Amongst the works of Bedřich Smetana, operas are at the forefront alongside the cycle of symphonic poems Má vlast as the linchpins of the composer’s creative legacy. Nine operas in all, the last being unfinished, demonstrate the composer’s dramatic talent and individuality.

The history of the Supraphon label has seen the making of a series of Smetana opera recordings interpreted by generations of Czech singers who performed mainly on the stage of the Prague National Theater. The first and only time Smetana’s operas were published as a complete set on record by Supraphon was within a vast four-part project covering his complete works released in the Year of Czech Music between 1984 and 1985. This representative set contained the recordings dating from the 1960s through the 1980s, but with the exception of The Bartered Bride, they are not currently available on the market as physical products.

To the still unsurpassed recording of The Bartered Bride and The Secret under the baton of Zdenek Košler, we are adding his exceptional 1983 production of Libuše for the reopening of the Prague National Theater. We are also including the only Supraphon recording of The Brandenburgers in Bohemia led by Jan Hus Tichý, Zdenek Chalabala’s still definitive reading of The Devil’s Wall, and Dalibor conducted by Jaroslav Krombholc.

This luxurious 17CD box contains seven separately packaged 2-CD sets plus one 3-CD set with detailed information about the individual operas, a 40-page booklet with a comprehensive study, a wealth of photographic documentation, and a link to the downloadable librettos in the Czech and English languages. This complete edition of Smetana’s operas is for the first time on CD, as we mark the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth.

CONTENTS:

— The Brandenburgers in Bohemia

— The Bartered Bride

— Dalibor

— Libuše

— The Two Widows

— The Kiss

— The Secret

— Viola

— The Devil's Wall

Classical Music

Classical Music

Besides Czech folklore, the influence of Mozart is also omnipresent in Smetana's opera, in its verve and melodic freshness. This is obvious here in the ideal pairing of Irmgard Seefied and Waldermar Kmentt as the two lovers. The stand out, even amidst a lively, outstanding all-round ensemble

Includes work(s) by Bedrich Smetana. Ensemble: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. Conductor: Gianandrea Noseda.

Smetana’s cycle “My Country” is a pinnacle of symphonic literature. There is nothing quite like it: six musical poems which, while independent of each other, form an organic whole. As a composer, Smetana was in the vanguard. This visionary work is unmistakably personal, connected to the Czech nation’s tragic history and to the Bohemian-Moravian landscape; it is not only about memory, it also gives hope for the future, brilliantly describing landscapes of the human soul. As such it goes beyond time, to create something of a lasting significance. This is music of nostalgia, which sets thoughts and emotions free. After hearing “My Country,” one emerges stronger. Every one of these six pieces has a tremendous energy, and enables one to live with melancholy and sorrow: the work transforms the listener and enriches his soul.

Although programmatic, Bedrich Smetana’s string quartets do not deal with historical or social themes. Instead, they express the composer’s subjective feelings through the medium of chamber music. The Wihan Quartet, formed in 1985 and still made up of the original four members, has developed an outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech repertoire as well as the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the repertoire. MusicWeb-International “Recording of the Month”

Smetana, B.: Wedding Scenes / Libuse's Judgement

Classical Music

SMETANA Má Vlast • Claus Peter Flor, cond; Malaysian PO • BIS 1805 (SACD: 76: 00)


There is something about Bed?ich Smetana’s Má Vlast that defies interpretation by anyone other than a Czech conductor. You have undoubtedly heard the names: Václav Talich, Karel An?erl, Václav Neumann, and most prominently in this case, Rafael Kubelík. His 1952 mono Mercury Olympian LP recorded with a single Telefunken microphone was an interpretive and sonic landmark, and its sound still holds up well today except for an inevitable lack of stereo spatial information. In fact, over the last 50 years, there has never been a better recorded performance of Má Vlast , even by Kubelik himself in several newer versions on different labels. His hugely anticipated and much-hyped remake with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (Deutsche Grammophon) was especially disappointing sonically and interpretively.There have been numerous other significant recordings of Má Vlast , primarily by Czech conductors released by Supraphon, that have had consistently mediocre sound. Má Vlast doesn’t work well with Supraphon’s typical dry and harmonically threadbare sound. It is great to see performances by non-Czech conductors, but recent high-profile releases by Colin Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra (LSO Live SACD) and Nikolaus Harnoncourt with the Vienna Philharmonic (RCA) have good sound but the interpretations are somewhat problematic. With this background, you have to wonder about the competitiveness of Claus Peter Flor conducting the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestra has already made some good-sounding and critically acclaimed Bis recordings of Rimsky-Korsakov’s music, but it is the stunning SACD of Josef Suk’s “Asrael” Symphony, also conducted by Flor, that made me eager to hear this Má Vlast.


Comparing the timings of Kubelík and Flor is encouraging and instructive. There is only a 20-second difference in a work that is more than 76 minutes long. I can’t imagine a case that better illustrates the uselessness of timings to predict a conductor’s interpretive approach. Flor takes a hard-driving, propusive, dry-eyed, and at least ostensibly fast approach to Má Vlast . He also has no clue about the emotional content of this music that is so striking in interpretations by Kubelík and other Czech conductors. You can usually tell how Má Vlast is going to evolve from the opening of “Vy?ehrad.” Flor’s short, clipped, opening harp phrases and lean orchestral textures emphasize forward motion and play down any sense of grandeur. The end of “?árka” is almost hysterical, and is immediately followed by the initial chords of “From Bohemia’s Meadows and Forests,” which hit like a bulldozer. Flor does not shy away from pounding out those repetitive triplets in “Tábor,” and the timpanist is predictably aggressive in “Tábor” and “Blaník.” It is all very exciting where underplaying the bombast would induce boredom, as it does with Harnoncourt. On the other hand, Flor’s central nocturne in “Vltava” is gorgeous and atmospheric, and he also handles the tricky rhythms in the second half of “From Bohemia’s Meadows and Forests” better than other virtuosic internationalized interpretors like Davis and Harnoncourt. Flor’s finale comes closest to but does not match Kubelík in cumulative impact as they both broaden their tempo for the final statement of the ubiquitous Hussite hymn and the principal theme.


Kubelík’s (Mercury) remains unchallenged as a performance, but it is a mono recording and the CD will be difficult to find. In modern stereo sound, this recording ranks with the best except in terms of orchestral execution where I prefer Davis and the London Symphony Orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic is on autopilot in Harnoncourt’s soporific version, but is much better with James Levine (Deutsche Grammophon). For a more modern stereo version by Kubelík, go with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (Orfeo).


FANFARE: Arthur Lintgen

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Claus Peter Flor directs a tremendously exciting performance of Má Vlast, one that compares favorably to any in the catalog. He takes great pains to characterize each piece, and each section, to the fullest extent possible. In The Moldau you won't find a more vivid contrast between the scenes of the hunt, the peasant dance, the nocturne (exquisite soft brass), and the rapids (ferocious!) anywhere. The violent conclusion of Sárka is absolutely thrilling, the opening of From Bohemia's Woods and Fields terrifying. While not entirely disguising the episodic nature of Tábor (probably an impossible task), Flor keeps the last two tone poems moving forward purposefully to the work's heroic closing bars. It's a great interpretation, one that surely deserves to be documented and enjoyed by collectors.

Technically, the playing of the Malaysian Philharmonic is good, but not perfect. The trumpets at the climax of The Moldau don't quite match timbres as they should (a common problem). Toward the end of Tábor, Flor pushes the triple-forte galloping rhythm in the strings so hard that the result sounds more like Mahler's "struck with the bow" effect. The wild string triplets in Blaník are exciting, but not always ideally together, and there is a cymbal crash missing around measure 214. Some of the climaxes also suffer from an over-enthusiastic timpanist, and as a percussionist I don't make that accusation lightly. Still, Flor's own concept is so powerful, and the orchestral response so committed, that this vivid SACD production deserves very serious consideration.

--David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday.com

Bedrich Smetana’s ‘Festive Symphony’ was composed in 1854 when hopes for Emperor Franz Joseph becoming King of Bohemia were high. The splendid sounds of Smetana’s only formal symphony pre-echo later masterpieces such as ‘Ma Vlast,’ but his use of the Austrian Imperial anthem became unacceptable in the subsequent spirit of Czech nationalism, resulting in the work’s neglect. With its sparkling overture and lively rural dances, ‘The Bartered Bride’ secured Smetana’s international reputation and, as the only Czech opera of its day to enter the standard repertoire, it became a beacon for the nation’s 19th century musical renaissance. Conductor Darrell Ang is the artistic director and chief conductor of China’s Sichuan Symphony. He regularly conducts orchestras across the world, including the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin. Ang’s first album for Naxos was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2016.

Opera Overtures - NICOLAI, O. / SMETANA, B. / HUMPERDINCK, E

Rudolf Firkusny

Composed after the onset of Smetana’s incurable deafness, Má vlast (‘My Fatherland’) is an unprecedented cycle of six related symphonic poems that evoke ancient Czech legends and celebrate the majestic beauty of the country’s landscapes. Heard here in critically acclaimed performances by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Walter Susskind, this Vox Audiophile Edition recording was first released in 1975 and is newly remastered from the original tapes.

The Elite Recordings for Vox by legendary producers Marc Aubort and Joanna Nickrenz are considered by audiophiles to be amongst the finest sounding examples of orchestral recordings.

The Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov present a new recording of Bedrich Smetana’s masterpiece Má vlast (My Homeland). The album celebrates both the bicentenary of Smetana's birth and, the start of 2024's Year of Czech Music which has been celebrated every ten years since Smetana's 100th anniversary in 1924. Má vlast (1874-1878) is a potent symbol of the Czech Republic's turbulent political history and has played an important role in the Czech national movement. Contemplating the landscape, history, and legends of Bohemia, Má vlast is best known for its world-famous Moldau melody. For Bychkov, who was born in Russia before emigrating to the United States, and now lives in France, the question of 'the homeland' is particularly poignant - how to take pride in the best of its heritage, while also coming to terms with its darker pages. For the Orchestra to revisit this seminal piece with Bychkov, with whom it has developed such a close working relationship over the past few years, makes the recording all the more personal and topical.

The Czech Philharmonic is one of the world’s orchestral gems, recognized for its rich tradition with the Czech masters as well as European repertoire. Semyon Bychkov who is internationally renowned for his interpretations of the core repertoire, began his tenure with the Orchestra at the start of the 2018/19 season. Together, they have so far recorded for Pentatone Mahler’s First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Symphonies (2022-2023), part of the complete Mahler cycle to be released by the label. The Orchestra is also featured on the album Folk Songs (2023) recorded by Magdalena Kožená and Sir Simon Rattle.

REVIEW:

This recording of Smetana’s symphonic poem cycle Má Vlast made classical best-seller charts in early 2024, even with numerous versions of the work available. The orchestral work Bychkov gets from the orchestra ranges from good to extraordinary. All the many details in this reading come through fine, and the end result is a fresh recording that will provide hours of pleasure over multiple hearings. Physical album buyers will get an elegant little note from Bychkov on exile and home.

-- AllMusic.com (James Manheim)