Best Recording of Dvorak's 7th
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Not for me...
Monteux, Kertesz, both with LSO.
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I am not familiar with Davis/Concertgebouw, but the other two are fine recordings. Neumann's analog cycle is also superb. So is Rowicki, Kertesz, Anguelov, Suitner and Pesek. Ivan Fischer with the Budapest Festival Orchestra have also recorded Symphonies Nos. 7 - 9 superbly.
While he does receive regular bashing on this forum, I think Hurwitz's choices are usually fine. The fact that we agree about 80% of the time of course helps!
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I'd just like to give my backing to the "there's no out-and-out best recording" argument....!
Most of my favourites have bene mentioned, and those are: Davis, Kertesz, Kubelik, Neumann (earlier cycle).
I have trouble with the Vaclav Talich recording, it's from the late 1930s, and the sound is unsurprisingly poor, so that one is just of historical interest, and likewise a debatable even more dramatic performance, from Karel Sejna (1951). There have been excellent performances of this pieces in the post-shellac era...!
I'd also add that I really do like the more recent Belohlavek recording, as it shows up some interesting details I have never really heard before. Pretty disappointing that someone here can merely dismiss him as an over-rated conductor..... I would echo the praise above for the earlier Giulini recording on EMI too; Oh, and it might be cheap and cheerful, but the Gunzenhauser recording on Naxos is one of the best ones in that set.
Most of my favourites have bene mentioned, and those are: Davis, Kertesz, Kubelik, Neumann (earlier cycle).
I have trouble with the Vaclav Talich recording, it's from the late 1930s, and the sound is unsurprisingly poor, so that one is just of historical interest, and likewise a debatable even more dramatic performance, from Karel Sejna (1951). There have been excellent performances of this pieces in the post-shellac era...!
I'd also add that I really do like the more recent Belohlavek recording, as it shows up some interesting details I have never really heard before. Pretty disappointing that someone here can merely dismiss him as an over-rated conductor..... I would echo the praise above for the earlier Giulini recording on EMI too; Oh, and it might be cheap and cheerful, but the Gunzenhauser recording on Naxos is one of the best ones in that set.
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I do agree about Kubelik's 7 (but think his 8 is wonderful). But I don't agree about Belohlavek. Monteux? You got that right!
I'm afraid I've never understood what people see in Belohlavek. Even in Martinu which is something of a speciality, I find him less idiomatic than Neumann for instance.
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OK. But isn't the opposite of idiomatic something like mainstream? Was Monteux recording of the 7th idiomatic or was it just a fine recording?
in this case, I think it's just a fine recording. It doesn't sound at all Czech.
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What would have made it sound "more" Czech?
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I am hardly an expert but there are some specific things about the "Czech" sound, e.g. woodwind playing traditions and probably also some rhythmic articulations. However, to me, Dvorak's 7th seems to me one of his least "Czech" pieces, compared e.g. to 8 or 9, not to begin with slavonic dances or rhapsodies.
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Szell is in my top 2 favourite conductors so maybe i should give him a try
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I have since listened to Symphony No. 7 by Davis/Concertgebouw (as well as Nos. 8 & 9). A fine recording. I can understand why it is highly recommended.
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