Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76 37:54
Recorded: 1989-09-02
Recording Venue: 30 August - 2 September 1989: Konserthus, Os lo
Dvořák: Othello, B.174 13:47
Recorded: 1989-09-02
Recording Venue: 30 August - 2 September 1989: Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Scherzo capriccioso, B.131 Dvořák: Symphony No. 5 in F major, Op. 76 37:54
Recorded: 1989-09-02
Recording Venue: 30 August - 2 September 1989: Konserthus, Os lo
Dvořák: Othello, B.174 13:47
Recorded: 1989-09-02
Recording Venue: 30 August - 2 September 1989: Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Scherzo capriccioso, B.131 12:41
Recorded: 1989-09-02
Recording Venue: 30 August - 2 September 1989: Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70 37:03
Recorded: 1992-01-27
Recording Venue: 22-27 January 1992, Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 36:41
Recorded: 1992-01-27
Recording Venue: 22-27 January 1992: Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 'From the New World' 40:36
Recorded: 1988-11-30
Recording Venue: November 1988, Konserthus, Oslo
Smetana: Má Vlast: Vltava 12:09
Recorded: 1988-11-30
Recording Venue: November 1988: Konserthus, Oslo
Recorded: 1992-01-27
Recording Venue: 22-27 January 1992, Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 36:41
Recorded: 1992-01-27
Recording Venue: 22-27 January 1992: Konserthus, Oslo
Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 'From the New World' 40:36
Recorded: 1988-11-30
Recording Venue: November 1988, Konserthus, Oslo
Smetana: Má Vlast: Vltava 12:09
Recorded: 1988-11-30
Recording Venue: November 1988: Konserthus, Oslo

尾高忠明：东京艺术大学音乐学部指挥科教授，日本新一代杰出的指挥家
2010年起担任日本NHK交响乐团常任指挥；2010年9月起担任日本新国立剧场的音乐总监；2010年1月起担任墨尔本交响乐团首席客座指挥； 2004年5月起担任札幌交响乐团的音乐总监；1996年起担任BBC威尔士国家交响乐团的名誉指挥。
作为日本最出名的指挥家之一，尾高忠明的首场演出是于1971年同NHK交响乐团一起进行的，随后，他以常任指挥的身份执棒东京爱乐乐团长达二十年之久。他在英国担任多个交响乐团的客座指挥，包括：伦敦交响乐团、伦敦爱乐乐团、BBC交响乐团。1987年，尾高忠明先生成为BBC威尔士国家交响乐团的总指挥，伦敦《星期日泰晤士报》里的评论：“在同这个交响乐团合作的八年时间里，尾高忠明让威尔士惊奇。”除了英国以外，他在最近的音乐季受邀同鹿特丹爱乐乐团、班贝克爱乐乐团，斯特拉斯堡爱乐乐团，华沙爱乐乐团，卑尔根爱乐乐团，奥斯陆爱乐乐团，荷兰爱乐乐团，香港管弦乐团等乐团进行合作演出。

Symphony No. 8 In G Major, Op. 88: I. Allegro con brio
Symphony No. 8 In G Major, Op. 88: II. Adagio
Symphony No. 8 In G Major, Op. 88: III. Allegretto grazioso
Symphony No. 8 In G Major, Op. 88: IV. Allegro ma non troppo
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor, Op. 95 (From The New World): I. Adagio - Allegro molto
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor, Op. 95 (From The New World): II. Largo
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor, Op. 95 (From The New World): III. Scherzo. Molto vivace
Symphony No. 9 In E Minor, Op. 95 (From The New World): IV. Allegro con fuoco

Fournier first performed the Elgar Concerto in 1949. His recording with the Berlin Philharmonic and Wallenstein was made in 1967 and in between came numerous performances, amongst them this one, taped in Cologne in 1955. The conductor was Hans Rosbaud, a superb and still under appreciated, dedicated musician. Fournier represented the noble strain of the French School in this work, in which expressive gestures were at the service of architectural and structural goals – never a means in themselves. The most internationally famous French player of the concerto was Tortelier, who had studied it at college where it was taught, but Fournier’s natural aristocracy offered a valid alternative; Navarra’s rougher-toned but no less important place in this Trinity offered three great and fruitfully divergent approaches.
Since I’ve never made much of a secret of the fact that Franco-Belgian string players are probably closest to my heart it’s always a particular pleasure to encounter a broadcast such as this. That said Fournier is on slightly fallible form and pedants will want to note these slips. Intonation is certainly not infallible – Fournier was no Gendron when it came to matters of intonation – and he takes a little while to settle. Dignity and a refusal to linger are hallmarks of Fournier’s Elgar. He’s slightly broader in the slow movement here than in the Berlin recording but fractionally tighter in the first movement, takes exactly the same tempo in the Adagio; half a minute quicker in Cologne than in Berlin in the finale.
Rosbaud accents finely; the layering of the string choirs is frequently masterly, though he can’t have been that familiar with the work at the time. He certainly ensures shifting bow weights in the strings’ entries and attacks. Fournier makes a few finger slips in the Scherzo and seems to tire in the finale slightly where intonation occasionally suffers again. For those who prefer a lingering, long drawn out catharsis in this work French players are not your first port of call. I’ve always been more drawn to their way of thinking and to Anthony Pini’s – so, despite the blips, this is a treasurable reading.
Its companion sees Fournier teamed with a hero of the Dvořák discography – not least in this work – in the shape of George Szell. His talismanic recording with Casals in 1938 is irreplaceable but he and Fournier clearly enjoyed a sympathetic collaboration. Neither gave in to syrup. They recorded the work in Berlin in the early sixties; other Fournier performances have survived of course – there’s a fine broadcast disc in Prague with Georges Sebastian directing the Czech Philharmonic in 1959.
Fournier is on better technical form here. There’s no second subject wallowing, but nor is there the brutish stupidity of Toscanini’s account of this work – an abject disappointment – in which every subtlety and nuance is sacrificed to the dictates of speed. This conversely is a well structured, strongly argued, warmly expressive account all round. It’s certainly faster than the commercial recording made at around the same time but not worryingly so. The proportions of the piece are intact and the noble edifice of the slow movement and the culminatory reflections of the finale find noble interpreters in the two men. I must also note the very distinctive Cologne flautist. As a pendant there’s a witty performance of the Twelve Variations on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’ from Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with pianist Franz Holetschek.
Both the concerto performances are worthy adjuncts to, though not replacements for, Fournier’s commercial recordings.
by Jonathan Woolf (
)