Vaclav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic recorded Dvorak's Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Symphonies for HMV before the war and the Eighth and Ninth for Supraphon in post-war years. The pre-war Seventh and Eighth are already available on a Koch International disc ((CD) 37007-2), and it's good now to have the first ever recording of the Sixth.
Talich's musical roots went almost as far back as Dvorak himself, and certainly he was steeped in the romantic Czech tradition. There is unmistakable authority in his conducting of Dvorak's music, which always has tremendous rhythmic vitality and an open-hearted, lyrical quality. He conducts the first movement of the Sixth Symphony with magnificent flair and drive, yet his approach is also very flexible, and he responds to the score's natural warmth in a very affectionate, caring fashion. The slow movement is played in a grave, very beautiful manner, and the Furiant rhythms of the Scherzo are sharply pointed and full of energy. A strong, confident exposition of the last movement completes an interpretation which has seldom, if ever, been surpassed on record.
Suk's Serenade is frankly a much lesser work, though it offers modest pleasures. Talich knew Suk very well and no doubt his sympathetic performance is very much as the composer wanted. I rather feel that the transfer of the Dvorak symphony, tonally acceptable but not ideally clear, is better than that of the Serenade, where there is more noise reduction and therefore a more uneven sound image.
Mozart was apparently a composer much admired by Talich, but he left only a few commercial recordings of his music. Those on Multisonic's disc come from the great conductor's last public concerts, and they are preserved in good, full-bodied mono sound. It is particularly fortunate that this is so, for the performances are superlative. The Czech Philharmonic woodwind soloists play with wonderful artistry in the Serenade movements. The Romanza, for example, is beautifully shaped, and the Theme and Variations bubble over with vitality and wit.
In Symphony No. 33 Talich takes the first movement quite quickly, but the playing is alert elegant and extremely stylish. There's a noble aristocratic quality in the slow movement; the Minuet and Trio are full of zest and the finale is splendidly vivacious too. The more substantial Prague Symphony contains a powerful, but sensitive performance of the first movement, a quite fast, but delicately expressed slow movement and a superb, high-spirited finale. I find it difficult to describe these performances adequately—there's something of the secure, old-world state in them, but a freshness and wide-eyed spirit of discovery as well. Do hear them if you can.'