Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 / Josef Suk: Serenade
In the concerts recorded at the Philharmonie im Gasteig on January 29 and 30, 2016, the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks conducted by Mariss Jansons succeeded in demonstrating the modernity of Dvořák’s traditional but equally visionary symphonic music, which is still valid today: sensitively felt and with all its resonating sonority. Suk’s String Serenade was produced a few days earlier as a studio recording.
Order online nowDvořák’s lyrical and cheerful Eighth Symphony, which had its successful premiere in Prague on February 2, 1890, is one of the most frequently performed works of the important Bohemian composer. With it, he succeeded in writing “a work different from my other symphonies, with individual thoughts elaborated in a new way.” That the music is entirely inspired by the Bohemian landscape is clear in every movement, every melody. That Dvořák knew and loved Slavic folk music at its best is just as apparent as his intensive study of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies: the rhapsodic Adagio or the waltz-like Scherzo, for example, are clearly reminiscent of the important Russian symphonist in their melodic inventiveness as well as their formal structures. Alongside his much-performed ninth, the eighth symphony is another masterpiece of instrumental music of the late 19th century.
Suk’s String Serenade of 1892 is more than a mere filler on the CD. The first success of the budding composer – master student and son-in-law of Dvořák –, while audibly indebted to the musical and aesthetic ideas of his teacher and role model, is a very independent composition and, as a serenade for string orchestra, an essential example of the genre.
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major, op. 88 & Karneval, op. 92
(Live recording, Munich, Philharmonie im Gasteig, 29. – 30.01.2016)
Josef Suk: Serenade for string orchestra in E-flat major, op. 6
(Studio recording, Munich, 25.01.2016)
Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks
Mariss Jansons conductor
Booklet: Deutsch / English
