Josef Suk: Asrael Symphony, Op. 27

On this CD:

1. Symphony in C Minor, Op 27 "Asrael"
Composed by Josef (composer) Suk
Performed by Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Conducted by Libor Pesek

Tracks:

Asrael Symphony, Op. 27: Part One: I. Andante sostenuto - Andante con moto e resoluto - Piu pesante e maestoso -
Asrael Symphony, Op. 27: Part One: II. Andante -
Asrael Symphony, Op. 27: Part One: lll. Vivace - Andante sostenuto - Appassionato - Maestoso
Asrael Symphony, Op. 27: Part Two: lV. Adagio
Asrael Symphony, Op. 27: Part Two: V. Adagio e maestoso - Allegro appassionato - Adagio e maestoso - Andante maestoso - Adagio e mesto

Tracks:

Pohadka (Fairy Tale), Op. 16: l. About The Constant Love Of Raduz And Mahulena And Their Trials
Pohadka (Fairy Tale), Op. 16: II. Intermezzo: Playing At Swans And Peacocks
Pohadka (Fairy Tale), Op. 16: III. Intermezzo: Funeral Music
Pohadka (Fairy Tale), Op. 16: IV. Runa's Curse And How It Was Broken By True Love
Serenade For Strings, Op. 6 In E Flat Major: I. Andante con moto
Serenade For Strings, Op. 6 In E Flat Major: II. Allegro, ma non troppo e grazioso
Serenade For Strings, Op. 6 In E Flat Major: III. Adagio - Piu andante - Tempo I
Serenade For Strings, Op. 6 In E Flat Major: IV. Allegro gracioso, ma non troppo presto - Vivace

Customer Reviews:

Bravo to Belohlavek.......2003-02-13

I was only recently introduced to the works of Suk, and this 2-CD set is a superb example of why his music is becoming a mainstay of my collection! The Czech Philharmonic really knows how to bring out the best in this music, and I heartily recommend this recording. The Asrael Symphony especially is worth the price alone!

Pristine and powerful!.......2002-01-02

I just received my copy of this recording yesterday and I've listened to it straight through twice already. The quality of the recording is absolutely perfect. The clarity of the gentle, lyrical passages is pure and beautiful. The more powerful passages come through with a thunder that is often missing from classical recordings. I love it!

Of course, the compositions themselves are beautiful and full of emotional expression in a purely and unapologetically late romantic style. The performance by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is as good as it gets. They know how these pieces need to be played and they do it well.

Tracks:

Sym in c, Op.27 'Asrael': Part One: I. Andante Sostenuto
Sym in c, Op.27 'Asrael': Part One: II. Andante
Sym in c, Op.27 'Asrael': Part One: III. Vivace
Sym in c, Op.27 'Asrael': Part Two: IV. Adagio
Sym in c, Op.27 'Asrael': Part Two: V. Adagio Maestoso

Customer Reviews:

A sprawling monument to one man's grief.......2003-10-16

Josef Suk had been planning to write a memorial symphoney to his father-in-law & teacher, Antonin Dvorak, after Dvorak died in 1904. However, Suk's wife (Dvorak's daughter Otylka) died 14 months later, and these two losses invested the work in progress with a new emotional energy. It took Suk until 1907 to complete his work.

The "Asrael" Symphony was much different than anything Suk had written up to that point. It was longer, and certainly much more dark & intense than his other pieces, such as the well-known Serenade for Strings. Through the piece, one can hear the raging grief & despair, although ultimately it ends in a major key, signalling that ultimately one must accept the inevitability of death.

Tracks:

Asrael Symphony, Op.27: Part One: Andante sostenuto - A tempo (Andante con moto) - Adagio e mesto. Piu mosso - Poco stringendo. Con moto
Asrael Symphony, Op.27: Part One: Andante
Asrael Symphony, Op.27: Part One: Vivace - Andante sostenuto - Quasi Tempo I
Asrael Symphony, Op.27: Part Two: Adagio
Asrael Symphony, Op.27: Part Two: Adagio e maestoso - Allegro appassionato - Andante maestoso - Adagio e mesto

Josef Suk: "Asrael" Symphony for Big Orchestra, Op. 27 - Vaclav Neumann / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Average customer rating:

A Czech's approach to Suk's angel of death

Josef Suk: "Asrael" Symphony for Big Orchestra, Op. 27 - Vaclav Neumann / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Josef Suk , Vaclav Neumann , and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Supraphon
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00000JH1A
Release Date: 1994-09-19

Customer Reviews:

A Czech's approach to Suk's angel of death.......2006-11-20

"Asreal" is the angel of death that took the wife of composer Josef Suk (1874-1935) and drove him to write the concluding sections of this mystical, death-induced five-movement symphony that was originally meant as a paean to Dvorak, who had recently died.

Legendary Czech conductor Vaclav Neumann leads the Czech Philharmonic here in a 1983 recording made in Prague's House of Artists. Unlike the Rudolfinum, the House of Artists provides better recording acoustics and you hear it in this recording, where every section of the wonderful Czech Philharmonic can be heard clearly and with the balance Neumann always insisted upon in recordings.

Before I owned any recordings of this work, I looked around for critical opinion. Most critics, it seemed to me, preferred other performances than this one. As is normally the case, Neumann was graded down against his more emotionally involved Czech compatriots (Talich, Kubelik and Belohlavek.) The Talich recording, which Classical Music Third Ear called the "classic" account, has been out of print in USA for some time but recently became available in the UK. It is only a matter of time before it is available here.

This recording owes no apology to Talich or any other conductor, although it can be argued Talich's relationship with the composer gave him a certain credibility. Neumann's direct style works in this music and, as Third Ear admitted, the playing and recording is marvelous, certainly better and more detailed than the 1954 Talich. Both conductors used the Czech Philharmonic, with its unique central European sound, for their recordings. This one has been reissued in new packaging since this release. Look around elsewhere on Amazon for that version.

Average customer rating:

Josef Suk: Asrael Symphony

Manufacturer: Cpo Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0001M64W0
Release Date: 2004-04-20

Tracks:

Andante Sostenuto
Andante
Vivace
Adagio
Adagio Maestoso
Untitled

Average customer rating:

The symphony of anguish, anger, passion, reflections,&power.

Josef Suk: Asrael Symphony Op. 27
Josef Suk , Jirí Belohlávek , and Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000000AP0
Release Date: 1992-10-28

Tracks:

I Andante Sostenuto/Andante Con Moto E Resoluto/Piu Pesante E Maestoso
II Andante
III Vivace Sostenuto/Appassionato/Maestoso
IV Adagio
V Adagio E Maestoso/Allegro Appassionato/Adagio E Maestoso/Andante Maestoso/Adagio E Mesto

Amazon.com

"Asrael" is the Muslim angel of death, and the composer wrote this work to exorcise his grief over the loss of his beloved wife and father-in-law, both of home die within a year of each other. That father-in-law, incidentally, was none other than Dvořák. Suk was one of the most talented of his students, and this massive, hyper-Romantic five-movement symphony moves from anguish and despair to a tranquil acceptance of life's tragic events. The piece has received a lot of attention recently, and rightly so. It's a magnificently confident essay that anyone who loves, say, Mahler or Strauss, will find just about irresistible. This performance is not as heavy as some, but it wears very well, and sounds great. --David Hurwitz

Customer Reviews:

The symphony of anguish, anger, passion, reflections,&power........1999-05-16

Josef Suk (1874-1935) wrote this powerful, anguish, contemplative Asrael Symphony by 1907, with the dedications to the noble memory of both Antonin Dvorak & Otilka Dvorak (daughter of Dvorak & wife of Suk). The original plan was a three-movement structure, to pay a tribute to Dvorak who died on May 1st, 1904. However, Otilka passed on by July 5th, 1905 of a heart condition, & Suk changed his plans of the symphony in adding two more movements, in memory of his wife.

The deaths of Dvorak & Otilka caused a turning point of Suk's life, as expressed passionately in his Asrael symphony, argueably his masterpiece. From 1905 and onwards, Suk's outlook of life consist of contemplations, tragedy, reflections, & the yearning for the past as he remembered &loved. The music after 1905, therefore, with some exceptions to his five-movement symphony poem "A Summer Tale", embodied those feelings. It is only in his Epilogue for orchestra, soloists, & chorus where he came to accept the tragic deaths more fully.

The recording of Jiri Belohlavek & the Czech Philharmonic is one of eight recordings currently available. Jiri Belohlavek directed his orchestra with a sense of passion, urgency & the adequate understanding of the symphony, & of Josef Suk. As far as sonority is concerned, only Vaclav Talich & Vaclav Neumann, both with the Czech Philharmonic as well as Evgeny Svetlanov with the State Symphony Orchestra of Russia are the top of the class, with the emotionalism pouring out like a cloudburst. It was Talich, Neumann, & Svetlanov who were most successful in bringing the darkness of the Asrael symphony more effectively than other conductors on record of this work.

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