musicianship combined with originality.
This Ma Vlast is a case in point. Czech music has always been one of Harnoncourt's strengths (odd that such smiling music brings out the best in such a dour person), and here not a single bar sounds like a cliche. Tempos tend to be slow so that Harnoncourt has time to make his points, and he is often somber or thoughtful where the usual course is extroverted high spirits. (If you expect Ma Vlast to be rollicking, you might find this reading a bit 'sullen,' to use the term favored by the Gramophone reviewer--I disagree, however.)
Ma Vlast is hard to hold together. Each movement is appealing on its own, but with so much repetition and similar thematic development, I find it difficult to listen all the way through with interest. Harnoncourt solves that problem amazingly well for me--I couldn't stop listening to his ever-inventive phrasing and dramatic contrasts.
Many listeners will still look to Kubelik as the specialist in this work. He's more exciting from moment to moment, but I'd rate Harnoncourt the more original and deeper interpreter. In addition, it's impossible to beat the plush Vienna Phil. caught in excellent recorded sound. In sum, a top choice in this work.