Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9.

Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 8 and 9. Ivan Fischer, Budapest Festival Orchestra. Philips 289 464 640-2.

Clearly, I'm jaded. Any new recording of something so popular as Dvorak's "New World" Symphony has got to be pretty special to make a dent in my well-established hierarchy of favorites. I'm afraid that even so distinguished a crew as Ivan Fischer and his Budapest Festival Orchestra couldn't quite do that.

Fischer's new Philips release of the Ninth goes along without a snag; fact is, I can't fault it on any grounds. It's just that compared to the company of Kertesz (Decca), Kondrashin (Decca), Reiner (RCA), Horenstein (Chesky), Macal (EMI Classics for Pleasure), Neumann (Denon), and Kubelik (DG), Fischer sounds rather ordinary. The performance is not without spirit, however, and its accompanying work, the Eighth Symphony, is even more invigorating. Indeed, if it weren't for price, I'd recommend this disc for the latter piece alone. In the Eighth Fischer well captures the feelings both of bucolic warmth and of native Czech flair. It's a lovely reading.

Nor can I say anything against Philips' sound, which is warm and natural throughout. Yet I find it difficult to find anything about it to praise over its rivals, either, which are themselves either warm and natural or in most cases more detailed and more brilliantly alive, as well. The Philips sound is a bit underwhelming at the high end and a bit lower-midrange heavy at the other extreme. A little more treble openness would have given the works a better spit-and-polish.

Probably the two most important factors this disc has going for it are that it is very competently performed, and it pairs two of Dvorak's most famous compositions. However, the reader is reminded that the last time I looked Philips were still issuing their two-disc mid-priced set of all three late Dvorak symphonies under Colin Davis, excellent renderings in excellent sound. Now, for value, that's a hard act to beat.