This is interesting for a change. As someone who studied classical music theory through six years of college, I should have sound opinions here. I would never claim nearly the same expertise as the Czech Philharmonic, though—Smetana is their national composer, their J.P. Sousa if you will. And this is Smetana’s most admired work, even if most of us today only know the second movement. It was written at a time in which the Czech Republic was pining for statehood, and Smetana quickly became a voice for his people. Má Vlast (“My Country”) is full of this nationalist passion, a sentiment that was extremely fashionable in European music of the time.
The orchestra performs the piece incredibly well—they obviously know the piece thoroughly (they’ve also recorded this in the past with Rafael Kubelik at the baton). The Moldau flows as effortlessly as I’ve heard any orchestra perform it. Through the impeccable smoothness of it all, though, it’s sometimes difficult to hear that passion that fueled the work’s composition. You almost want to hear this orchestra become a little emotionally unstable as they perform their crown jewel. This is a Decca recording, though, and they have a reputation of high-quality productions to maintain. Now I wonder how the orchestra would sound live, free from the slick hands of studio producers. Probably awesome.
Mike Frasier Music 