Purely as an interpretation, I don't think there can have been a greater one than Barbirolli's. The Halle has some problems in the brass, particularly in the trumpets - Sir John can't balance them and sounds as though he just gave up, but the rest of the orchestra, for all their lack of polish and flubs, sounds beautifully balanced and Barbirolli gets them to produce a thousand characterful details. In the very best sense, it sounds more like a town folk band than an orchestra. He works to elicit the most incredible dynamic and textural shading, leaves just enough rubato to let the overtones emit their special glow over the orchestra, and lets the pacing simply flow in a manner that never lets go of the ear. It's not like the playing is at all bad, but don't expect real refinements. Barbirolli turned the strings lack of technical acumen into a virtue, making their naturally dirty sound into something that sounds like folk fiddling. It's not the cleanest playing, but find fiddling of this confidence now, you won't find it among orchestral violinists.
Dvorak 7 is usually thought of as Brahmsian, or as a statement of overwhelming tragedy. It's neither. It is tragic, but it's an ironic, folk tragedy. Like klezmer or romani/gypsy music, the harmonies are tragic, but the rhythms seem to smile. The music sounds like a grim resolve to keep dancing in the face of tragedy.
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