Dvořák The Late Symphonies David Bernard & Park Avenue Chamber Symphony

• Antonín Dvořák (1841 - 1904): Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60, B. 112:
• 1 Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60, B. 112: I. Allegro non tanto 11:21
• 2 Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60, B. 112: II. Adagio 12:07
• 3 Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60, B. 112: III. Scherzo. Furiant 07:44
• 4 Dvořák: Symphony No. 6 in D Major Op. 60, B. 112: IV. Finale. Allegro con spirito 10:41
• Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141:
• 5 Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141: I. Allegro maestoso 11:25
• 6 Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141: II. Poco adagio 10:00
• 7 Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141: III. Scherzo. Vivace 07:53
• 8 Dvořák: Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70, B. 141: IV. Finale. Allegro 09:15
• Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163:
• 9 Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: I. Allegro con brio 10:39
• 10 Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: II. Adagio 11:00
• 11 Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: III. Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace 06:12
• 12 Dvořák: Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88, B. 163: IV. Allegro ma non troppo 09:48
• Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 “From the New World”:
• 13 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 “From the New World”: I. Adagio – Allegro molto 09:03
• 14 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 “From the New World”: II. Largo 11:43
• 15 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 “From the New World”: III. Scherzo. Molto vivace 07:47
• 16 Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 in E Minor, Op. 95, B. 178 “From the New World”: IV. Allegro con fuoco 11:23
• Total Runtime 02:38:01

Info for Dvořák The Late Symphonies

Dvořák, a most personal symphonist: David Patrick Stearns assesses how Dvořák’s greatness was bound up with the way he saw the world.

The history of the great romantic symphonies can arguably be written as a chronicle of personal tragedies. Brahms’ thwarted love for Clara Schumann, Tchaikovsky’s confrontation with his homosexuality and the death of Dvořák’s first three children in quick succession we're all creative turning points. That’s not to revive the old cliche that tragedy breeds great art. But the kind of inner emotional expansion that happens amid personal crises can’t help but find a means of expression in the large canvasses and endless sound possibilities of the romantic-era 19th-century symphony. Dvořák’s grief was no doubt voiced directly into his Stabat Mater, composed amid the deaths of his children. But all subsequent works also had to have been indirect reflections, at the very least, of the different person that any grieving parent is likely to become.

Dvořák went on to have healthy children and a stable home life. But his 1880 Symphony No. 6, written shortly after the Stabat Mater, was the decisive beginning of the Dvořák the world has come to know through his most popular symphonies. All of them were written within a decade, culminating in the hugely successful premiere of the Symphony No. 9 (“New World”) in 1893.

Along the way, the four symphonies show how he progressively took on different compositional problems. At every opportunity, the 1880 Symphony No. 6 in D major delivers emotion-infused fugal writing — a badge of accomplishment from any emerging composer. Symphony No. 7 in D minor, finished in 1885, marries Dvořák’s innate lyricism with Wagnerian expanse, and with an economy of means that leaves no wasted notes. The 1889 Symphony No. 8 in G Major is the heroic symphony, blazing with nationalistic fervor with brass fanfares and, once again, amazing economy of means. ...

Park Avenue Chamber Symphony
David Bernard, conductor

David Bernard
is recognized for his dramatic and incisive conducting in the United states and in over 20 countries on four continents. Currently, he serves as Music Director of both the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony and the Massapequa Philharmonic Orchestra, with both ensembles known for expanding audiences and increased critical acclaim. A multiple First prize winner of the Orchestral Conducting Competition of The American prize (most recently in 2018-19), he was described in the judges’ remarks as “Conducting from memory, David Bernard exhibits remarkable skill and considerable elan in a vibrant reading of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring. Not content with a cool, furrowed-brow approach to this music, his interpretation is alive to the nuances of color and, indeed, the dramatic arc, of this legendary work. His is a considerable achievement by any standard.”

Notable recent performances in New York City include Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at Carnegie Hall and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. David Bernard has led symphony orchestras throughout the greater-New York City area: Brooklyn, Greater Newburgh, Island, Litha, Putnam and South Shore, as well as the New York Symphonic Arts ensemble and the orchestra of the Manhattan School of Music. During the 2019-20 season, he made his debuts with Connecticut’s Greenwich Symphony Orchestra and Iowa’s Dubuque Symphony Orchestra.

David Bernard is intensely devoted to the expansion of the audience for classical music, and his successful efforts include engaging families in the community through schools, presenting multi-media concerts and developing “Classical Music from the InsideOut,” wherein audience members sit among the orchestra during performances. InsideOut Concerts offer unsurpassed experiences and a heightened level of engagement for audiences of all ages, and have garnered acclaim from WQXR, Newsday, ClassicalWorld and The Epoch Times.

Devoted to the music of our own time, David Bernard has presented world premières of scores by Bruce Adolphe, Chris Caswell, John Mackey, Ted Rosenthal and Jake Runestad, while distinguished concert collaborators include Carter Brey, David Chan, Catherine Cho, Adrian Daurov, Pedro Díaz, Stanley Drucker, Bart Feller, Whoopi Goldberg, Judith Ingolfsson, Jessica Lee, Jon Manasse, Spencer Myer, Todd Phillips, Inbal Segev and Michael Stern.

David Bernard is a pianist and harpsichord/continuo player, and often leads Baroque works from the keyboard and performs in the dual role of soloist and conductor. He has also prepared new editions of Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1 and Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring and The Firebird Suite (1919 version), published his own editions of Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Schumann’s Symphony No. 2, and written a textbook of music theory, The Structural Principles of Music. Mr. Bernard lectures on musicology, music history and musicianship, most recently “Musicianship in Performance,” an exploration of the decisions made when creating performances.

David Bernard is an alumnus of The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Stony Brook University, The Tanglewood Music Center and Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and studied with Sergiu Celibidache, David Lawton, Roger Nierenberg and Arthur Weisberg.

David Bernard’s discography includes over 25 albums spanning music from Vivaldi to Copland, and released on Amazon.com, iTunes, Napster and Rhapsody.

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