Concerto in B Minor for Cello and Orchestra.

Antonin Dvorak

Concerto in B Minor for Cello and Orchestra op. 104

Concerto in G Major for Piano and Orchestra op. 33'

Jiri Barta--cello, Martin Kasik--piano, Czech Philharmonic, Jiri Belohlavek, Jiri Kout*. Production: Jiri Hubac. Text: Eng., Ger., Fr., Cz. Recorded: live, 9/2003 (op. 33), 5/2004 (op. 104), Dvorak Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague. Released: 2004. TT: 38:20 + 42:25. DDD. 2 CD. Supraphon SU 3774-2.

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This exceptionally attractive double album offers two of the most beautiful of Czech concertos performed by two of our outstanding young soloists together with the Czech Philharmonic under two of our most important conductors. The Cello Concerto is one of the most frequently played of Dvorak's works and it might even seem difficult to imagine anyone bringing something new to it, but Jiri Barta and Jiri Belohlavek have managed the almost impossible. From the first notes of this extraordinarily suggestive recording we are drawn into a magical landscape, which we know intimately, but which we suddenly see in an entirely new and unexpectedly beautiful light and with innumerable surprising details. The performers keep us listening, electrified, throughout the concerto, and do not allow us to breathe out until the last notes of the final catharsis. Jiri Barta's performance, with all its maturity and insight, is so exalted in expression that in many places one could not imagine a more intense musical testimony. Under the baton of Jiri Belohlavek the orchestra produces superb colours, from the blazing and limpid to the velvet soft and dark. The soloists of the orchestra, especially the wind, deserve special praise. All the orchestral solos were so distinctive that their performers deserved to be named alongside the soloists and conductor. The recording of the Dvorak Piano Concerto, excellent as it is, was not quite so impressive. Its orchestral opening, compared to the Cello Concerto, is slightly lacklustre, but perhaps this is just an "optical illusion" after the preceding captivating recording. Fortunately this impression is immediately remedied by the first entry of Martin Kasik--sovereign, radiant in sound, and perfect in rhythm. And then we perhaps forget the orchestra a little, because the pianist is so obviously the master of the situation. He gives the concerto just that pianistic shine that Dvorak's contemporaries felt was lacking in the work. Kasik has not the slightest problem with technique and he plays Kurz's difficult arrangements with dazzling brilliance. This is not just an end in itself, however, and we can feel the musician's essential optimism and huge joy in playing. The initially "lacklustre" tone of the orchestra comes into its own in the misty mood of the slow movement. The Philharmonic with Jiri Kout in some places here almost seems to carried away by the vitality of the soloist and in the final movement becomes an almost equal partners. Supraphon has added a bonus to the two listening experiences: with each CD there is a three-minute videoclip of the concert in the Rudolfinum.