This is the Smetana Trio playing Dvorák, not to be confused with the Dvorák Trio playing Smetana. Such is life in the world of Czech chamber music. But seriously, Supraphon alone has an abundance of recordings of these works, and no wonder. The F minor and Dumky trios probably are the two finest works in the trio medium from the second half of the 19th century, and they make ideal disc-mates, one a sort of apotheosis of Dvorák's work in traditional forms, the other an innovative and path-breaking essay in his popular nationalist idiom. This stupendous new recording rivals the celebrated Suk Trio interpretations for the same label both in technical mastery and interpretive insight; in short, it is second to none.

The program opens with the Dumky Trio, and right from the start you can tell that this is going to be a great performance. Passion and spontaneity unite with rhythmic precision and a real feeling for the dance. Listen to the natural rubato in the fourth movement that prevents the recurring march rhythms from ever turning stiff or mechanical (and notice how much this music resembles the finale of Shostakovich's Second Trio). I loved the lightness of rhythm in the next piece: so often its skipping 6/8 rhythm becomes an excuse to create a chamber version of Wagner's descent into Nibelheim. Not here, where careful attention to dynamics and a flowing tempo create an effortless feeling of movement. There isn't a second in this performance where you feel the music should be played any other way, and no praise can be higher than that.

If anything, these qualities are even more evident in the great F minor trio. The players fling themselves into the first movement with almost dangerous abandon--but notice how perfectly in tune the opening octaves are, and how perfectly balances are maintained even in the most turbulent episodes in the development section. As in the previous work, the scherzo benefits from the ensemble's rhythmic acuity; but it's the slow movement that's really special here. It's not only beautifully paced and phrased, but the ensemble obviously took as much care with transitions as with the melodies, and the result has a seamless continuity that belies the impression in less-adept performances of a movement consisting of a disjointed stream of incredibly pretty tunes.

In the finale, happily taking Dvorák's "con brio" admonition literally, the ensemble sails into the coda with such enthusiasm that the music seems self-propelled. The final turn to the major in the coda is absolutely thrilling, and the closing bars offer the ultimate in musical satisfaction. I started listening to this disc with the slow movement, thinking to sample a bit here and there, but the playing was so gripping that I played the disc through to the end, then went back and listened again from the beginning. It's that good, and the sonics have a true-to-life immediacy that permits these spellbinding interpretations to register with maximum impact. Without question, this is a very great recording, an essential acquisition whether you already love this music or just want to get to know it better.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Janácek's most popular orchestral work, Sinfonietta, comes vividly to life in the hands of František Jílek and the Brno Philharmonic, who ideally capture the pagan splendor of the raucous brass fanfares in the outer movements while projecting the magical combination of mystery and playfulness in the remainder. There's a limpid, impulsive quality to the playing that perfectly suits the composer's somewhat frenetic style, and you could argue that this quality lends a certain authenticity to the performances. The woodwinds play with lively energy and tart tone, while the strings are lean and limber.


These orchestral attributes effectively serve the remaining works as well. The Danube Symphony is a beautiful, phantasmagoric work that recreates the world of Janácek's late operas (with affecting vocal contributions from soprano Karolina Dvorakova), while the tender Violin Concerto requires the soloist to be just as adept at meditative musing as virtuoso display (a requirement that Ivan Zenaty fills handsomely). Finally, the incidental music to Schluck und Jau ends the program in Janácek's singular dramatic style. Supraphon's recording presents the performances in naturally spacious, vibrant sound. An excellent addition to anyone's Janácek collection.
--Victor Carr Jr, ClassicsToday.com

Jan Zach, a new name in this editorial series, ranks among the “Czech music migrants” of the 18th century. However, before leaving war-struck Bohemia in 1741when he was twenty-eight years old, he had already composed a substantial amount of music. The focus of his work lies in liturgical music – solely the text of the requiem mass has been set to music by Zach three times. His Requiem solemne in c minor was one of the most frequently performed requiems on Prague church choirs (a fact witnessed by a great number of surviving copies) and could still be heard as late as the 20th century. Today’s audiences can listen to this mass as a resounding textbook of compositional styles used at the time and admire Zach’s impressive array of style elements ranging from strict counterpoint to modern coloratura arias. His Vesperae de Beata Virgine (introduced here in a modern-time premiere) were also widely used in Prague in Zach’s time. Here we can already trace the first echoes of the style of the Viennese classicist school. Both works give us an idea of music that sounded in newly built Prague churches in the 1730s. Members of the internationally renowned ensemble Musica Florea have accomplished this premiere with their characteristic lively engagement.

The complete recording of Jacks’s Kingdom, the final opera by Otakar Ostrcil (1879-1935), a remarkable fairy-tale work with an antiwar message, is now being released on CD for the first time. It is based on L. N. Tolstoy’s short story about a land ruled by the good-natured Ivan (transformed in the opera into Honza, or Jack) who knows not what spite is. In his kingdom, soldiers do not wage wars, yet dance and love, all diseases are cured and people are happy. Honza brings to all the people the miraculous star of compassion, love and peace, possessing so great a power that it even cures the incurable Princess and prevails over the Devil himself. When the opera was premiered in Brno (1934) and subsequently presented in Prague, it gave rise to a conflict between Ostrcil and a part of Czech society. The reason why the work, in which Honza fights with the Devil, striving to conquer the world, became a sensation was that it was staged shortly after Adolf Hitler had seized power in Germany. In the wake of World War II, another four productions of Johnny’s Kingdom were created in Prague and Brno, with the most recent one receiving its premiere in 1959. The present release features the one and only studio recording of the opera, made in 1954 by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Ivo Žídek, Jaroslava Vymazalová and Premysl Kocí singing the lead roles. The album also contains a unique recording of Ostrcil’s Calvary, Op. 24, made in 1957 by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Václav Neumann.