Listen on Presto Music. Free thirty day trial. Find out more.

Martinu: Ariane & Double Concerto

Simona Saturová (Ariane), Zoltán Nagy (Theseus), Baurzhan Anderzhanov (Minotaurus), Abdellah Lasri (Bouroun/Wachmann), Tijl Faveyts (Alter Mann), Ivo Kahánek (piano)

Essener Philharmoniker, Aalto-Theater Essen Choir soloists, Tomáš Netopil

The score’s haunting neo-Classicism is brought to fresh life by Netopil, who draws superlative playing from his Essen orchestra. His Ariane, Simona Šaturová...with a softergrained soprano still... — Opera, November 2016 More…

Release Date: 19th Aug 2016
Catalogue No: SU42052
Label: Supraphon
Length: 66 minutes

Presto Recordings of the Year

Finalist 2016

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Martinů: Ariane, H. 370

Work length43:33

$9.45

$12.15

Abdellah Lasri, Zoltán Nagy, Tijl Faveyts, Simona Šaturová, Baurzhan Anderzhanov
Essener Philharmoniker, Aalto - Theater Essen Choir soloists
Tomáš Netopil, Patrick Jaskolka

I. Sinfonia No. 1

Track length3:58

$1.05

$1.35

II. Scene 1

Track length3:03

$1.05

$1.35

III. "Non, non, non! Je te défends ..."

Track length9:27

$1.05

$1.35

IV. Sinfonia No. 2

Track length3:11

$1.05

$1.35

V. Scene 2

Track length3:38

$1.05

$1.35

VI. "Ariane, regardons-nous encore"

Track length8:59

$1.05

$1.35

VII. Sinfonia No. 3

Track length1:14

$1.05

$1.35

VIII. Scene 3

Track length0:42

$1.05

$1.35

IX. Aria "Thesee, je respire une derniere fois..."

Track length9:21

$1.05

$1.35

Martinů: Double Concerto for Strings, Piano & Timpani, H. 271

Work length22:28

$3.15

$4.05

Ivo Kahánek
Essener Philharmoniker
Tomáš Netopil

I. Poco Allegro

Track length6:54

$1.05

$1.35

II. Largo

Track length8:33

$1.05

$1.35

III. Allegro

Track length7:01

$1.05

$1.35

About
Reviews
Explore

About

Interview, Tomáš Netopil on Martinů's Ariane

24th August 2016

The Czech conductor talks about his new recording of Martinů's one-act Greek opera, released last Friday on Supraphon.

A great story within a single Act – the dreamy Ariane of Simona Šaturová and Tomáš Netopil.

“I am writing a new small opera, a one‐acter, as I would also like to have a rest from the grand‐scale opera, The Greek Passion, which has taken its toll.” Martinů composed Ariane within a mere month, in the summer of 1958. The Greek myth of Ariadne, the daughter of Minos, King of Crete, who helps Theseus slay the Minotaur, has been set to music by a number of renowned composers. Martinů was captivated by Georges Neveux’s drama Le Voyage de Thésée, on which he based his own libretto. Theseus is portrayed as a split personality, struggling with himself and overwhelmed by love for a woman.

Tomáš Netopil and his Essener Philharmoniker have made a new recording of the opera some 30 years after the one created by Václav Neumann and the Czech Philharmonic. An extraordinary account of the title role is given by Simona Šaturová, whose final lament as the abandoned Ariane is simply breathtaking. Besides the opera, the CD also features the Double Concerto, a work representing the apex of the composer’s French period and written amidst dramatic circumstances. Martinů began sketching it in the summer of 1938, at a time when a tense atmosphere dominated Europe, and this omnipresent fear and discomposure are also reflected in the piece: “... I have the impression that the tragic events, which we still remember … and this fraught atmosphere is engraved on these very pages.” Martinů duly imbued it with his strong emotions relating to the fate of his homeland: “It is a piece lived through under difficult circumstances, yet it possesses neither despair nor gloom, but implies revolt, courage and an unshakable faith in the future, expressed by means of abrupt dramatic surges, a current of notes that does not stop for a second…”

Reviews

November 2016

The score’s haunting neo-Classicism is brought to fresh life by Netopil, who draws superlative playing from his Essen orchestra. His Ariane, Simona Šaturová...with a softergrained soprano still able to spin exciting coloratura in the big final lament, where time seems to stand still. The male ensemble around her is excellent, too.

14th August 2016

This “light-hearted comedy” on the well worn subject of the Minotaur myth owes more, perhaps, to French baroque than to “grand” opera...The cast is entirely non-French...but Simona Saturova sings the title role with bright, penetrating, occasionally strident tone and has excellent support from Zoltan Nagy (Théseus), Baurzhan Anderzhanov (Minotaur) and Abdellah Lasri (Bouron, Guard)....Netopil conducts with complete conviction.

this recording, made live in 2014 in Essen, is the first in around 30 years – and it’s very much worthwhile, thanks to a strong, idiomatic cast, conductor Tomáš Netopil’s sympathy with the score, and the Essen orchestra’s flowing, characterful performance.

19th August 2016

Netopil and the Essen Philharmonic find a lot for the listener to dive into: cool, glassy edges (prominent piano and glockenspiel), pulsing strings and ritualistic rhythms that hint at Ancient Greece. Best of all are three chewy orchestral interludes that give the piece a baroque flavour, in mood if not harmony.

Martinu: Ariane & Double Concerto

CD

Downloads

Contents

Interview, Tomáš Netopil on Martinů's Ariane

Download queue