Dvořák’s symphonies are well represented in the recording catalogue, with multiple performances – especially of the late symphonies – featuring seasoned orchestras led by conductors legendary and otherwise. So do we really need another set played by an amateur ensemble under an intrepid music director?

Not so fast. More than a few moments in this release of Dvořák’s symphonies Nos 6 9 suggest that a fully professional ensemble is being guided by a forceful and insightful conductor. The results may be erratic from technical (and acoustical) standpoints but the performances go far in conveying the lyrical effusion, dramatic contrasts and boisterous spirits abounding in these works.

David Bernard treats each of the symphonies with alert and respectful acuity. He trusts Dvořák’s metronome markings, often to surprising and exciting effect, and makes sure the narratives unfold with seamless assurance. The fact that the members of the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony are classically trained but make their livings in other vocations is no impediment to affecting and robust music-making. Although missed notes and tuning issues crop up along the way, the performances mostly bask in the beguiling evolution of Dvořák’s symphonic art (beautifully articulated in booklet essays by Bernard and David Patrick Stearns).

The Sixth may not have the cachet of the last three symphonies due to the composer’s adherence to traditional methods, but it’s a loving and vibrant example of Dvořák’s distinctive take on Classical and Czech elements. Bernard shapes the score with fine control, savouring its tender and invigorating material minus mannerism or bluster. The timpani in the Furiant could be more pointed but for the most part the recording places the orchestra in splendid focus.

The same can’t be said for the Seventh, which has ample Sturm und Drang but inadequate acoustical clarity to do the work, or the playing, justice. The sound is unpleasantly boomy, unlike in the other symphonies, obscuring many lines and details – notably in the winds – for the music’s haunting darkness and fecund poetry to register with sufficient immediacy.

But Nos 8 and 9 find orchestra and conductor back in transparent space. The former receives an urgent and rousing interpretation that breathes when Dvořák is at his most songful and goes to the exhilarating hilt in the brilliant passages. The New World sounds freshly considered, with thrust balanced by serenity, and is marked by a handsome English horn solo in the Largo and vibrant teamwork throughout.