4260085530847

Janacek Piano Works

Olena Kushpler

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Format: CD

Cat No: AVI8553084

Release Date:  22 October 2021

Label:  C-Avi

Packaging Type:  Jewel Case

No of Units:  1

Barcode:  4260085530847

Genres:  Classical  Solo Instrumental  

  • Description

    Olena Kushpler presents a highly intimate and beautiful account of works for piano by Janacek, including those which are rarely performed.

    "Ever since my youth I have been fascinated by the music of Leos Janacek: initially by his vocal works, particularly Jenufa, an opera with an unadulterated 'peasant' tone of such radical authenticity that it transforms itself into avant-garde music. I only discovered Janacek's piano repertoire at a later date, and immediately grasped his basic aesthetic principle: he wanted to write a music of truth. Virtuosity for virtuosity's sake had no place in his approach.

    I understood that the Bohemian master staked out a clear position in the great musical debate of the 1800s. It raged, on the one hand, between formal aesthetics, which viewed music as "sonically moving forms" (in the words of Vienna critic doyen Eduard Hanslick), and, on the other hand, the musical content aesthetics of Berlioz, Schumann, Wagner, and Bruckner, who devoted their efforts to transforming poetry and even philosophy into music. In Janacek, I also feel that he strives to imbue each phrase with profound expression, thereby creating music that reflects his feelings, hopes, and disappointments.

    Janacek's music draws its energy from contrasts, which can be violent at times: each piece contains moments of brilliant luminosity as well as dramatic conflict. I view his piano cycle On An Overgrown Path as a clearly autobiographical work that reflects the experiences and moods he encountered in real life. The death of his daughter Olga led to profound despair, and the titles of individual pieces reflect how a father's thoughts revolved around the memories of his lost child. Our Evenings, A Blown-Away Leaf, and Words Fail are all individual pieces that foreshadow the tragedy to come. The cycle culminates in The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away!, and we can note that folk belief viewed the barn owl as an ominous messenger of death.

    I read Janacek's piano miniatures as intimate sketches from a diary he was keeping: personal thoughts turn into musical ideas. He wrote the Rondo when he was a young student, and The Golden Ring was his last composition, dated 8 August 1928, four days before his passing. These "diary entries" thus encompass Janacek's entire life, and for me they are treasures of inestimable value." (Olena Kushpler).

  • Tracklisting

      Disc 1

      Side 1

      • 1. V mlach / In the Mists - I. Andante
      • 2. V mlach / In the Mists - II. Molto adagio
      • 3. V mlach / In the Mists - III. Andantino
      • 4. V mlach / In the Mists - IV. Presto – meno mosso
      • 5. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I - 1. Nase vecery / Our evenings
      • 6. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I - 2. Listek odvanuty / A blown-away leaf
      • 7. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I - 3. Pojd’te s nami! / Come with us!
      • 8. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I - 4. Frydecka Panna Maria
      • 9. Po zarostlém / On an overgrown Path / Series I - 5. Stebetaly jak lastovicky / They chattered like swallows
      • 10. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I (1900-1911) - 6. Nelze domvulit! / Words fail!
      • 11. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I (1900-1911) - 7. Dobrou noc! / Good night!
      • 12. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I (1900-1911) - 8. Tak neskonale uzko / Unutterable anguish
      • 13. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I (1900-1911) - 9. V placi / In tears
      • 14. Po zarostlem / On an overgrown Path / Series I (1900-1911) - 10. Sycek neodletel! / The barn owl has not flown away!
      • 15. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 1. Malostransky palac / Malostransky Palace
      • 16. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 2. Bez nazvu / Untitled
      • 17. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 3. Melodie / Melody
      • 18. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 4. Moderato
      • 19. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 5. Jen slepy osud? / Just blind fate?
      • 20. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 6. Aby uz se nemohlo jiti nikdy zpet / So you can never return
      • 21. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 7. Zlaty krouzek / The golden ring
      • 22. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 8. Cekam Te! / Waiting for you!
      • 23. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 9. Rondo
      • 24. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 10. Na pamatku / In memoriam
      • 25. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 11. Sve Olze / My Olga
      • 26. Intime Skizzen / Intimate Sketches - 12. Ukolebavka / Lullaby
      • 27. Vzpominka/ A Recollection
      • 28. Miniatures - 13. Narodil se Kristus Pan / Lord Jesus Christ is Born