Franz Roh

With his successful career and, above all, engagement with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Radek Baborák has followed the path taken by the Czech horn players who back in the second half of the 18th century gained fame in distinguished chapels in the territoiry of today's Germany. As the repertoire of this recording proves, besides the most renowned of them, Giovanni Punto, other Czech composers too had a penchant for creating music for the natural horn. The reason for the growing popularity of this instrument and its frequent application not only in orchestral and chamber music but also in solo parts was the technical improvement and, consequently, greater interpretational possibilitiesand higher attractiveness of sound.

As is well known, the Third Reich drove many of its gifted composers into exile, to early deaths or to the concentration camps. But a significant responsibility devolved on another group, who became ‘internal exiles’, remaining in Germany, but refusing to become cultural ornaments of the Nazi regime. Karl Amadeus Hartmann (1905–1963), in Bavaria, consistently kept the spirit of modernism and human commitment alive in his own work.

Covent Garden’s 2003 production of The Magic Flute , designed by John F. Macfarlane, directed by David McVicar, and conducted by Sir Colin Davis, is magnificent from a strictly musical standpoint. More than that, it’s vastly entertaining. The comedic elements of the story integrate far more comfortably than is often the case with Schikaneder’s high-minded (if vague) theme of a quest for enlightenment, particularly in the second act. Visually, the production is a feast, yet it doesn’t distract from the music.

Covent Garden’s 2003 production of The Magic Flute , designed by John F. Macfarlane, directed by David McVicar, and conducted by Sir Colin Davis, is magnificent from a strictly musical standpoint. More than that, it’s vastly entertaining. The comedic elements of the story integrate far more comfortably than is often the case with Schikaneder’s high-minded (if vague) theme of a quest for enlightenment, particularly in the second act. Visually, the production is a feast, yet it doesn’t distract from the music.