Janacek

Some of Janacek's most characteristic invention is to be found in the many choruses he wrote for local choirs who were moved by both a love of singing together and a demonstration of their national identity. There is a good selection here. Even the earliest, a touching little lament for a duck, has a quirkiness which saves it from sentimentality; the latest, the Nursery Rhymes, are marvellous little inventions from the dazzling evening of Janacek's life. One must resist any temptation to say that they take Stravinsky on at his own game: Janacek is his own man. In between comes a varied diet here. Schoolmaster Halfar (or Cantor Halfar) is set with a dazzling range of little musical ironies as the story unfolds of the teacher who ruined his life by insisting on speaking Czech. The Elegy on the death of his daughter Olga goes some way toward dignifying a conventional text with some heartfelt music, but the pressure of grief has not drawn the greatest of his music from him: perhaps more time was needed, and indeed the piano pieces he entitled Along an Overgrown Path re-enter ancient griefs more expressively.

Emil Vicklický is the acknowledged "Patriarch of Czech Jazz Piano." Known for combining the melodism and tonalities of Moravian folk music with modern jazz harmonies and classical orchestration in a distinctly individual style, Vicklický grew up in the former Czechoslovakia, where his father was a university art professor. He graduated in 1971 from Palacky University with a degree in mathematics. He composes straight-ahead jazz as well as chamber and orchestral works, often utilizing a combination of classical and jazz performers.
Leos Janácek (1854-1928) is considered to rank with Antonin Dvorak and Bedrich Smetana as one of the most important Czech composers. Janácek was inspired by Moravian and Slavic folk music, which he incorporated in a modern, highly original synthesis…

Few chamber works rise to the autobiographical level achieved in the two string quartets of Leos Janácek. The First Quartet, subtitled "Kreutzer Sonata," depicts scenes from the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy and tells the story of an adulterous wife and her resulting death at her husband's hand. Janácek himself was locked in a loveless marriage and found many parallels (without the homicide) in his life. The Second Quartet, "Intimate Letters", draws inspiration from the unrequited love affair the composer had with Kamila Stosslova and the hundreds of passionate letters he was to write to the woman half his age.

Dvorák's Love Songs were drawn from his early composition Cypresses, a set of 18 songs set to the poetry of Gustav Pfleger-Moravsky. The texts are pretty much typical of 19th century love poems, while Dvorák's music is surprisingly commonplace for a composer of such rich melodic gifts. The first few measures of New Miniatures instantly identify them as being written by Martinu, with their spiky harmonies and syncopated rhythms.

It's hard to think of a twentieth century Czech-language opera that has enjoyed more success than Leos Janácek's Jenufa, and there is certainly no shortage of good recordings of it. Among the most exceptional is this effort for Decca led by Charles Mackerras. Elisabeth Söderström is riveting in her portrayal of the small-town girl desperate that the empty-headed Steva, played by Petr Dvorský, will marry her and legitimize their child.

Lars Vogts new solo piano release is dedicated to the piano works of Leos Janacek (18541928), one of the most original voices among the 20th century composers. This album includes three of the composers most well-known and most extensive solo piano works. These works by Janacek are marked by deep melancholy and passion. They manifest the composer's rich inner world through a musical language that remains to be timeless. Lars Vogt has established himself as one of the leading musicians of his generation. Born in the German town of Düren in 1970, he first came to public attention when he won second prize at the 1990 Leeds International Piano Competition and has enjoyed a varied career for over twenty-five years.

Without doubt, this is one of the most important recordings of music by Janácek in recent years. Paul Wingfield’s restoration of the original performing version of the Glagolitic Mass is a fine piece of work and deserves to become the standard text. Those familiar with the Mass will notice changes right at the start, where the ‘Intrada’ (normally the conclusion) appears twice, at both the beginning and end. This introduces a number of fundamental alterations to rhythm and instrumentation which make for a markedly different whole: undoubtedly harder to perform, but infinitely sharper in outline.

Conductor Edward Gardner and the Bergen Philharmonic here commence their series devoted to Leos Janaceks orchestral works. This opening salvo features three works from Janaceks late, great period: The Sinfonietta, one of the composers most successful and popular works; the Capriccio, with pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet taking on the left-hand solo part, and, restored to its original, striking orchestration by Sir Charles Mackerras, the suite of instrumental interludes from Janaceks 1923 opera The Cunning Little Vixen.