Antonin Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 (From the New World)
Akira Ifukube:
- Sinfonia Tapkaara
- Godzilla - Symphonic Fantasy

At the onset of this year (2020) it was announced that the German classical music label MDG had formed a partnership with the Japanese audiophile label Denon, not only to revive the availability of Denon's impressive back-catalogue, but also to assure worldwide distribution of "new" Denon releases. They kicked off the event with a bang with the re-release of this legendary Anton Bruckner recording, and now this release of Antonin Dvořák's Symphony No. 9 is one of the first "new" Denon productions out the gate.

Although Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904) has always been considered a nationalistic composer and a poster boy for his Czech and/or Bohemian heritage, it's with this impressive symphony, inspired from his stay in the United States, that he left his footprint on music. It's as if the disregard of ethnic or political restrictions enhanced his creative spirit. The booklet notes go on to explain that Dvořák had already written sketches for an opera based on 'The Song of Hiawatha' meant to reflect Native American music, but that project never came to fruition, so he decided to apply these materials to a new symphony, and thus the 'New World Symphony' came to be.

Italian conductor Andrea Battistoni, who has already led impressive operatic productions, leads the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra through a lively account of this iconic symphony. The tempos are generally brisk, but finely counterbalanced by well-judged rubato elements here and there. And if I've heard a better sounding cor anglais intone the so-called "Goin' Home" melody of the slow movement, I can't remember when. The balance of power tends to favor the brass section during certain passages, but that's a trivial quibble that you soon overlook once you hear the rousing finale.

Japanese composer Akira Ifukube (1914-2006) is better known as the person behind the soundtrack scores of the famous 1950s Godzilla movies, of which there is a short example on this disc. But it's his Sinfonia Tapkaara, with its highly evocative Adagio movement, that makes for a better room-mate with the Dvořák symphony. The booklet notes state that the Sinfonia Tapkaara has often been referred to as 'Slavic', and since Dvořák was Slavic Czech, they share this in common. There seems to be only one other recording of this work that goes back 15 years on the Naxos label, so it makes for a nice extra addition on this disc.