Both of the performances of well-worn Dvorák masterpieces here are fresh and well thought out. Veteran conductor Edo de Waart leads Belgium's Royal Flemish Philharmonic in the Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, which from Brahms on down has been considered a tuneful crowd-pleaser but somehow nothing more. De Waart and "de Filharmonie" set out to make something more of it, carving out the tunes in the opening movement into deeper reliefs rather than just letting slip pleasantly by. For an example of what he's up to, check ...
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Both of the performances of well-worn Dvorák masterpieces here are fresh and well thought out. Veteran conductor Edo de Waart leads Belgium's Royal Flemish Philharmonic in the Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88, which from Brahms on down has been considered a tuneful crowd-pleaser but somehow nothing more. De Waart and "de Filharmonie" set out to make something more of it, carving out the tunes in the opening movement into deeper reliefs rather than just letting slip pleasantly by. For an example of what he's up to, check out the beginning of the symphony's finale, which quite counter to type gives the opening material the full weight of operatic drama. Then the big triadic tune, when it does come, releases all the tension that has built up over the course of the work, and when the intentionally blaring brass writing cuts loose the effect is immensely satisfying. The arrangement of the String Quartet No. 12 in F major, Op. 96 ("American"), might seem perverse; another symphony would have been a logical...
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