The Many Passions Of Leos Janacek

Description

In connection with the previous compilation, The Many Loves of Antonin Dvorak, which met with
favourable response from reviewers in the USA and in the UK, we asked the BBC 3 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 Janacek'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 Janacek's passions: the Folk
Tradition; the Czech Case - Politics and Patriotism; Family; Life and Nature; Friendship with Dvorak;
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 Janacek'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.