Teldec reviews
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9 in E minor (From the New World); The Water Goblin
Harnoncourt’s performances of Dvorák’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies have to date excited near-universal enthusiasm. The hallmark of his readings is a scrupulous attention to detail that liberates these well-known works from anything that could be described as routine. His rendition of the New World is without question a revelation. Listeners and interpreters alike will benefit hugely from a pervasive unfussiness and respect for Dvorák’s orchestration that penetrates deep into the fabric of the work.
Bach: St Matthew Passion
It is just over 30 years since Nikolaus Harnoncourt made his first recording of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. I can remember listening with astonishment and joy to the lively dance-like character of the opening chorus, a far cry from any tempo I had grown up with. Now Harnoncourt takes it more briskly, knocking almost three-quarters of a minute off the earlier recording – and it evinced no astonishment at all, such has been the evolution in Baroque music performance over the past quarter-century and more.