This is both a triumph and a missed opportunity. Here we have liltingly charming,
elegantly shaped and rowdily convulsive performances valuable and rewarding
in their own right. The Tring series is at super-bargain price. And yet look
at the playing time. What on earth possessed the company to stop with thirteen
of the sixteen dances? Quite unaccountable. There was plenty of space for
the other two slavonic dances and even, at a pinch, one of the rhapsodies.
As for the successful and utterly natural and idiomatic performances from
Bostock and a British orchestra we should not be surprised as Bostock has
spent much of his career in Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The notes (by Brendan Beales) are sensible and useful. Regrettably there
are two pages of utterly forgettable and unnecessary blurb about the orchestra;
that however is a uniform feature of the series. Fine music making at
super-bargain price but what a missed opportunity. Star-marked in light of
the missed opportunity but don't let this discourage you from tapping into
some of the most natural music-making available in excellent sound.
Reviewer
Rob Barnett
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
/ Douglas Bostock
