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Martinů: The Greek Passion

Jaroslav Horácek (Grigoris), René Tucek (Kostandis), Zdenek Jankovský (Yannakos) Oldrich Spisar (Panait), Vilém Pribyl (Manolios), Lubomír Havlák (Michelis), Nada Šormová (Lenio), Richard Novák (Fotis), Karel Petr (Starý muž), Eva Depoltová (Katerina), Božena Effenberková (Despinio), Martin Ružek...

A charismatic 1981 performance from Czech conductor Libor Pešek — Financial Times, 14th August 2010

Release Date: 14th Jun 2010
Catalogue No: SU39842
Label: Supraphon
Series: Czech Opera Treasures
Length: 1 hour 49 minutes

Martinů: The Greek Passion, H. 372, Act I

Work length27:53

$8.40

$10.80

Jaroslav Horáček, Vilém Přibyl, Richard Novák, Eva Děpoltová, Libor Pešek, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Christ Is Risen. Joy! (Kněz Grigoris, Kostandis, majitel kovárny, Janakos, podomní obchodník, Panait / Jidáš, Manolios, ovčák)

Track length4:58

$1.05

$1.35

Manolios! We Have Chosen You to Represent Christ (Kněz Grigoris, Manolios, ovčák)

Track length2:35

$1.05

$1.35

What a Heavy Burden the Priest Has Put on Our Backs (Kostandis, majitel kovárny, Janakos, podomní obchodník, Manolios, ovčák, Michelis, Patriarcheaův syn, Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka)

Track length2:57

$1.05

$1.35

Lord! Lord! (Kněz Grigoris, Kostandis, majitel kovárny, Janakos, podomní obchodník, Panait / Jidáš, Manolios, ovčák, Fotis, kněz, starý muž, Kateřina, vdova, Despinio)

Track length3:21

$1.05

$1.35

Kyrie eleison! (Panait / Jidáš, Fotis, kněz, starý muž, Kateřina, vdova, Despinio)

Track length3:29

$1.05

$1.35

Who Are You? What Are You Doing Here? (Kněz Grigoris, Fotis, kněz, starý muž)

Track length2:50

$1.05

$1.35

Oh! - My Son, at This Very Moment (Kněz Grigoris, Kostandis, majitel kovárny, Panait / Jidáš, Manolios, ovčák, Fotis, kněz, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length3:31

$1.05

$1.35

Daughter of the Almighty (Fotis, kněz)

Track length4:12

$1.05

$1.35

Martinů: The Greek Passion, H. 372, Act II

Work length23:25

$6.30

$8.10

Jaroslav Horáček, Vilém Přibyl, Richard Novák, Eva Děpoltová, Libor Pešek, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

And as He Sowed, Some Seeds Fell by the Wayside (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length3:14

$1.05

$1.35

Sit Down, Yannakos! (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Ladas, zbohatlík)

Track length3:15

$1.05

$1.35

Manolios! Why Do You Run After Me! (Manolios, ovčák, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length4:39

$1.05

$1.35

My Children, Man Is Like a Tree (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Fotis, kněz, starý muž)

Track length6:06

$1.05

$1.35

Here Is a Good Man from Lycovrissi (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Fotis, kněz)

Track length1:56

$1.05

$1.35

Father, the Old Man Is Dead (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Fotis, kněz)

Track length4:15

$1.05

$1.35

Martinů: The Greek Passion, H. 372, Act III

Work length33:03

$8.40

$10.80

Jaroslav Horáček, Vilém Přibyl, Richard Novák, Eva Děpoltová, Libor Pešek, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Bohuslav Martinů

Play, Nikolio, Take Your Pipe and Play Something (Kněz Grigoris, Janakos, podomní obchodník, Manolios, ovčák, Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka, Kateřina, vdova, Nikolio, mladší ovčák)

Track length7:01

$1.05

$1.35

Manolios, What's the Matter with You? (Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka, Kateřina, vdova, Nikolio, mladší ovčák)

Track length3:49

$1.05

$1.35

Who's There? (Manolios, ovčák, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length4:28

$1.05

$1.35

Intermezzo

Track length1:57

$1.05

$1.35

I'm the Son of the Lightning and the Grandson of the Thunder (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length5:14

$1.05

$1.35

We Must Put a Stop to It (Kněz Grigoris, Panait / Jidáš, Manolios, ovčák, Ladas, zbohatlík, Patriarcheas, statkář)

Track length0:53

$1.05

$1.35

Christ Was on the Mountain (Kněz Grigoris, Manolios, ovčák, stará žena, Andonis, vesnický holič)

Track length4:20

$1.05

$1.35

I've Secret for You! (Janakos, podomní obchodník, Manolios, ovčák, Michelis, Patriarcheaův syn, Kateřina, vdova, Nikolio, mladší ovčák)

Track length5:21

$1.05

$1.35

Martinů: The Greek Passion, H. 372, Act IV

Work length25:23

$6.30

$8.10

Jaroslav Horáček, Vilém Přibyl, Richard Novák, Eva Děpoltová, Libor Pešek, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

As the Apple Three Among Trees (Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka, Patriarcheas, statkář)

Track length4:04

$1.05

$1.35

Brother Christians! God Made Us All Blind (Kněz Grigoris, Kostandis, majitel kovárny, Janakos, podomní obchodník, Michelis, Patriarcheaův syn)

Track length3:57

$1.05

$1.35

I Waited Patiently for My Lord (Manolios, ovčák)

Track length5:17

$1.05

$1.35

Manolios! (Kněz Grigoris, Manolios, ovčák, Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka)

Track length2:54

$1.05

$1.35

Oh Lord Let Our Cry, Our Cry Come unto Thee (Lenio, Patriarcheova schovanka, Fotis, kněz, Kateřina, vdova)

Track length4:54

$1.05

$1.35

The Name of the Young Man Was Written in the Snow (Kateřina, vdova)

Track length4:17

$1.05

$1.35

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Recorded at the Rudolfinum, Prague, September 29 – October 1, 1981

Remastered from the original mastertapes by Miroslav Mareš, 2010

The Greek Passion became for Bohuslav Martinu (8.12. 1890 – 18. 8. 1959) an opera epilogue whose humanistic message surpasses that of all the others owing to the sheer power of the faith and emotion. Martinu liked experimenting with opera – from setting folk texts, legends and commedie dell’arte through new formations for radio and television to opera-film, opera ballet and opera-dream.

Nikos Kazantzakis’s novel Christ Recrucified captivated the composer with the fate of refugees amid an unconcerned, indifferent world. Martinu himself was a refugee. In the libretto, which he prepared on the basis of the novel’s English translation, he captured in an effective stage contraction the transformations of the characters and the reversions of the action.

Applying remarkable technique and groundbreaking compositional invention, he depicted a world of church, genuine faith and life in the Greek countryside. He interconnected the ideational and musical content with musical motifs of the Cross and compassionate love. The elaborate operatic drama The Greek Passion was scheduled to be premiered in London yet the intention ultimately did not materialise. Subsequently, London would have to wait forty-two years for the staging of the opera (London version). After the opera was rejected, Martinu did not discard the work but revised it conceptually into a new, more compendious, more operatic and musically more sublime form. Yet he did not live to see the second version performed either.

The Greek Passion was first staged almost two years after the composer’s death, in Zurich on 9 June 1961. In the autumn of 1981, the independent preparations for this gramophone recording courageously strove to bring the Czech text closer to the original deep spiritual sense of this extraordinary work for the first time.

Artists

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Radio Chorus & Prague Radio Children’s Chorus, Libor Pešek

Reviews

14th August 2010

A charismatic 1981 performance from Czech conductor Libor Pešek

Martinů: The Greek Passion

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