CD REVIEW: Dvořák/Martinů

Hmmm. Somehow this review by Anthony Holden in the London (U.K.) Observer (11/20/05) completely missed us last month. Nevertheless, it is a fine addition to the collection!

Dvořák Symphony No. 9
Martinů Symphony No. 2
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra/Jarvi, (Telarc CD 80616), £14.99

Both written in America and steeped in US influences, these symphonies were written when each composer was 52. Czechs looking back to their abandoned roots, Dvořák was already one of Europe's best-known composers, Martinů still languishing in some obscurity after 10 years absorbing the heady delights of Twenties Paris. A natural coupling, then, but as different as the half-century separating them would suggest: Dvořák's New World heavy with romantic nostalgia, Martinů's far more original and forward-looking. Each receives bravura treatment from the superb combination of Paavo Jarvi and his immaculate Cincinnati Symphony.