Tom Connor wrote:

>My daughters marching band is using the Dvorak 9th next year.
>As the new Drum Major she is eager to learn the music.  I have Toscanini
>on vinyl and Kertez on a tape.  I haven't been able to locate the latter
>with a quick search and I would appreciate your suggestions of recommended
>performances.

I can't believe no one has made mention of the Cleveland Orchestra with
Christoph von Dohnanyi on London/Decca!

George Szell had an uncommon affinity for the music of Dvorak, as his
recordings attest.  Dvorak became the corner stone of its repertoire.
More than any other American orchestra, the Cleveland became, under Szell,
the premiere Dvorak orchestra.

CvD has not only steadfastly maintained the standards set by GS, but has
surpassed them in this repertory with performances marked by instrumental
virtuosity, lyrical beauty, dancing rhythms, and new enthusiasm.  CvD is
acutely sensitive to the hard-to-define elements that make Dvorak's music
quintessentially Czech.  Also, Paul Myers, for years a CBS record producer
for Szell, is here responsible for the Cleveland sound in this recording.

Some may quibble with the lack of the exposition repeat in the last
movement, but the orchestra plays with a wonderful sense of joy in this
symphony.  This performance remains on the top of my list.

Mark