Scottish National Orchestra, Neeme Järvi - Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 & My Home (1987) CD-Rip

This disc, made in 1987, is one of the many outstanding discs made by Jarvi and his Scottish orchestra during a very productive and noticeably vibrant point in Jarvi's recording career. Jarvi turned this orchestra from a fairly moderate ensemble into a far finer group with increased tonal resources and power and with a 'live' sounding recorded sound that was special then and remains special today. There were many successes but three cycles stand out - the Prokofiev symphonies, the Rimsky Korsakov Suites and the Dvorak symphonies.

The Dvorak symphonies, creatively, did not really get into its stride until symphony 5 (although I have a personal affection for number 3 as well). From that point it piles success upon success and for many listeners the last symphony (number 9 as here) is the culmination of this sequence.

Jarvi is able to bring out the freshness of the score and the excitement of the many climatic moments wonderfully well with not a trace of studio routine. The whole thing has a 'lift' that makes this a stand-out recorded accomplishment. The tone poem filler, My Home, is another fine example of Dvorakian mature creativity which brings the disc to a warmly exhilarating conclusion.

The whole venture, and this could apply to the whole of Jarvi's Scottish output, is crowned by a superb recorded sound provided by the Chandos recording team. They always marketed themselves as producing particularly clear recordings but this has never been achieved at the cost of sonic cohesion or over-analytical microphoning.

The single discs of the last symphonies are still preferable to the box set in my opinion because of the relative unevenness of at least 3 of the early symphonies. This disc is a fine example of the series at its very best.