Lukáš Vasilek

Leoš Janáček and the generation younger Béla Bartók and Igor Stravinsky were major 20th-century composers markedly influenced by folk music, bringing it to bear in their own creations. Their works feature on the remarkable new album Village Stories of the world-renowned Prague Philharmonic Choir, led by Lukáš Vasilek. Stravinsky’s Les noces, Janáček’s Nursery Rhymes and Bartók’s Village Scenes are brought back to life on new recordings. Vasilek invited to the studio superb soloists, including the soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, the mezzo-soprano Jana Hrochová, the tenor Boris Stepanov and the baritone Jiří Brückler, as well as the outstanding pianists Zoltán Fejérvári and Kirill Gerstein, the Zemlinsky Quartet and the Belfiato Quintet. Supraphon will release the album on 27 October 2023 on CD and in digital formats.

A greatest-hits album ought to stick to the middle of the road, playing to what an artist does best. Yet it ought not simply wallow in past glories: this collection from Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, arguably the best-known soprano of the present day, hits the spot and can safely be recommended to newcomers. Netrebko is at her best in core Italian repertory like Casta Diva from Bellini's Norma or Libiamo ne 'lieti calici from Verdi's La Traviata.