Born the son of an innkeeper and occasional zither player in
rural Moravia (now part of the Czech Republic), Antonín Dvorák
showed astonishing musical promise from an early age. Recognising
his talents, his parents did all they could to further his
education, first in Zlonice and then in Ceská Kamenice. He moved
to Prague at the age of 16, studying at the Prague Organ School
where he learnt the fundamentals of harmony, continuo, modulation
and improvisation for the first time. Dvoráks performing career
also began here, as he played first in the Cecilia Society and
then in the dance band of the elder Karel Komzák, familiarising
himself with works by Mendelssohn, Schumann and Wagner for the
first time. As well as working privately as a musician and
teacher, Dvorák was quietly spending much of his free time
composing, working on his first two symphonies and his song cycle
Cypresses. Soon, Dvoráks steadily increasing oeuvre allowed him
to apply for the Austrian State Stipendium, for which he
submitted 15 compositions, including symphonies and overtures.
His application met with success and was awarded again four more
times, including in the crucial year 1877, in which Brahms first
heard Dvoráks Moravian Duets. The German composer was so
enthused, he insisted that they be published, and, following
another successful publication, this time of his Slavonic Dances,
Dvorák was suddenly thrown into the limelight. He was invited to
play in concert halls all over Germany, and his success also took
him to England, where he premiered his Seventh Symphony in 1885,
in London, and his Requiem in 1891, this time in Birmingham. The
composers reputation in Europe was sealed. In 1892, Dvorák
travelled to America for the first time. It was here, in the New
World, that the composer wrote some of his most famous
compositions, taking inspiration from spirituals and ation
songs as well as Longfellows epic Hiawatha. His Ninth Symphony
premiered at Carnegie Hall in 1893, to great success. However,
the composer began to feel home for his Czech roots, and soon
returned across the Atlantic. Back in his homeland, he completed
his Cello Concerto, worked on some string quartets and even
reinvented himself as a composer of programme music, scoring his
evocatively titled symphonic poems including The Noon Witch and
The Wild Dove. Dvorák died in 1904, leaving behind a legacy at
least as great as that of fellow Czech composer Smetana. This box
set includes all of his most popular works, including his large
vocal compositions Rusalka, the Stabat Mater and Requiem, his
orchestral symphonies that spanned the entirety of his career,
and his smaller chamber works, including the Serenade for Strings
and his string quartets. Featuring renowned performers, there is
a pleasing mixture of re-releases of accled performances and
newer s. The mighty symphonies are tackled by the
Staatskapelle Berlin, with 20th-century greats Ruggiero Ricci and
Zara Nelsova playing the violin and cello concertos respectively.
The Cohen Trio perform the piano trios in s accled
for their ""sense of discovery, of genuine and chamber
playing"" by BBC Music Magazine, and Peter Schreiers touching
rendition of Dvoráks songs is described as being ""enchantingly
sung"" with ""just the right tactful support"" (Gramophone). More
recent performances include the only of Dvoráks Russian
Songs by the Prague Singers, first released by Brilliant Classics
in 2006.