Release Date: 12 January 1999
Label: Naxos - Nxc / Naxos Classics
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 4891030504110
Genres: Classical
Composer/Series: JANACEK
Description
Leos Janaček (1854 -1928)Lachian DancesTaras BulbaSinfoniettaJanaček was born in 1854 in the northern part of Moravia, near thePolish frontier, a region that enjoys both linguistic and musical individuality.He was educated at the Augustinian school in Brno, thecapital of Moravia, eventually succeeding to the position of organist that hadbeen occupied by his teacher. Between 1874 and 1875 he studied at the PragueOrgan School, where Dvorak had been a pupil sixteen years earlier, returning toBrno as conductor of the local Philharmonic Society. His lack of confidence inhis own ability as a composer took him to Leipzig in 1878 for a further year ofstudy, followed by similar activity in Vienna.In 1881 Janaček opened amusic school in Brno, and in the following years continued to write music, in1886 dedicating a set of choral works to Dvorak, but in general enjoying only avery local reputation. His first opera, Sarka, met difficulties, sincepermission for the use of the poem on which it was basedhad not been granted by the author. Subsequent operas had a better fate, atleast in Brno, but it was not until 1916 that the attention of the PragueNational Theatre was drawn to his work, leading, largely by a series of luckychances, to the performance there of the opera known as Jenufa, that hadfirst been staged in Brno in 1904. The last twelve years of Janaček'slife brought him fame in Czechoslovakia and elicited from him a series of fivefurther operas, each as original in choice of libretto as in musical content.The music of Janaček is dominated by his preoccupation with Moravianfolk-song, the spirit of which informs his work. Hehad a particular interest in the musical inflections of speech and the melodicshape of natural sounds, while his theories of harmony were original,particularly in his sudden shifts of key. As a composer he only started work inmiddle age and always appeared as a musician of startling originality, in partthrough geographical isolation, at a distance from Vienna and even from Prague.Janaček's Lachian Danceswere originally to have been Valachian, but were transposed geographically bythe composer's own alternation of the title. Written in 1889 and 1890, the sixdances are scored for a large orchestra. The first, Starodavny, opens with amelody derived from tragic song "Matthew has been killed", with whichthe following melodies provide contrast. The nature of the dances that follow isapparent from their titles. For the composer, towards the end of his life, theyrecalled a past that had vanished and a countryside and way of life with whichhe had been familiar.The Rhapsody Taras Bulba is based on Gogol. It was written in 1918.Typically the composer chose a romantic historical novel by a Russian writer asthe frame-work for his creation. His interests were Pan-Slav, embracing theunity of the Slav peoples, and under similar impetus he had turned toOstrovsky's play The Storm for his opera Katya Kabanova and toDostoyevsk
Tracklisting
Dariia Lytvishko
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; Marin Alsop
Alice Di Piazza; Basel Sinfonietta; NDR Bigband; Titus Engel
Anna Alas i Jove; Miquel Villalba
David Childs; Black Dyke Band; Nicholas Childs
Yaqi Yang; Margarita Parsamyan; Robynne Redmon; Minghao Liu; Frank Ragsdale; Kim Josephson; Kevin S
Vilmos Csikos; Olivier Lechardeur; Manon Lamaison
Tomas Cotik; Martingale Ensemble; Ken Selden
