SUK: “PRAGA”; “A FAIRY-TALE SUITE.” Petr Skvor,...

SUK: “PRAGA”; “A FAIRY-TALE SUITE.” Petr Skvor, violin; Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Libor Pesek. Denon 33C37-7509 (compact disc). Suk was not only Dvorak’s son-in-law; he acted, also as one of his stylistic disciples in the attempt to form a nationalist school in Czech music. “Praga” (1905) recalls the heroism chronicled during a siege of the capital city by the Crusaders in the 15th Century. Suk manipulates the large-scale orchestration (triple woodwinds, organ) and rather blatant harmonic development into effective program music. “A Fairy-tale” (1901) derives from incidental music to Julius Zeyer’s play, “Raduz and Mahulena,” and mixes lyricism and traditional folk materials with impressive results. Pesek, the Czech Philharmonic’s principal conductor, is an uninhibited guide; Denon’s Japanese pressing inclines to the metallic.