There are certainly worse recordings of the complete symphonies of
Antonin Dvorák -- the lackluster
Václav Neumann, the wrong-headed
Neeme Järvi, the dreary
Andrew Davis -- but this set by
Otmar Suitner and the
Staatskapelle Berlin is so much less appealing than the truly great performances -- the glorious
István Kertész, the fabulous
Rafael Kubelik, and the magnificent
Witold Rowicki -- that it is impossible to recommend.
Suitner knows what to do and when to do it, and there are no outright gaffes, but he seems impervious to the music's charm and to its meaning. Melodies that should be lyrical are merely perfunctory, developments that should be dramatic are simply prosaic, and climaxes that should be shattering are only loud. Part of the responsibility lies with the
Staatskapelle Berlin, which can surely handle anything in these scores, but which often sounds like it is sight-reading, resulting in a less than unified ensemble and less than convincing performances. Berlin Classics stereo sound is thick, lumpy, and gray. In short, this is a set only likely to interest listeners who have to have every
Dvorák cycle or everything
Suitner ever recorded.