Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop - Dvorak: Symphonies Nos. 9 (2015) [DSD64] DSF + HDTracks

This recording by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and Music Director Marin Alsop is the first of three discs of Dvořák symphonies taken from live performances at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. The most popular of all Dvořák’s works, Symphony No. 9 ‘From the New World’ makes an immediate appeal by virtue of a seemingly inexhaustible flow of melody and sparkling orchestration. Based on a melody he had composed earlier for men’s chorus, I am a fiddler, the Symphonic Variations are one of the composer’s most beautifully crafted and beguiling works.
This album was mastered using our 2xHD proprietary system. In order to achieve the most accurate reproduction of the original recording we tailor our process specifically for each project, using a selection from our pool of state-of-the-art audiophile components and connectors. The process begins with a transfer to analog from the original DSD master, using cutting edge D/A converters. The analog signal is then sent through a hi-end tube pre-amplifier before being recorded directly in DXD using the dCS905 A/D and the dCS Vivaldi Clock. All connections used in the process are made of OCC silver cable.

Coming as it does after disappointingly turgid readings of Brahms' four symphonies with the London Philharmonic, Marin Alsop's powerful recording of Dvorák's Ninth with the Baltimore Symphony is a surprise. Recorded live in Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Alsop's Ninth is robust and energetic, with muscular rhythms and stalwart tempos. Her Molto vivace Scherzo has real heft and weight and her closing Allegro con fuoco has drive and strength. Better yet, Alsop coaxes warm, characterful playing from the Baltimore musicians. The ensemble is tight and direct in the fast movements, but the playing is colorful and soulful in the slow movements. The burnished lower strings in the opening Adagio and the solemn trombones at the start of the central Largo are deeply felt and quietly affecting. Preceded by a brilliant and bumptious account of the same composer's Symphonic Variations, this disc will add luster to both Alsop and the Baltimore's reputation.