Today, Katerina Knezikova is a well-known name in the world of opera (Glyndebourne) and on concert stages (BBC SO, Bamberger Symphoniker, Czech Philharmonic, LPO, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, RLPO etc.). After her album Phidyle, which attracted considerable critical attention (Gramophone Editor's Choice, BBC Music Magazine Award), she let herself be carried away by the world of Richard Strauss's songs, full of micro-dramas, transparent emotions, and deep intimacy. Her partner and guide on this journey is Jakub Hrusa with the Bamberger Symphoniker in an enchanting live performance of the Four Last Songs, and- surprisingly for many-also in the supremely intimate world of songs with piano. The sensitive Lieder selection covers Strauss's entire career spanning nearly 70 years. The composer's songs bear the impressions of major events of his whole life and the atmosphere of his times, leading to the themes of parting and death heard in his Four Last Songs. Each of the songs is a perfectly polished gem, the beauty of which is enhanced by the extraordinarily harmonious interplay of the two artists. The Songs of Richard Strauss - perfectly polished gems

The new album of double bassist and composer Jaromir Honzak is a live recording of an eight-part suite for jazz quintet and orchestra performed by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra and Honzak's all-stars Czech jazz quintet, composed of David Doruzka (guitar), Lubos Soukup (saxophone, clarinet), Vit Kristan (piano, rhodes), Martin Novak (drums, percussion). The suite was performed within the concert series of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra "New Horizons" which combines jazz and symphonic music. The suite entitled "Blues of a String Hanging in the Wind" was written by Jaromir Honzak and based on the composition of the same name, which he created back in 2008 for a string and jazz quartet on the occasion of a special Jazz concert at the Rudolfinum. A year later, it appeared on Honzak's studio album "Little Things" (Animal Music, 2009). Tomas S�kora, pianist, composer, arranger and curator of the New Horizons programme, was in charge of the arrangements for the orchestra. Jaromir Honzak says about the piece: "I have never been drawn to a large cast in music before, I have always been a type of chamber musician. So here I said to myself that I will try to think as "chamberly" as possible when working for a symphony orchestra. As usual, I first decided to learn from listening to similar works, or even to study some scores, but in the end my usual routine prevailed, based rather on my intuition. Our subsequent cooperation with Tomas was very efficient and pleasant. Tomas was great not only as an unusually skilled and fast orchestrator, but also as an empathetic and helpful assistant." Jaromir Honzak gave the individual parts suitable names that are meant to help the listeners grasp the music. The atmosphere and storytelling of the album, which arises when listening to the music, is also evoked by the artwork of the Japanese artist Kotone Utsunomiya, which she created specifically for this album. The author of the graphic design is Andrea Vacovska from Studio Najbrt.

The jazz quartet 2in2out was founded by saxophonist Nela Dusova and guitarist Jan Lacina, who are also the authors of the band's modern jazz repertoire. The duo invited drummer Adam Sikora and now also Slovak double bassist Peter Korman. In recent years, 2in2out has managed to develop from an originally student project into one of the most interesting Czech jazz acts. In 2024, the quartet will release it's debut album, Living Stories. The album was created in collaboration with long-time bandmates, double bassist Klara Pudlakova and drummer Adam Sikora. Living Stories presents a view of the world through the eyes of two jazz artists and authors with different aesthetic approaches, yet united in their musical narrative. "What I appreciate most about 2in2out's compositions are the original ideas, interesting formal solutions and also the overlapping of content, which is far from always commonplace in modern jazz today, and I would dare to say that it is often lacking." David Doruzka, leading Czech guitarist and pedagogue

I am the instrument of a higher power. With God's help and grace, I shall one day be a Liszt in technique and a Mozart as a composer. The ambitious plan in the 18-year-old composer's diary was eventually fulfilled. He was a very sought-after pianist. As a composer, he left his mark most clearly in the cycle of symphonic poems titled Ma vlast (My Country) and through chamber music in his Piano Trio and the String Quartet "From My Life"; those three works reflect tragic episodes in Smetana's life. The Trio in G minor, one of the gems of 19th-century chamber music, was written in under three months of 1855 as an outgrowth of the composer's immense sorrow over the death of his daughter. Smetana's emotionally gripping trio is heard on the album together with one of the most important chamber works of the romantic era, Schubert's monumental Piano Trio in E flat major (1827). This masterpiece was likewise written by a 30-year-old composer, but it is also one of Schubert's last completed works; at the time, Schubert had only a year of life remaining. The ensemble reaching the depths of the two composers' music on their debut album is the youthful Trio Bohemo, who have been appearing for several years with great success at prestigious competitions and on concert stages around the world (London's Wigmore Hall, Vienna's Musikverein), usually with programmes combining Czech and foreign repertoire. There is yet another important name behind the recording: the late Hatto Beyerle, a founding member of the Alban Berg Quartet, who coached the young ensemble in both works and set them on the path towards their own individual interpretation, seeking the meaning hidden behind the musical notation. Trio Bohemo, Smetana, Schubert. A debut with a capital "D".

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

The legendary husband-and-wife duo-Irena and Vojtech Havlovistarted to work togetherin the mid-80s andsince the very beginning have hada very unorthodox approach to bothhistorical and modern compositional techniques and interpretative procedures. Graduallythey created their typically unclassifiable, multi-layered sound and stylethat is howevereasily discernableand appreciated by audienceseven far beyond the bordersofthe CzechRepublic. Their music is poetic, meditativeand inspired by non-Europeanculturesas well asminimalism. They recorded and released several very original CDs which earned themacclaim both at home and abroad. They have been appearing in concert across the CzechRepublic, Europe, Canada, the USA as well as Africa and Japan, thanksto the collaborationwith avant-garde artists Petr Nikl and Jana Svobodova. Irena dna Vojtech Havlovi are alsowriting music forshort and featurefilms, documentariesand theatre (film Little Crusader byVaclav Kadrnka was awarded by the Czech Film and TVAcademy for the best film score). Intheir music, they are using various musical instruments-cello, piano, viola da gamba, bells, tibetian bowls and others. On their newalbumFour Handsthey bringnew compositions for4 hand piano and organ. The album �s release will be accompanied by several videos andtouring in the Czech Republic and abroad.

How can an artist move forward and keep finding new ways of creativity and not stagnate? This question is as old as art itself but those who search can make a discovery. Such musicians whose every album develops the never-ending story of searching and discovering are undoubtedly the Prague-based Clarinet Factory. This internationally renowned ensemble, which has redefined the approach to and use of clarinets, has written another chapter of it's fascinating exploration on it's new record, Towers. In comparison with their previous album, Pipers (2020), they now put more emphasis on instrumentals, so the first single, Obloha seda (The Grey Sky), is one of only two songs with lyrics on this record. The main role is played by clarinets, drums and loopers while the human voice is often used as an instrument or as ambient sound. The resulting sound of the album is largely contributed to by their guest, Beata Hlavenkova, who conjures up many distinct and colourful layers on the piano and Fender Rhodes. Besides Beata Hlavenkova and the quartet of Ludek Boura, Vojtech N�dl, Jindrich Pavlis and Petr Valasek, another important figure is Milan Cimfe of the SONO Records Studio, who collaborated with the Clarinet Factory on Pipers and who is in charge of the drums, samples and other electronics on the new record. Other guests include drummer Daniel soltis, who has collaborated with the ensemble for many years. Towers is another important item (not only) in the Clarinet Factory discography. It's multiple layers are a joy to discover with every listening. The album is released only in digital formats and as a three-side double LP, whose graphical design was created by the renowned artist, Pavel Fuksa. / The Clarinet Factory have written another chapter of their remarkable exploration of the world of sounds

He took up the lute when he was young and became such a virtuoso that he was unrivalled in France or Italy. Music historian Gottfried Johann Dlabac�'s testimony describes the lutenist and composer, Count Jan Antonin Losy of Losinthal, whose family came from Lombardy. He was born in Bohemia, where he spent most of his life, but his fame spread throughout Europe. After he died, he was honoured by his younger colleague, Sylvius Leopold Weiss, who memorialised him with his famous Tombeau. Nowadays, the name of the Count and virtuoso musician (besides the lute, he played the harpsichord and violin superbly) is known especially to lute players. However, even they may be surprised to learn that this album contains compositions with harpsichord, flute and violin. In fact, Losy's oeuvre is far more varied. According to period sources, many of his compositions were played by chamber ensembles including instruments, such as the violin and a bowed bass instrument. The main performer, Jan Ci�mar, reconstructed some of them, using manuscripts scattered all over Europe, and invited his colleagues from the Polish ensemble, Orkiestra historyczna, to take part in the recording. The result is a revealing album that presents Losy's lute pieces in an unusual sound version for the first time. Count Losy - a Prince among lutenists

Star pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard presents Landler, a collection of delightful dances composed by Franz Schubert. Rustic and cheerful, these miniatures display a fascinating side of Schubert's musical persona. Their simplicity is deceptive, as these dances are frequently shaken up by Schubert's harmonic wandering soul, yet remaining lyrical, picturesque and tuneful. For Aimard, there is a kinship between Schubert's Landler and Kurtag's Jatekok, pieces that he often performs side by side, sharing a combination of playfulness and Modernism that also calls the great twentieth-century miniaturist Anton Webern to mind. By avoiding almost any repetition, Aimard evokes a sleepwalker's journey rather than a series of dances. 8717306260343 PNTA5187034.2 44281755 .00 17.99 .16 PENTATONE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 05/24/2024 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/42/4327442-3147656.jpg 64 1 N GRIEG / ABRAVANEL / UTAH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PEER GYNT SUITE NO. 1, OP. 46 PEER GYNT SUITE Maurice Abravanel's recordings of Grieg's orchestral music with the Utah Symphony set the benchmark for these works in the mid-1970s. Newly remastered from the original tapes these classic Vox recordings now sound better than ever. 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TOTAL ECLIPSE / O.S.T. 074646203729 SNY62037C.2 38092466 .00 17.99 .19 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL SOUNDTRACKS & FILM SCORES 03/29/2012 2 1 N WEILL / STEVENS,RISE / GREEN,ADOLPH / KAYE,DANNY LADY IN THE DARK 074646286920 SNY62869C.2 38092930 .00 17.99 .23 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL SHOWTUNES / B'WAY 08/31/2012 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/78/4333478-3177780.jpg 2 1 N BOSTON POPS / WILLIAMS MUSIC FOR STAGE & SCREEN 074646414729 SNY64147C.2 37572198 .00 17.99 .21 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 11/07/2013 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/84/4333484-3177809.jpg 2 1 N ALVAREZ,MARCELO / LICITRA,SALVATORE DUETTO Duetto presents tenors Marcelo Alvarez and Salvato re Licitra in a program of romantic ballads writte n and arranged specially for them. One of the feat ured composers on the album is Francesco Sartori, known for having composed Andrea Bocelli's biggest hit songs. 696998795723 SSRM87957.2 38099311 .00 7.98 .25 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 06/24/2003 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/86/4334086-3177982.jpg 0 1 N SAYAO,BIDU SINGS DEBUSSY MOZART PUCCINI & MORE 074646322123 SSRM63221.2 38093227 .00 17.99 .25 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL OPERA / OPERETTA / ORATORIO 05/13/2014 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/01/4334101-3177808.jpg 5 1 N MOZART / TAFELMUSIK / TOLZER BOYS CHOIR / WEIL REQUIEM 074646076422 SSRM60764.2 38091391 .00 17.99 .25 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 08/30/2012 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/13/4334113-3177771.jpg 5 1 N CHOPIN / MENDELSSOHN / PROKOFIEV / GOULD PIANO SONATA 3 074645262222 SSRM52622.2 37569464 .00 24.99 .25 SONY SRM EXCLUSIVE COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/30/2012 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/29/4334129-3177976.jpg 0 1 N ANTAL,MATYAS / CONCENTUS HUNGARICUS / JANDO,JENO MOZART: PIANO CONCERTOS NOS. 17 & 18 4891030502055 NXS8550205B.2 44315344 .00 19.99 .24 NAXOS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/01/1990 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/41/4334141-3178023.jpg 0 1 N RAKSIN,DAVID SUITES FROM LAURA & FOREVER AMBER 078635149029 RCMA1490.2 44315887 .00 17.99 .22 RCA MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS POP EASY LISTENING 07/01/1991 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/94/4334394-3384330.jpg 1 1 N BEETHOVEN / ROSAND VIOLIN SONATAS 047163350320 VOX3503.2 38240966 .00 35.99 .42 VOX COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CHAMBER MUSIC & RECITALS 01/01/1995 https://mediacdn.aent-m.com/prod-img/500/73/4334573-3178009.jpg 79 1 N ZIMMERMANN / ROYAL PHIL ORCH / BERGLUND TCHAIKOVSKY: VLN CTO / BRUCH: VLN CTO 5099709312922 SYNX093129.2 37573652 .00 17.99 .26 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL ORCHESTRAL & SYMPHONIC 04/21/2011 22 1 N KERMES,SIMONE DRAMMA 886919639629 SYNX1963962.2 38110849 .00 17.99 .23 SONY MASTERWORKS COMPACT DISCS CLASSICAL CLASSICAL VOCALS 07/31/2012 https://media.aent-m.com/graphics/items/sdimages/c/500/8/9/8/4/2024898.jpg 3 1 N AHMEDOVA / EILERTSEN / PETURSSON HLASKONTRABASOKTET - KALEIDOSCAPES The unique musical formation Hlaskontrabas Oktet, consisting of four female singers and fourdouble bassists, releases a new Nordic" album called Kaleidoscapes. The album, which wasrecorded last summer in Iceland and then in the fall at Sono Records studios in the Czech Republic, takes the listener on a musical journey through landscapes that are mysterious, fragile, wild and beautifully melancholic. The nine compositions have been written directlyfor Hlaskontrabas by leading contemporary composers from Norway (Mats Eilertsen, Nilsokland), Iceland (Ragnheidur Grondal and Gudmundur Petursson, Petur Thor Benediktsson), Israel (Adam Ben Ezra) and the Czech Republic (Petr Wajsar, Beata Hlavenkova). Ridina Ahmedova and Petr Tichy, the founders of the band, also contributed each by one piece to thealbum. Ridina says about the recording: "Often you record one instrument at a time, but wechose the path of playing together, live. This way the record gives the listener the right 'live' feeling." Hlaskontrabas Oktet was formed in 2019 as an extension of the original duo project foundedby Czech vocalist, composer and performer Ridina Ahmedova and double bassist and composer Petr Tichy. At the very beginning of the idea to expand the duo to four voices and four double basses was the idea to use live musicians instead of a looper, which Ridina and Petr used to layer tracks over each other in concerts, and to bring their own musical soul to the songs. But it turned out that writing pieces directly for the octet offered the opportunity to arrange and think musically in a completely different way. And the octet soon started to live on it's own. A vibrant, unique and inspiring life. The song Funkle, which was released as the first single, was also accompanied by a documentary video from the octet �s journey to Iceland. The second single, which will be released on April 12, is the track Mysterious Ride by Israeli double bassist Adam Ben Ezra.

The legendary husband-and-wife duo-Irena and Vojtech Havlovistarted to work togetherin the mid-80s andsince the very beginning have hada very unorthodox approach to bothhistorical and modern compositional techniques and interpretative procedures. Graduallythey created their typically unclassifiable, multi-layered sound and stylethat is howevereasily discernableand appreciated by audienceseven far beyond the bordersofthe CzechRepublic. Their music is poetic, meditativeand inspired by non-Europeanculturesas well asminimalism. They recorded and released several very original CDs which earned themacclaim both at home and abroad. They have been appearing in concert across the CzechRepublic, Europe, Canada, the USA as well as Africa and Japan, thanksto the collaborationwith avant-garde artists Petr Nikl and Jana Svobodova. Irena dna Vojtech Havlovi are alsowriting music forshort and featurefilms, documentariesand theatre (film Little Crusader byVaclav Kadrnka was awarded by the Czech Film and TVAcademy for the best film score). Intheir music, they are using various musical instruments-cello, piano, viola da gamba, bells, tibetian bowls and others. On their newalbumFour Handsthey bringnew compositions for4 hand piano and organ. The album �s release will be accompanied by several videos andtouring in the Czech Republic and abroad.

SAKOBI is a new project of the Vilem Spilka Quartet. The band consists of Radek Zapadlo on saxophone, Vilem Spilka on double bass and Martin Kleibl on drums. Since they have been together for a long time in other ensembles, they are closely connected musically. Radek Zapadlo has been successfully active on the Czech jazz scene for two dozen years, most recently alongside Matej Benko, Ondrej Ruml, playing in the Cotatcha Orchestra, his own Four in Blue formation and the aforementioned Vilem Spilka Quartet. Martin Kleibl, after an eight-year stint with the Brno Philharmonic, oscillates in genre from classical to pop, plays in the OK Percussion duo with European-class marimbist Martin Oprsal, accompanies singer Petr Bende and is the driving force behind the Vilem Spilka Quartet. For the SAKOBI project, Vilem Spilka replaced his main instrument, the guitar, with the double bass, which he began to play during the pandemic of the cover band. The trio's debut recording is released by Bivak Records. All members contributed to the album not only as players but also as composers. Zapadlo contributed the melancholic dirgeCesta za modr�m sluncem (Journey to the Blue Sun), while Martin Kleibl's Na ceste (On theRoad) is typical uplifting Latin jazz. Vilem Spilka added the rest of the repertoire, his individual opuses revealing a variety of musical and non-musical inspirations-from his native Brno to Japan, to which the cryptogram in the band's name refers. In the spirit of Japanese realities, the debut album is titled Banzai!, something like a shout of Hurrra or Yeehaw! Stylistically, the album is more or less unclassifiable, drawing on the traditions of jazz and other African-American styles, as well as folk music from Moravia and beyond.

Carl Friedrich Abel: The Drexel Manuscript

Cellist Jiri Barta and pianist Terezie Fialova dedicate their new album to the legacy of Leos Janacek. The album features three pieces written originally for violin and piano: the well-known Sonata that had been, nonetheless, neglected at the time of it's origin, Dumka, and Romance. The violin parts of the three compositions have been arranged for the cello by Jiri Barta and are released in a world premiere in this form. Janacek composed Dumka and Romance during his studies in Leipzig, an unhappy period when he tortured himself with doubts about his talent. They both show traces of classicist and romantic style and Barta �s cello recording even more pronounces the wistfully elegiac disposition of the piece. Cello adaptation of the Sonata is based on Janacek �s version from 1922, retaining the key and the having piano part unaltered, while the violin part has mostly been transposed an octave lower. The album also also includes the only two compositions by Janacek intended for cello and piano, Pohadka (Fairy Tale), with a fourth movement that had been part of one of the working versions of the work but discarded later by Janacek, and the short Presto, originally probably intended as one the movements for Pohadka - which also went through diverse stages of germination just as Sonata did, and it's last version was published in 1924. Inspiration by the tragic story of the Tale of Tsar Berendey and his child reflects Janacek �s own experience. "Like most of Janacek's chamber works, Pohadka provides a fascinating insight into the composer's soul," says Jiri Barta and describes his memories of his first encounter of Janacek �s music: "I'm listening to the strangely beautiful music, so different from anything I'd have encountered as a child. Harrowing, yet tender, sad, but in a different way, moving, yet devoid of whining and false tears. (...)In his almost despondent genuineness, he will not forgive any mannerism or insincerity, making it hard for the performer to decipher him. Even at moments of greatest anguish, he is faithful to the principles of beauty and truth." The catalogue of Animal Music features as well a recording of the two artists' performance of Beethoven's Sonatas for piano and cello (2021), and Jiri Barta's solo recording of complete Bach's cello suites (2018).

The story of the Prague Symphony Orchestra is closely related to the history of the Czech capital, which leaves an impression on their repertoire. After their successful recording of Karel Husa’s Music for Prague 1968 (Supraphon, 2021), the orchestra and its chief conductor are coming up with another album dedicated to Prague. This time, the program is focused on the late 19th century, i.e. the period when the Czech nation fought for its language, culture, and identity within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The backbone of the record is Suk’s monumental symphonic poem Praga, based on the Hussite chorale, “Ktož jsú Boží bojovníci” (Ye Who Are Warriors of God); Vyšehrad from Smetana’s famous cycle Má vlast (My Country); and a rarity: Pohádka o Šemíku (A Tale of Šemík), which is a largely unknown symphonic poem based on an ancient Czech legend connected with Vyšehrad, by Otakar Ostrcil, composed when he was nineteen. And of course, there is Antonín Dvorák. In hardly any work of his is Dvorák as explicitly patriotic as in his overture My Home (which is not very well known either). It is based on the theme of the popular song “Kde domov muj,” which later became the Czech national anthem. Another rarity of this album is Dvorák’s fanfare for the opening of the National Jubilee Exhibition in Prague. After their acclaimed recording of the composer’s Slavonic Dances, the Prague Symphony Orchestra confirm that the Czech repertoire of late Romanticism is their native and most natural language. The romantic and legendary city of Prague on a record of the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

The centenary of the birth of Viktor Kalabis (1923–2006), a major 20th-century Czech composer, is worthy of attention. The previous Supraphon album, Symphonies & Concertos (SU 4109-2), mapping his mature and late works, met with critical acclaim (Gramophone Choice / Reissue of the Month, Choc de Classica). Much of Kalabis’s early output, however, is yet to be discovered. The present recording, containing three pieces dating from between 1948 and 1951, attests to the young composer’s remarkable maturity. In the Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 3 (1948), Kalabis paid tribute to Igor Stravinsky, a great idol of his, with the concerto grosso form and instrumentation referring to Dumbarton Oaks. The impressive brief overture Youth, Op. 7 (1950), demonstrates the composer’s brilliant mastery of large symphony orchestra. The surprising dark colours in the work may reflect the difficult period of the Communist dictatorship’s ascent. The neo-folk Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 8 (1951), reveals Kalabis’s Dvorák, Bartók, Hindemith and late symphonic Martinu inspirations. Youthful dynamic energy and intimations of future weighty profundity characterise Kalabis’s early music. Three decades later, the composer recorded his early pieces, conducting the Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava. The present album thus affords the opportunity to listen to their authentic performance.