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Hi Res Download, Smetana (composer)
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'It hardly needs saying that there is nothing banal about Bychkov’s meticulously mapped performances and that his attention to detail never stifles the music’s spontaneity...In sum, an enriching... —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, April 2024, Editor's Choice
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2024, Orchestral Choice
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Gramophone Awards, 2024 Shortlist, Finalist - Orchestral
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International Classical Music Awards, 2025, Nominated - Symphonic Music
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Gramophone Magazine, Critics' Choice 2024
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2025, Winner - Orchestral
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Bělohlávek clearly knew that Smetana, far from being a cheap purveyor of catchy melodies and moment-to-moment thrills, was a sure-footed musical architect, and this recording pays the long... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, April 2018, Orchestral Choice
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Record Review, 6th January 2018, Recording of the Week
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2018
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Building A Library, May 2021, Also Recommended
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Smetana & Schubert: Piano Trios
RecommendedTrio Bohémo: Jan Vojtek - Piano, Matouš Peruška – Violin, Kristina Vocetková – Cello
Written during a very turbulent period in the composer’s life, Smetana’s 1855 Piano Trio is a work of considerable mood swings and unexpected twists and turns. At times, it is also heartbreakingly... —
Awards:
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Presto Recording of the Week, 23rd August 2024
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalists 2024
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Winners 2024, Debut Album
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Notwithstanding some rough edges, especially in their otherwise passionate rendition of Szell’s orchestration of the string quartet,t here is a good deal to enjoy in these vividly recorded performances. —
Awards:
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Gramophone Magazine, February 2025, Editor's Choice
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2025
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Gramophone Awards, 2025 Shortlist, Orchestral
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Diapason d’Or de l’Année, 2025, Musique Symphonique
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George Szell and the Cleveland Orchestra: The Forgotten Recordings
Cleveland Orchestra, George Szell
Szell later re-recorded almost all the repertoire, but it’s fascinating to hear the partnership when their much-vaunted precision was well in progress, if not immaculate...Best of all are Schumann’s... —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, June 2021, Historical Choice
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Gramophone Magazine, June 2021, Reissue/Archive Issue of the Month
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International Classical Music Awards, 2022, Nominated - Historical
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For a moment or two in the Smetana one might think that the Takács Quartet's almost Olympian objectivity wouldn't suit music that often seems to well up so directly from the heart. In fact it's... —
Awards:
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Building a Library, April 2023, Also Recommended
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New. Smetana: The Two Widows
Adriana Kučerová (Karolina), Kateřina Kněžíková (Anežka), Adam Plachetka (Mumlal), Pavol Breslik (Ladislaw), Jana Sibera (Lidunka), Petr Nekoranec (Toník) Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague National Theatre Chorus, Robert Jindra
This new recording from Prague showcases all the opera's strengths, with the conductor Robert Jindra drawing fleet and stylish playing from the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra...the high level... —
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Remastered with gritty immediacy, this has to be one of the most intriguing offerings for Smetana’s 200th birthday. —
Awards:
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BBC Music Magazine, January 2025, Archive Choice
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Notwithstanding the essential simplicity of their form, Smetana imbues [the Czech Dances] with considerable sophistication. The first has a musing, reflective quality captured beautifully by... —
Awards:
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2016
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