Reviews of new classical music releases.(The Dallas Morning News)

DVORAK "Complete symphonies, other orchestral works" Pesek, Czech Philharmonic, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (Virgin Classics) Grade: A-

Music seems to flow freely from a few composers. Others _ even very great ones _ have to struggle. Dvorak can be classed, along with Mozart and Schubert, among those for whom composition seemed to be a natural and easy part of existence.

This new album brings together all nine of Dvorak's symphonies plus eight other orchestral compositions. In other words, just about everything by Dvorak that you're likely to hear in the concert hall except the cello concerto and (much rarer) the violin concerto. That last is a beautiful and incomprehensibly neglected work.

A few decades ago only the last five symphonies were played. These were the ones Dvorak was particularly proud of; the others he considered apprentice works. The modern urge for comprehensiveness has resurrected the other four. In this case, revival is justified. Dvorak seemed to be incapable of writing bad music, and there is much beauty, though the early symphonies do tend to ramble a bit.

This new release is a compilation of previously recorded music. The excellent Czech conductor Libor Pesek leads the Czech Philharmonic and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. It's too bad all of the recording couldn't have been by the Czech orchestra, whose playing is slightly more graceful and polished. But, still, the Liverpool orchestra is quite competent.

The eight nonsymphonic compositions are the ...