Tuesday 28 February 2012

Dvorak - Symphony 9 [Ozawa-Wiener Philharmoniker]

This is a Japanese issue, and these Jap's seem to have a way with getting the front cover right, the English version is boring, but this is very nicely laid out, Dvorak's Ninth is a work that's easy to 'over' hear, be 'over' exposed to, and it loses its revolutionary-ness, you just get too familiar with it, of course the wonderful Largo has a very famous tune, used as a theme for all sorts of things, from elevator music, to being put on hold on the telephone, it can seem ingratiating to the point it starts to annoy, but just cast that aside and listen to the Symphony as a whole, it's the pinnacle of Dvorak's Symphonic output.

Seiji Ozawa is Japanese, he's now 76, but health problems are hampering his Conducting, he made this recording in 1991, the front cover photo is by Christian Steiner, a nice portrait, the lettering is in a grey box underneath,