Martinu: Nipponari, Magic Nights & Czech Rhapsody: Recorded 1985-88

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Notwithstanding the unfamiliar repertoire, the sopranos Dagmar Pecková and Lubica Rybárska deliver superbly idiomatic renditions of the songs with Belohlávek shapes the cantata with persuasive... — BBC Music Magazine, February 2009, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 1st Dec 2008
Catalogue No: SU39562
Label: Supraphon
Length: 73 minutes

Gramophone Magazine

March 2009

Editor's Choice

Martinů: Nipponari – Cycle of seven songs for female voice and small orchestra, H68

Work length21:40

$5.60

$7.35

Dagmar Peckova (vocalist)
Prague Symphony Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek

No. 1, The Blue Hour. Andante

Track length2:08

$0.80

$1.05

No. 2, Old Age. Andante

Track length4:35

$0.80

$1.05

No. 3, A Memory. Andantino

Track length2:15

$0.80

$1.05

No. 4, Life in Dreams. Andantino

Track length3:19

$0.80

$1.05

No. 5, Footsteps in the Snow. Moderato

Track length2:49

$0.80

$1.05

No. 6, A Look Back. Largo religioso

Track length4:10

$0.80

$1.05

No. 7, By the Sacred Lake. Grave

Track length2:24

$0.80

$1.05

Martinů: Magic Nights, H. 119

Work length15:25

$2.40

$3.15

Ľubica Rybárska (vocalist)
Prague Symphony Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek

No. 1, In a Foreign Land. Adagio

Track length4:58

$0.80

$1.05

No. 2, Untouched by Spring. Adagio lugubre

Track length4:38

$0.80

$1.05

No. 3, The Mysterious Flute. Andante sostenuto

Track length5:49

$0.80

$1.05

Martinů: Czech Rhapsody, H. 118

Work length36:11

$0.80

$1.05

Ivan Kusnjer (vocalist)
Prague Symphony Orchestra, Kühn Mixed Choir
Jiří Bělohlávek, Pavel Kühn

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All three of these compositions open the imaginative world of the young Martinu to the listener, providing a glimpse into his early works for voice and orchestra.

Nipponari and Magic Nights were both inspired by exotic texts. The works of Japanese poets used in Nipponari are infused with a wistful, dreamy mood which is masterfully captured by Martinu’s unusual instrumentation and subtle compositional technique.

For his Impressionistic Magic Nights he instinctively chose texts about sorrow in a distant land far from home, unaware that this theme would play a fateful role in his own life. Mahler, incidentally, drew on the same collection of poems for his song cycle Das Lied von der Erde.

The general nationalistic fervor of 1918 and the thought of national independence are reflected in the Czech Rhapsody — released here for the first time on CD — particularly in his use of the Hymn “Saint Wenceslas” (patron saint of the Czech nation), and the premiere of this work was a tremendous success for Martinu.

It is difficult to imagine a more competent and sensitive interpretation of these works than you will find in these time-tested recordings by conductor Jirí Belohlávek and outstanding soloists.

Reviews

February 2009

Notwithstanding the unfamiliar repertoire, the sopranos Dagmar Pecková and Lubica Rybárska deliver superbly idiomatic renditions of the songs with Belohlávek shapes the cantata with persuasive fervour. Although these performances were recorded over 20 years ago, the sound is remarkable for its clarity. A landmark issue for anyone interested in this endlessly fascinating composer.

2010

With Martinu's mature and middle-period works staples of the repertoire, one forgets that he did not spring, fully formed, into the compositional world as a neoclassicist. Nipponari is a set of seven songs to Japanese poems for soprano and small orchestra written in 1912 when he was in his early twenties. Delightfully scored, there is nothing in its sound world of the later master who here provides a shimmering accompaniment to the wistful texts. In places there are resonances of Rimsky's Kitezh, too, and British ears may detect stylistic parallels with early Bax, or the Brian of In memoriam. Dagmar Pecková is a radiant soloist.
Magic Nights dates from six years later and uses Chinese texts from the same source as Das Liedvon der Erde to enchanting if less exalted effect.
There is a touch of Debussy in the orchestral sound, which requires a larger ensemble than Nipponari. L'ubica Rybárska yields nothing to Pecková in beauty of tone.
The major item here, however, is the cantata Czech Rhapsody from 1918 (not the violin and orchestra work of 1945), written just a few months before Magic Nights. It is a rare example of politically motivated music in Martinu's canon, imbued with patriotic feelings at impending independence, and was his first nationwide success. The grandiloquence of the opening section and close are beautifully caught by Belohlávek and the Pavel Kühn Cho- rale sings the polyglot text (including Psalm 23) with fervour. The Prague Symphony Orchestra accompanies splendidly throughout and the superb acoustic of the Dvorák Hall is captured superbly. The recordings may be 20 years old but they sound wonderful. Highly recommended.

March 2009

The major item here, however, is the cantata Czech Rhapsody from 1918… The grandiloquence of the opening section and close are beautifully caught by B?lohlávek and the Pavel Kühn Chorale sings the polyglot text (including Psalm 23) with fervour. The Prague Symphony Orchestra accompanies splendidly throughout and the superb acoustic of the Dvo?ák Hall is captured superbly.

Martinu: Nipponari, Magic Nights & Czech Rhapsody

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