Search - Antonin Dvorak, George Enescu, Leos Janacek :: Dvorak: Serenade for Wind

Robust, insightful and wonderfully "Slavic" perfs!!

Timothy Mikolay | Pittsburgh, PA | 08/21/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This disc is amazing. Discovering this idiom, the wind serenade, for me was a delight not just from a musical perspective, but from an historical one as well. The Dvorak has the usual but always satisfying melodies and developments with some wonderful voicing and the Enescu is quite flashy but quite substantial. It nevers lacks the heart and soul most flashy pieces in any idiom seem to suffer from. The Janacek is classic in every respect regarding his concept of tonality and rhythm and a joy to listen to. As my fiance listened to this, she said enjoyed it very much.The Oslo winds play magnificently embellishing and articulating with exceptional results. I hope any reader of this review will continue on to add this to their listening library. It is a catalog rarity but an immensely satisfying aural experience."

Super in Every Way

Timothy Mikolay | 09/02/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Lots of Naxos discs are bargains. Then again, even at the price, lots are not. But the current CD represents an outstanding value. Everything-music, performances, and recording-are of the highest order. First, the music. Has anyway created more gorgeously Schubertian melodies (except, of course, for Schubert himself) than Antonin Dvorak? And is there any more glorious an example of latter-day Schubertian melodiousness than Dvorak's Opus 44 Serenade? While the first and last movements feature a stern little march in D minor, the Serenade is mostly a sunny work, except for the middle section of the charming Andante, where clouds gather much as they do in parts of the essentially sunny Octet of Schubert. Is this one of Dvorak's models? A fine model if so, and I think Dvorak surpasses it to create one of his best works. Then there is Janacek's quirky Mladi, a tribute to the composer's music-inspired youth, written when the master was seventy-a piquant and memorable piece. Enescu's Dixtuor is maybe a little less memorable than either of these works, written in what the writer of liner notes for the CD calls an "international style," which translates to something like the wind music of Richard Strauss without the pomp and circumstance-fine with me, by the way. In the slow middle movement, Enescu seems to use Romanian folk elements, and the sounds are both attractive and very interesting, by far the most arresting music in the piece. (I fail to find any influence of Bach, which the note writer swears to hearing in the Dixtuor.)The players from the distinguished Oslo Philharmonic bring great style to these three works. Mladi, not easy to bring off, has never seemed more cogent to me, and the Enescu undoubtedly sounds like a finer piece than it really is in the Norwegian musicians' capable hands. But the performance of the best work on the disc, the Dvorak, is the capper. I can't imagine a more mellifluous or tender one.Even the recording, made in a couple of churches in Oslo, is outstanding, melding atmospherics and punch in just the right measure. Top-notch!"

Splendid

David Saemann | 07/01/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Oslo Philharmonic Wind Soloists is a superb ensemble. I also have their Mozart disc. They play with virtuosity, color, and sensitivity. This is one of the best performances of the Dvorak I've ever heard, certainly better than my film with members of the Berlin Philharmonic. The sound engineering, from an Oslo church, is rich and full of body, with delicacy of tone quality as well. Enescu's Dixtuor is a beautiful piece, with ravishing colors and great warmth. The wind ensemble slims down to a quintet for Janacek's Youth, a spiky piece given a colorful rendition. I don't think I've ever heard a winds album better than this one. It makes me wish the Soloists would tackle Gounod's Petite Symphonie."