Hard as it may be to believe, until this reissue the Dvorák Wind Serenade has been absent from the Supraphon catalog. The (conductorless) Czech Philharmonic Wind Ensemble makes handsome amends, however, offering a performance that goes straight to the top of the heap in a crowded field. It’s not just the familiarity with the idiom, or the fabled sweet tone of the players themselves: with swift tempos, incisive rhythms, and (most importantly) perfect top-to-bottom balances, they make the music sound better than it does in any other recording. I was particularly impressed with the clarity of the cello/bass lines, instruments that participate fully in the musical dialog but hardly register on competing recordings. You simply hear more of this delightful music than you can anywhere else.
Josef Vlach’s vigorous and flowing performance of the String Serenade also demonstrates that there’s more muscle in the music than most other interpreters bring to it, and in particular it shows that the opening is not supposed to be four-plus minutes of vaguely pretty musical meandering. Everything here, even the Larghetto, has shape and rhythmic point, while the waltz, scherzo, and finale provide plenty of real excitement. The two short works by Tchaikovsky make terrific encores, and if the well-remastered sound isn’t as perfect here as it is in the Wind Serenade (where it’s truly of demonstration caliber), I don’t see anyone finding much to complain about. In short, this is a true classic–one that never again should disappear from the active catalog. [4/30/2004]
