Album: Dvorák, Symphonies 8 & 9 – BFO/Fischer (Channel Classics)

Inside the cover of this disc is a map of old New York. Here is East 17th Street, where Dvorák wrote his Ninth Symphony, "From the New World" in 1893. It's a red herring, as it happens, for Ivá*Fischer's performance with the Budapest Festival Orchestra looks East, exploring the influence of Tchaikovsky on the Czech composer.

This is a startling reading, brilliantly coloured and thillingly balanced. Dvorák's American motifs acquire a dark, Slavonic tang, while the resinous scents of the Eighth are intoxicating.