Album: Dvorak, Symphony No 7 / American Suite (Channel Classics)

The turmoil of the opening movement of Dvorak's Seventh Symphony has rarely sounded so thrilling.

The Budapest Festival Orchestra's cellos and double basses bite into this work with panther-like agility, while the upper strings and woodwind collude in this heroic depiction of the Bohemian landscape. Ivan Fischer balances vigour with softness, bringing a voile-like transparency and tenderness to the Andante of the American Suite: Dvorak's somewhat chintzy orchestration of his Piano Suite in A major.