Won't nearly an hour and three quarters of music for violin and piano by the same composer be too monotonous? No it won't because it is Dvorak... Dvorak never repeated himself; in every work, he created a different musical world. It would be hard to find another composer capable of such diversity within a single musical genre. After the earliest of the pieces, the Romance, he sent his publisher Simrock the Mazurek, which he dedicated to the Spanish virtuoso Pablo de Sarasate. The almost meditative Nocturne first appeared in a string quartet and then a quintet before being heard for the first time as an independent piece in arrangements including one for violin and piano. The Violin Sonata in F major, a chamber music pendant to Dvorak's Violin Concerto, clearly took inspiration from Brahms's First Violin Sonata. And there is more: the virtuosic Capriccio, the haunting Romantic Pieces, the Slavonic Dance No. 2 presented here uniquely in the composer's own arrangement, the delightful Humoresque arranged by Fritz Kreisler... and a work bearing the opus number 100, which Dvorak deliberately reserved for his Sonatina dedicated to two of his children; though simple, it is no less individual than any of the composer's other mature opuses. To sum it all up, this is a unique collection of Dvorak's complete works for violin and piano recorded by the virtuoso Jiri Vodicka, concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, sensitively accompanied by David Marecek at the piano. The recording is enhanced by the beautiful acoustics of the Rudolfinum's Dvorak Hall in Prague. Dvorak for violin and piano. A new world of music in every composition.

It would very much seem that the 19th- and 20th-century Czech piano concerto repertoire begins and ends with Dvorák and Martinu. The present recording, however, serves to prove that this is far from being the case. It contains three piano concertos that have been – undeservedly – overlooked.

Vítezslava Kaprálová wrote the Piano Concerto in D minor, characterized by brilliant instrumentation and an engrossing solo part, at the age of 20 as her graduation work. The premiere, which she herself conducted, met with great critical acclaim. In1937, the young composer moved to Paris to study with Bohuslav Martinu. Just a year later, Kaprálová was lauded at the International Society for Contemporary Music festival in London, which she opened conducting the BBC Orchestra performing her Military Sinfonietta. In 1940, when she was just 25, the gifted artist’s life and career were sadly terminated by a serious illness.

At that very age, Karel Kovarovic created his one and only piano concerto. A pupil of Zdenek Fibich, he would later on primarily gain recognition as a conductor and serve as director of Prague’s National Theatre Opera (1900–1920). Kovarovic’s Piano Concerto in F minor affords the soloists great scope to display their virtuosity.

Pavel Borkovec, a pupil of J. B. Foerster and Josef Suk, wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 after World War II. At the time a mature artist, as a teacher he cultivated a new generation of major Czech composers (Petr Eben, Jan Novák, Vladimír Sommer, etc.).

The main protagonist of the present album, the pianist Marek Kozák, who has garnered accolades at a number of competitions (Zurich, Bolzano, Bremen, Prague, and elsewhere), has a penchant for exploring little-known and forgotten landscapes, as attested to by this revelatory recording.

Leo� Jan�cek and the generation younger B�la Bart�k and Igor Stravinsky were major 20th-century composers markedly influenced by folk music, bringing it to bear in their own creations. Jan�cek and Bart�k also keenly devoted to folklore as theoreticians and collected folk songs around the villages. Stravinsky, for his part, was mesmerised by folk rituals. A case in point is Les noces, which in four choreographed scenes depicts Russian wedding customs. Following significant revisions of the instrumentation, the fourth, definitive, version of the piece received it's world premiere in 1923 in Paris, as performed by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, to Bronislava Nijinska's choreography. Jan�cek conceived his Nursery Rhymes at the age of 71, shortly after completing the opera The Makropulous Case. He too made changes to the instrumentation before arriving at a satisfactory form. The second version of the set bears witness to Jan�cek's being enthralled by Stravinsky's music. The Three Village Scenes for female voices and chamber orchestra feature arrangements of folk tunes Bart�k collected in the Zvolen district in today�s Slovakia. The set is evidently influenced by Stravinsky's style as well. The three challenging works have been undertaken by Luk� Vasilek conducting the outstanding Prague Philharmonic Choir, which on numerous occasions have displayed it's exceptional qualities and a great sense for performing music inspired by folk art. The album links up to the highly acclaimed recording of Bohuslav Martinu's cantatas (Gramophone Editor's Choice, nomination for the BBC Music Magazine Award). The rediscovered magic of folk songs and traditional rituals in the music of three 20th-century masters.

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 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.

The music of Jan Novák (1921–1984) is extraordinary and remarkable as such. However, this recording puts a kind of stamp of authenticity on it since the solo parts are played not only by pianist Karel Košárek but also by both of the composer’s daughters. While flautist Clara Nováková might have gone back in memories to the time when she was fifteen and her father dedicated the first version of Choreae vernales to her, Dora Novak-Wilmington sat on the piano stool instead of her mother, Eliška, who played the instrument as brilliantly as her husband, Jan.

In a way, this recording exudes the atmosphere of a family reunion across time. Novák’s Concerto for Two Pianos reflects his impressions of studying with Bohuslav Martinu in New York (where they visited jazz clubs together) as well as his desire for recognition from his teacher. The historical recording of the work (Jan and Eliška Novák, Czech Philharmonic, Karel Ancerl, 1957) deserves to be complemented by a representative modern recording. Concentus biiugis for piano four hands was performed in the year of its creation in the composer’s exile in Germany as a way of supporting Charter 77, an anti-regime movement in his homeland.

The first version of Choreae vernales was written in the same year in Italy and three years later Novák clothed it in the colourful attire of string orchestra. It is this nearly unknown version of the composition that is newly recorded here. The orchestra’s involvement and renowned conductor Tomáš Netopil’s distinct musicianship help the soloists to create Jan Novák’s colourful and striking musical landscape - A new recording of Jan Novák’s concertos – a family reunion across time.

During the first year after its publication, selected Slavonic Dances were performed in Prague, New York, Boston, London, Berlin, Dresden, Hamburg, Cologne, Bonn, Nice, Graz, Lucerne, and other cities … Dvořák’s music is deeply engraved in the DNA of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, who have performed it under conductors of such renown as Jirí Belohlávek, Charles Mackerras, Václav Neumann, Tomáš Netopil, etc.

The new recording, made with Tomáš Brauner, the orchestra’s current music director, draws upon an illustrious interpretation tradition, with its rounded and transparent sound capturing the best qualities of the exquisite Art Nouveau Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague. / Slavonic Dances with the Prague Symphony Orchestra – Dvorák in good hands

During the 18th century, the string quartet gained the position of the most valued and most challenging chamber music genre, and gradually became a vehicle for conveying the composer’s personal feelings. Joseph Haydn played a key role in forging the quartet’s classical form. He created almost 70 string quartets, which, along with the symphonies, constitute the largest, as well as the most significant, part of his oeuvre. Haydn accorded them the form that would serve as the model for Mozart, Beethoven, and later composers. Just as fascinating as the quantity is his quartets’ sheer diversity, with each of them being singular, featuring novel (often humorous) ideas, experiments, as well as constant seeking of new possibilities of expression.

The three quartets included on the present album chart the development of Haydn’s musical idiom, from Op. 17 (1771), which he wrote at the age of 40, through Op. 33, dubbed “Gli Scherzi” (1781, dedicated to the Grand Duke of Russia Pavel Petrovich, the future Tsar Paul I), to the formally experimental pieces making up Op. 54 (1788). The Bennewitz Quartet have given numerous concerts worldwide, including at the most prestigious venues (Wigmore Hall in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Konzerthaus in Berlin, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, concert halls in New York, Seoul, etc.) and such renowned festivals as the Salzburger Festspiele, Lucerne Festival and Rheingau Musik Festival. At many of them, they have performed quartets by Haydn, one of their favourite composers, whose music they endow with a transparent sound, revealing their levity and sense for detail. The Bennewitz Quartet – at home with Haydn

The internationally renowned Czech-born composer Karel Husa, Pulitzer Prize and Grawemeyer Award winner, gathered invaluable experience from Arthur Honegger and Nadia Boulanger, with whom he studied in Paris in the 1940s and 1950s. He was also greatly influenced by the folk music of his native Bohemia, as well as Slovakia, which is duly reflected in his Évocations de Slovaquie and Four Bohemian Sketches. Husa’s later pieces for clarinet and a variety of other instruments attest to his propensity for innovation and experimentation, yet all of them are comprehensible and listener-friendly. The present album opens with the gracious and, now and then, melancholy Sonatina by Bohuslav Martinu, who, just like Husa, studied in Paris and experienced exile sorrow. The young Czech clarinettist Anna Paulová, a Prague Spring laureate and the holder of numerous accolades from other international competitions, has enthusiastically devoted to Karel Husa over the long term. Recorded with superb instrumentalists, her Supraphon debut is likely to increase general interest in the remarkable composer’s music. A variety of clarinet colours and shades in Karel Husa and Bohuslav Martinu works

An original selection of Leoš Janácek’s works released on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of the composer’s death.

In connection with the previous compilation, The Many Loves of Antonín Dvořák, which met with favorable response from reviewers in the USA and in the UK, we asked the BBC3 long-time music producer and one of the great experts in and lovers of Czech music and its recordings, Patrick Lambert, to compile a similar series dedicated to the Moravian master.

Its name alone – Many Passions – reflects Janáček’s temperament and the selection is a result of thorough research into his personality. The composer approached all life’s changes with a wide range of emotions. Therefore, eight categories were created and got the same names as Janáček’s passions: the Folk Tradition; the Czech Case – Politics and Patriotism; Family; Life and Nature; Friendship with Dvorák; Women; Russian Literature; Religious Roots.

The set contains famous pieces, such as Sinfonietta, Taras Bulba, Glagolitic Mass, Jenufa and The Cunning Little Vixen, as well as many discoveries that put Janáček’s work into context, e.g. his choruses Seventy-thousand and The Czech Legion, the Danube Symphony, Prelude in G minor for organ and a fragment of his Mass in E flat major. The selection of performers includes the classics of Janáček interpretation from Brno and Prague and some unique archival recordings as well as many new ones.

Among the conductors are Bretislav Bakala, František Jílek, Jaroslav Vogel, Václav Neumann, Karel Ancerl, Bohumil Gregor, Sir Charles Mackerras and Jakub Hruša, and other performers include important Bohemian and Moravian choirs, soloists Theodor Šrubar, Beno Blachut, Libuše Domanínská and Gabriela Benacková, and instrumentalists Josef Suk, Ilja Hurník, Jan Panenka, the Janáček Quartet and the Pavel Haas Quartet. The choice of compositions deeply reflects Janáček’s greatly varied music, paying homage to the most remarkable 20th-century Czech composer on the occasion of the 95th anniversary of his death and celebrating the unique richness of Supraphon’s archives.

What do Bedřich Smetana and Miloslav Kabeláč have in common that they feature on Jan Bartoš’s new album? Both of them were distinguished composers, conductors and pianists. Both of them created modern and timeless music for piano, which, however, remains overshadowed by their symphonic works. Smetana was writing his cycle Rêves (1875) at the time when he was completing Šárka and From Bohemian Fields and Groves, perhaps the most remarkable of the six tone poems comprising Má vlast.

Kabeláč was composing the two piano cycles, Op. 30 and Op. 38, while also focusing on Mystery of Time, his symphonic magnum opus, which in recent years has been discovered by some of the world’s most renowned orchestras, in Berlin, Cleveland, London and elsewhere. Kabeláč’s life serves as a prime example of the fates that befell the Czech humanists, artists and intellectuals from the 1930s to the 1970s amid the turbulent historical events. While his music garnered success worldwide, he was silenced by the Communist regime in his homeland. Kabelác’s style evolved from complex to simple, thus in many respects ushering in the accession of post-modernism and minimalism. As attested to by his cycle Motifs from Exotic Lands, he was boldly inspired by non-European traditional music. Following on from critically acclaimed Leoš Janáček (Gramophone Editor’s Choice) and Vítězslav Novák albums, Jan Bartoš is now presenting Kabeláč and Smetana in live recordings made at the Dvořák Hall of Prague’s Rudolfinum. Jan Bartoš presents to the world little-known Czech piano gems.

Gustav Mahler’s cycle Des Knaben Wunderhorn features on innumerable recordings – so why yet another one? Because it is … entirely different. Peter Schöne, a baritone with an immense sense for songs, the winner of prestigious international competitions (Franz Schubert Kammermusikwettbewerb in Graz, ARD in Munich), accepted the invitation to work with PhilHarmonia Octet Prague, whose members have performed with leading European orchestras (Czech Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln). After presenting arrangements of Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and a suite from Leoš Janácek’s opera From the House of the Dead, the Mahler project currently represents the apex of the Czech wind ensemble’s endeavour to extend their repertoire and make it even more intriguing. Even though essentially intimate, Mahler’s songs have often been closely linked with symphonies, which also applies to the Des Knaben Wunderhorn collection. Of the 24 pieces, PhilHarmonia Octet Prague have recorded ten, those best suited to a wind ensemble. Opting for wind instruments makes sense, given that in his childhood Mahler’s musical vocabulary was formed in part by listening frequently to the Jihlava military band. His music is interwoven with military motifs, with wind instruments being afforded a prominent position. The chamber arrangements on the new album show an interesting path between the piano and orchestral versions, and allow for highlighting the colourfulness and intimacy of Mahler’s songs. Mahler’s songs, extraordinarily colourful and intimate

Lukáš Vondráček and Sergei Rachmaninoff. Scarcely do we encounter a connection between a musician and a composer so close, strong and energizing. When, at the age of 15, Vondráček was invited by Vladimir Ashkenazy and the Czech Philharmonic to perform Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 1, he had garnered international acclaim at numerous concerts and competitions. Just a year later, the pianist toured the USA and appeared at Carnegie Hall. At the age of 29, he triumphed at the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels (2016), performing Rachmaninoff’s Concerto No. 3, conducted by Marin Alsop. Love at first listen, Rachmaninoff has become his flagship composer: “Besides affording the opportunity to showcase one’s technique, his music impresses by being contrastive and having an immense dynamic range ... What more could a person keen on tone color wish? It’s sheer beauty!”

Lukáš Vondráček has been invited to perform Rachmaninoff’s concertos by the most prominent orchestras and conductors worldwide. The present album is one of the few sweet fruits of the Covid pandemic, which cleared the soloist’s otherwise jam-packed diary and afforded him peaceful time for recording. The booklet contains an interview with Lukáš Vondráček, within which he provides an account of his ample experience of and great affinity to Rachmaninoff. Yet the most powerful confession is the recording itself, made with the superb Prague Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Tomáš Brauner, capturing performances rendering every detail, teeming with emotion, colour and contrast. Sheer beauty indeed! Rachmaninoff in Lukáš Vondráček’s hands. A lavish musical feast.

Some extraordinarily talented figures’ lives and work impressed and significantly influenced their contemporaries, yet their imprint was later effaced just like a footprint by the tide. And many years later, we are thus astonished by the rediscovery of such forgotten legacies. Josef Beneš (Joseph Benesch) was primarily referred to in period sources as a virtuoso violinist and distinguished teacher. Born in Batelov (Battelau), a village on the borderline between Bohemia and Moravia, from the age of 19 he lived in Vienna and Ljubljana, and gave concerts across Europe. During his time in Italy, he familiarized himself with Niccolò Paganini and Alessandro Rolla. He held prestigious posts (music director of the Philharmonic Society in Ljubljana, professor of the Music Academy in Vienna, first concertmaster of the Hoftheater).

Few of his works have survived, with the majority of them being music Beneš wrote for his own solo performances. His final pieces, two string quartets (published in 1865 and 1871, respectively) date from the period when he no longer pursued a career as a soloist, yet all the parts require very dexterous players. Now, 150 years later, the Martinu Quartet, who have rediscovered a number of overlooked works of music, are evidently the first to perform the quartets, which definitely do not deserve to fall into oblivion.

“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” John the Evangelist’s words inspired the title of a remarkable Christmas cycle, rendering its profound message, diverting our attention from glittering decorations and refocusing on the very reason for celebrating Christmas – commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. Many a time with a breath-taking directness, traditional carols clearly capture the poetics of the Nativity and the story of those who were there. Such carols were precisely that which resounded in the mind of Jirí Slavík, a seasoned young jazz musician and composer with a penchant for folklore, in the spring of 2020, when a pandemic locked us down in our homes. “No one had the slightest inkling as to when we would again be able to play and sing together.” The songs immediately became a source of hope, hope that light would begin shining soon. The carols acquired their shape, sometimes soft and intimate, at others bolder, symphonically opulent. Interludes and songs inspired by the Biblical story came to life, ultimately engendering a whole cycle. From the beginning, it was intended to be performed by Ondráš – an orchestra and choir specialising in folk music, yet willing to cross the genre’s borders. As interpreted by the singers and instrumentalists, the Bohemian and Moravian carols sound absolutely natural, be they presented in the usual “dulcimer” texture, or in unconventional colour arrangements. This type of music – just like any music retelling a powerful story – requires quietening. When we let tranquillity take over our minds, we may touch upon a secret. The Nativity story in Bohemian and Moravian Christmas carols

Piano Trio No. 4, “Dumky”, ranking among Antonín Dvořák’s most celebrated works, is one of the most frequently recorded chamber pieces in existence. After attending a performance, with the composer on the piano, Leoš Janáček summed up his impressions succinctly: “A new source of light has flashed.” When it comes to Piano Trio No. 3, the renowned Vienna-based critic Eduard Hanslick called it a gem, demonstrating that Dvořák was “one of the best modern masters”. Piano Trios No. 1 and 2, however, have been scarcely performed. In this light, the complete recording of Dvořák’s piano trios is a project richly deserving attention. All the more so due to the artists who have made it: Boris Giltburg, winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition and one of the world’s most distinguished contemporary pianists, alongside Veronika Jarušková and Peter Jarušek, members of the globally celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet, who have earned great recognition for performing Dvořák’s music – Gramophone Recording of the Year (quartets) and Gramophone Chamber Award (quintets, together with Giltburg).

The three musicians featured on the album manifest an incredible chime. Possessing the uttermost technical brilliance, they breathe as one. The album was made at the studios in the picturesque Wye Valley, straddling the border between England and Wales, under the supervision of the legendary producer Andrew Keener while London was celebrating the coronation of Charles III. Exceptional moments for Dvořák’s exceptional music... Giltburg – Jarušková – Jarušek: A truly one-of-a-kind Dvořák festivity.

REVIEWS:

Make no mistake, this is Dvořák playing of the highest order and – even against some strong competition – these performances as a whole set a new benchmark in this marvellous quartet of works. Urgently recommended!

-- Europadisc

Happily, the present ensemble is equal to the demands of these fine works. The string players have a wealth of experience in the Czech repertoire as long-standing members of the celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet. Indeed, one of the most immediately striking aspects in these performances is the sheer beauty of the string sound. They are ably matched by pianist Boris Giltburg whose care over articulation and unfussy, nuanced playing is a constant delight. Among highlights, the conclusion of the development of the first movement of the B flat trio is quite magical and the entire F minor trio is powerfully focussed while resisting the hectoring tendency that mars even some committed renditions.”

-- BBC Music Magazine, November 2023

These performers bring out the rustic elements in this music; they connect with the childlike stargazers that we all are at heart, and that is a good part of Dvořák’s appeal. I suppose you could call it the ultimate in authentic performance, and that’s fine by me. Great sound, too (Wyastone Concert Hall, 2022 23, producer Andrew Keener). Strongly recommended.

-- Gramophone, Awards Issue 2023

The ‘Dumky’ trio is a delight here, as it should be; but I found myself drawn more to the others, enjoying the way they bring the folk rhythms and Dvorak’s lyrical gifts together, and the sense of effortless virtuosity and power Giltburg brings, even though a lot of the time he isn’t unleashing it.

-- BBC Radio 3, 30th September 2023

What a marvellous disc. Jaruskova and Jarusek of the Pavel Haas Quartet and the renowned pianist Giltburg are so at home in the four piano trios they might almost be tearing the freshly finished pages from Dvorak’s hands. Superbly recorded by Andrew Kenner, this is a total delight.

-- The Sunday Times, 8th October 2023

I found this disc an example of chamber musicianship at its best: the excellent sound engineering balances and blends parts, which underscores the ensemble’s suc­cessful delivery of Dvořák’s most sensitive nuances and extroverted peaks. Listening to all the selections in succession, we are treated to a vibrant experience indeed—but one in which the distinctive essence of each trio is aptly captured.

-- The Classic Review, October 2023

Czech Ensemble Baroque’s first recording dedicated to František Ignác Antonín Tuma (Requiem, Miserere) confirmed his firm position among Europe’s major late-Baroque composers. A pupil of the renowned Viennese master J. J. Fux, his music is characterized by immaculate refined counterpoint, yet he also embraced and brought to bear elements of the incipient Galant style. Dating from three different phases of his life, the three pieces featured on the present album map Tuma’s artistic development. The grandiose Missa Veni Pater Pauperum, written in 1736 for the Schottenstift, a Benedictine abbey in Vienna, is from the time when he served Count Franz Ferdinand Kinsky, who had provided him with a thorough education. The festive 1745 Te Deum, scored for a similarly extensive ensemble, was composed for the Stift Wilhering, a Cistercian monastery in Upper Austria, which performed it on multiple occasions within the celebrations of the Feast of Corpus Christi.

As regards the Sinfonia ex C, Tuma most likely conceived it towards the end of his days, when he lived in seclusion at the Premonstratensian monastery in Geras, Lower Austria. The three festive pieces, recorded for the very first time, attest to Tuma’s being a composer richly deserving of special attention. Tuma’s music in festive colors – landmark premiere recordings

With his life and work, Miloslav Kabeláč, one of the greatest 20th-century Czech symphonists, foregrounded a highly topical theme: the necessity of not yielding to evil and commitment to humanistic ideals. He displayed both during the Nazi occupation and the time of Communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia. Within the toughest totalitarianism Kabeláč escaped the ideological grip of the authoritarian regime by looking up to the star-studded sky. In The Mystery of Time, an underestimated gem of 20th-century European symphonic music, he expresses his emotional trepidation of and fascination with space, the solid order that governs the cosmos. Amidst the easing of the political oppression in Czechoslovakia in the 1960s, Kabeláč garnered international esteem and created two major pieces: Hamlet Improvisation (marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth) and Reflections. In the wake of the Soviet invasion in August 1968, the Communist government again tightened the screws, striving to silence the open-minded composer’s music at home and abroad alike.

Kabeláč completed Metamorphoses II just a few weeks before his death. His final work is inspired by the oldest Czech hymn Hospodine, pomiluj ny (Lord, Have Mercy On Us), symbolically ending with the prayer Kyrie eleison, repeated three times. The Mystery of Time album links up to the acclaimed recording of Kabeláč’s symphonies (Supraphon, 2016), thus supplementing the artist’s remarkable discography with other jewels. Mystery of Time – an underestimated gem of 20th-century European symphonic music.

Antonín Dvorák was a deeply religious person, and sacred music duly constitutes a significant part of his oeuvre. The present album features three different types of works. The Mass in D major was commissioned by the composer’s patron Josef Hlávka for the inauguration of a country chapel. The Biblical Songs are highly intimate pieces, set to the Czech translation of Dvorák’s favourite Psalms, while Te Deum is a magnificent cantata for festive events, which, however, just like the other two works, affords space for contemplation and meditation. All three opuses are adorned with inspired melodies, as well as intriguing involvement of the solo singers and the choir. The album contains recordings made by the Prague Philharmonic Choir and the Prague Symphony Orchestra in 1969 and 1970. The Biblical Songs are performed by the baritone Jindrich Jindrák, a long-time soloist of the National Theatre in Prague. Dvorák’s heartfelt sacred music, singularly performed by superb artists.

“The artist's first task is to forget himself.” This statement, bold in its time, has been ascribed to Eugène Ysaÿe, referred to as the “King of the Violin”, who as a composer and performer considerably contributed to the modernization of violin playing. In 1923, he was so deeply impressed by J. S. Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, as performed by Joseph Szigeti, that within a few hours (!) he sketched a set of six sonatas as a counterpart to Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001-1006. Ysaÿe dedicated each of his sonatas to a superb contemporary violinist, tailoring it to his style. Technically reaching the limits of the instrument, the pieces placed enormous requirements on the dedicatees (Szigeti, Thibaud, Enescu, Kreisler, Crickboom, Quiroga), yet they remain challenging for the violinists of today.

One hundred years after Ysaÿe created the set of six sonatas, this formidable task has been undertaken by the outstanding young Czech virtuoso Daniel Matejča, the winner of the Eurovision Young Musicians competition (2022), Telemann Violin Competition (Poznan 2020) and Jugend musiziert (Halle 2019). Matejča studied with such distinguished violinists as Boris Belkin and Christian Tetzlaff, and, after collaborating to acclaim with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, has been invited to perform with other renowned orchestras. Supraphon has shifted the 100-year-old concept to the 21st century and commissioned a composition that would reflect Ysaÿe’s sonatas, as well as young violinists’ musicality and virtuosity. Jana Vöröšová’s Obsession II is both answer and challenge. Ysaÿe’s sonatas – a cherished challenge for the young virtuoso Daniel Matejča.

One of the oldest musical instruments we know of, the pan flute was played in many antique civilizations. The sophisticated type used in Romanian folk music is the most familiar to a contemporary audience. The virtuosos who brought fame to the pan flute in the second half of the 20th century include the Romanian musicians Damian Luca, Radu Simion, Nicolae Pîrvu, Gheorghe Zamfir and Simion Stanciu. Liselotte Rokyta studied with four of the “Big Five” and also gained authentic pan flute skills from folk players during a number of visits to Romania. The present album documents that the pan flute also occupies an indispensable position in classical music. The pieces by Bartók and Porumbescu are arrangements of Romanian folk dances, in which the pan flute is commonly employed. Debussy composed his Syrinx for the transverse flute, to which the pan flute (or syrinx) would seem to be an equal variant. The other arrangements are based on 19th- and 20th-century French composers’ works for the flute, as well as the piano and organ. You may have been hard pressed to imagine pieces by Varèse, Honegger or Messiaen played on the pan flute, yet you will certainly be engrossed by Liselotte Rokyta’s performance. The respective composers would undoubtedly have written music for the pan flute too had they had available a musician of her quality. The enchanting voice of the nymph Syrinx in the realm of classical music.

The pieces featured on the present album are staples of Belfiato Quintet’s modern repertoire and are, above all, music close to their heart. Each of them occupies a special position in the ensemble’s history. Carl Nielsen’s Wind Quintet is the very first work they explored and performed, while their rendition of Cinq danses profanes et sacrées at the 2011 Henri Tomasi International Woodwind Quintet Competition in Marseille earned the prize for the best interpretation of a Tomasi composition. And the other works included on the album have played significant roles in the ensemble’s career too. The five pieces, dating from between 1922 and 1964, represent their creators’ specific “elements”, as well as the diverse music traditions of their native countries. Yet the album’s title may also refer to five highly distinct figures who – perhaps precisely owing to their being so distinct – form a superbly harmonized ensemble that possesses a remarkable variety of tone quality and shades of expression. Belfiato Quintet are indisputably a world-class ensemble, with regard to the present album’s repertoire and beyond. Belfiato Quintet – five elements chiming in perfect harmony.

For four decades, Marie Podvalová (1909–1992) was one of the most popular and sought-after opera singers of the National Theatre in Prague, where she was engaged from 1937 to 1978. She dazzled in the part of Bedrich Smetana’s Libuše, which she created in 1938 under the guidance of the conductor Václav Talich, as well as in the roles of Milada in Dalibor and Anežka in Two Widows. She also appeared in Dvorák operas, performing to acclaim Armida, the Foreign Princess in Rusalka and Julie in The Jacobin, and in Janácek works, primarily excelling as Kostelnicka in Jenufa.

Supraphon is for the first time releasing the complete studio recordings Marie Podvalová made between 1939 and 1950. The set encompasses three songs from the collection Venec ze zpevu vlasteneckých (A Garland of Patriotic Songs, 1835–1844), which she performs accompanied on the piano by J. B. Foerster. It contains Marie Podvalová’s final, previously unreleased, studio recording, with the soprano singing Beatrice in a scene from Zdenek Fibich’s opera The Bride of Messina. The album also captures the voices of Jan Konstantin, Jindrich Blažícek, Marta Krásová, Ivo Žídek, Jaroslav Gleich, Zdenek Otava, Štepánka Jelínková, Jaroslav Jaroš, Josef Otakar Masák, Maria Tauberová, Ludek Mandaus, Stanislav Muž, and other singers. The Prague Symphony Orchestra and the National Theatre Orchestra are conducted by Rudolf Vašata, Zdenek Chalabala, Jaroslav Krombholc, František Škvor, Zdenek Folprecht, Otakar Jeremiáš and Karel Nedbal. The release marks the 30th anniversary of the legendary artist’s death.

We have the concept of globalization associated with the 20th century, but without much exaggeration we can apply it to the Jesuit missions in South America in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Jesuits were aware of the power of music, which profoundly touches the human heart. The European music they brought across the ocean was in no time embraced by the indigenous peoples in Bolivia and Peru. And thus works by the Czech composer Josef Brentner, the Italian Jesuit Domenico Zipoli or the Swiss missionary Martin Schmid were soon performed in the settlements in the middle of the jungle and in the mountains. European music blended with the traditional local music, just as the Quechua language blended with Spanish. Through music and singing they praised God and prayed to the Virgin Mary, as we can hear in the Quechua procession hymn Hanaq pachap cussicuinin or Zipoli’s Zuipaqui. However, similarly vivid instrumental music, songs and dances were enjoyed in Moravia, in the very heart of Europe. And again the globalization in music: many a folk song and dance was imbued with elements of “high culture”, and vice versa, G. P. Telemann did not hide enthusiasm and direct inspiration from Silesian and Haná folk music in his work. And songs worshipping the Mother of God were sung in spectacular churches, village chapels and fields alike. Yet whether European music was performed in the jungle or Haná melodies in Hamburg, the common denominator was enthusiastic musicians who knew no greater delight than getting together and playing. Just like Collegium Marianum on this recording. Let us rejoice together! The unbridled joy of music. In Bolivia, Peru, Moravia. In the Baroque era and today alike.

Previously unreleased recordings by one of the great conductors of the 20th century.

Karel Ančerl. One of the most important conductors of post-war Europe. A man who survived the Nazi concentration camps and the avowed anti-Semitism of communist Czechoslovakia. An artist who, through enormous patience and dedication, built the Czech Philharmonic into a world-class orchestra and introduced it successfully at the most important concert halls.

From 2002 to 2008, Supraphon issued the highly acclaimed Ančerl Gold Edition with the bulk of his artistic legacy, containing nearly his complete studio recordings with the Czech Philharmonic on 48 albums. But that was far from everything. Hidden in the archive of Czech Radio, there is a wealth of concert recordings that gives us a more complete picture of this conductor. From that treasury, on 15 albums, Supraphon has selected repertoire of which studio recordings were not made; that repertoire covers a broad range from Mozart to works by Ančerl’s contemporaries.

The recordings include masterpieces by Dvořák (Symphonies Nos. 7 and 8, Biblical Songs) and Suk (Asrael, Ripening), music by composers admired and promoted by Ančerl (Martinu Symphony No. 1 and Kabelác Symphony No. 5), and major works of the worldwide 20th-century repertoire (Debussy, Ravel, Strauss, Prokofiev, etc.). The only exception of a “duplication” of a studio recording is Smetana’s Má vlast. This taping of a Prague Spring Festival concert in May 1968 was one of the last recordings Ančerl made before his definitive departure for Toronto. The concert recordings from the years 1949-1968 document the maturing of this remarkable artist perhaps even more clearly than his studio legacy.

REVIEW:

-- Gramophone (Rob Cowan)