Martinu: Symphony No5; Frescoes of Piero Della Francesca H352

Creators: Bohuslav Martinu, Karel Ancerl, Orchestr Ceska Filharmonie
Label: Supraphon
Category: Music

Buy Used: $49.98

Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars

2 reviews
Sales Rank: 298263

Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1

UPC: 789368925827
EAN: 0789368925827
ASIN: B00000JIYF

Release Date: September 22, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: CASE & BOOKLET IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. DISC IS PERFECT! SHIPS 1ST CLASS IN THE U.S.& AIRMAIL WORLDWIDE!

Customer Reviews:

5 out of 5 stars

Essential September 3, 2006
Precession
This performance of Martinu's Fifth Symphony was the first to be recorded, in 1955, and it is still the best. Although the recording is mono, the clarity and balance of the playing by this orchestra, and the complete identification with the music by the conductor, set it quite apart. Later recordings of this symphony conducted by Ancerl are available, including a stereo version with the Toronto Orchestra: while that is the best stereo version, this earlier version still keeps first place. No version I've come across yet recorded by any other orchestra can touch it. The slower temp for the last movement here adds excitement and depth, even if it is slower than indicated in the score. The other three movement works on this CD are recorded in stereo and are equally wonderful performances, and a mono recording of the Memorial to Lidice is also included. One of the best CDs ever.

This performance of the Fifth Symphony has been reissued in another coupling in the Supraphon 'Golden Ancerl'series with a wonderful version of the Symphony No 6. I am not a sound expert, but to my ears the earlier CD with the Parables and Frescoes reproduces with more clarity and is the one to go for, though the Golden One is good if you can't find the earlier one.

5 out of 5 stars

Martinu at his most marvelous January 19, 2002
Scott Spires (Prague, Czech Republic)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This may be the single most essential Martinu disc I have, with the unbeatable CzPO/Ancerl combo tackling several of his orchestral masterpieces. The sound, from the 1950s, is either good mono or adequate early stereo.

The 5th Symphony is the longest piece here. It is a more emotionally ambiguous work than Martinu's previous symphonies, harder to characterize in a word or two, with an unusual 3-movement structure and no real slow movement as such. Stick with it, though, as it culminates in a long, rhythmically insistent, pounding finale (shades of Beethoven's 7th) which may be Martinu's single most impressive symphonic movement.

"Frescoes of Piero della Francesca" is a richly orchestrated, kaleidoscopic piece which stands in the very front rank of Martinu's huge output. "Parables" is composed along the same lines as "Frescoes," although it's a little more modernistic and dissonant. "Memorial to Lidice" is a grim lament inspired by the Nazi destruction of a Czech village during World War II. If you haven't yet discovered this most lovable of twentieth-century composers, this disc is a good place to start.

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