Czech Phil deliver marvellous Martinů

Jiří Bělohlávek leads the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra on a fine performance of Martinů's Symphonies Nos 5 & 6

Composer: Martinů
Repertoire: Symphonies Nos 5 & 6 
Artists: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra/Jiří Bělohlávek
Rating:  4/5
Genre: Orchestral
Label: Supraphon SU 4007-2

Experience makes all the difference: this conductor and orchestra know the composer’s idiom so well that what so often comes across as garrulous, here sounds convincing and appealing. The Fifth Symphony, with its lovely slow-movement flute solo and rich vein of lyrical ideas, is an especially fine work. The Sixth reverts more to the default note-spinning manner of Martinů’s extreme fluency, but it too has its share of fine moments, as in the long and impressive Finale.