Performing Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor ("From the New World"), Op. 95, on period instruments requires less of an adjustment for the listener than, say, a collection of brass instruments in music of the seventeenth century. But conductor Emmanuel Krivine, with his group La Chambre Philharmonique, makes the most of the differences by choosing an interpretation that highlights them, and in so doing he produces a fresh recording of a very familiar work. Start with the modest size of the orchestra. It's questionable ...
Read More
Performing Dvorák's Symphony No. 9 in E minor ("From the New World"), Op. 95, on period instruments requires less of an adjustment for the listener than, say, a collection of brass instruments in music of the seventeenth century. But conductor Emmanuel Krivine, with his group La Chambre Philharmonique, makes the most of the differences by choosing an interpretation that highlights them, and in so doing he produces a fresh recording of a very familiar work. Start with the modest size of the orchestra. It's questionable whether Krivine produces an "authentic" performance here; the New York Philharmonic violin section for which Dvorák wrote the work would likely have been larger than the 16 players on hand here. But one might rejoin that an orchestra in a medium-sized Bohemian city might have been just about this size. And they would have played instruments close to the ones used here, which were all built in the nineteenth century. The brasses and winds are the most distinctive, and they stand out...
Read Less
