Ripening / Asrael Symphony

On this CD:

1. Ripening, symphonic poem, for orchestra, Op. 34
Composed by Josef (composer) Suk
Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Vaclav Neumann

2. Symphony in C Minor, Op 27 "Asrael"
Composed by Josef (composer) Suk
Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Vaclav Neumann

3. Epilogue for soprano, baritone, tenor, chorus & orchestra, Op 37
Composed by Josef (composer) Suk
Performed by Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Vaclav Neumann

Customer Reviews:

finest Suk symphonic boxset.......2006-09-27

Why haven't more people heard of this composer? Most may know his grandson, the great Czech violinist of the same name. My introduction was the American premiere of his "Summer's Tale" (1907) spring 2004 by Boston SO, Rozhdestvensky - shocking, eh - how could something so exquisite have taken ~100 years to make its US premiere? Fantastic music - sent me rushing to find Suk's other stuff. 1st disappointment: recordings of Suk's music are not too easy to come by. You folks out there who love Mahler ought to give Suk a listen. He's a bit like Mahler, (less bipolar) trueblue Bohemian edition (wait wasn't Mahler born in Bohemia too?), a wholly unique voice. Late romantic, massive and very very fine orchestration, "autumnal". All things considered, this is the finest set of Suk's final 4 transcendental symphonic poems in one box. Inspired, red-blooded, idiomatic playing by the Czech Philharmonic which premiered most (all?) of these pieces in the first place. Sure, superlative recordings of individual works exist, mostly out-of-print: Asrael (Kubelik/Bavarian Radio SO on Panton), Summer's Tale (Sejna/Czech Phil on Supraphon, mono), Ripening (Ancerl/Czech Phil on Panton). There is, far as I'm aware, only one other recording of Epilog with Liverpool/Pesek but here's the 1st Epilog ever on record and it remains a benchmark. Rush before this too goes out-of-print. You won't regret getting it. Minor quibble: It would have been a cherry on top of the icing had Supraphon included Neumann/Czech Phil's recording of Suk's Symphony in E major, Op.14 which is (surprise?) out-of-print.