Search - Leos Janacek, Andrew Davis, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra :: Leos Janácek: Sinfonietta; Ballad of Blanek; Fiddler's Child; Taras Bulba

A near perfect Sinfonietta, a real "feast for the ears"

03/06/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After many "so-so" Sinfonietta"s, I reluctantly purchased this version, not being familiar with either Andrew Davis or the work of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic. After the first listening all I could say was "WOW". This was the version of Sinfonietta that I had always known could exist...somewhere. Everything was there , the crispness of the brass, the majesty in the fanfare, the achingly beautiful flute, and the perfect percussion. Even the spacing of the individual movements was in perfect time with the piece's overall forward pace. Quite simply the best Sinfonietta that this listener has heard, and that is just the opening piece on this brilliant disc. The Taras Bulba is fantastic and the remaining two pieces are quite simply,cream topping on the already splendid cake. Very heartily reccomended."

An outstanding Janacek collection, topped by a wild, totally

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/13/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"My favorite approach to Janacek's ever-popular Sinfonietta is one of wild abadnon but with good intonation and balance. Andrew Davis delivers both here. The Royal Stockholm brass section chimes away with great freedom, but they play in tune and don't rasp. Davis's tempos are fast, his mood often dance-inspired, his textures light. Finlandia provides excellent sonics, as we've come to expect from Finnish record companies. In all, the best Sinfonietta I've ever heard.



The rest of the colleciton is equally convincing. Besides familiar music from Taras Bulba, we get the mini-violin concerto known as The Fiddler's Child, and the haunting, litttle known Ballad of Blanek, which is in Janacek's ripest idiom."