Martinu: Bouquet of Flowers & J. Novak: Philharmonic Dances

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An idiomatic performance of Bouquet of Flowers, an engaging cantata based on folk song, and displaying hints of Janáček and Stravinsky. — BBC Music Magazine, March 2018, 4 out of 5 stars More…

Release Date: 17th Nov 2017
Catalogue No: SU42202
Label: Supraphon
Length: 65 minutes

Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days

Martinů: Bouquet of Flowers, H 260

Work length46:38

$8.40

$10.80

Kateřina Kněžíková, Jaroslav Březina, Adam Plachetka, Michaela Kapustová
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Czech Philharmonic Children´s Choir
Tomáš Netopil, Jiří Chvála, Lukáš Vasilek

I. Overture

Track length1:54

$1.05

$1.35

II. His Sister a Poisoner

Track length4:54

$1.05

$1.35

III. Idyll

Track length5:59

$1.05

$1.35

IV. The Little Girl Cowherds

Track length4:51

$1.05

$1.35

V. Intrada

Track length1:21

$1.05

$1.35

VI. His Kind Sweetheart

Track length9:19

$1.05

$1.35

VII. A Carol

Track length4:04

$1.05

$1.35

VIII. Man and Death

Track length14:16

$1.05

$1.35

Novák, J: Philharmonic Dances

Work length18:52

$3.15

$4.05

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Choir, Czech Philharmonic Children´s Choir
Tomáš Netopil

I. Allegro

Track length5:06

$1.05

$1.35

II. Moderato

Track length6:37

$1.05

$1.35

III. Vivace

Track length7:09

$1.05

$1.35

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Recorded at the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Prague, 17-19 December 2016 (Martinů – live) and on 24 August 2017 (Novák).

Bohuslav Martinů and Jan Novák shared similar fates – both of them left their country and wandered around the world. The two composers also had a relationship as a teacher and pupil. Novák referred to his studies with Martinů in New York in 1947 as having had a major impact on his development as a music creator and human. Martinů’s influence is palpable in Novák’s Philharmonic Dances (Choreae Philharmonicae, 1956), three symphonic fantasies that provide wide scope for showcasing the virtuosity of both the soloists and the groups of instruments. The present recording of the work (the very first made in a studio) helps us to pay off our great debt to Novák, an artist who gave preference to being a “free exile” against having to breathe the oppressive air in his homeland, reigned over by a dictatorial regime.

The album’s centrepiece is a new account of Martinů’s Bouquet of Flowers, a landmark recording of which was made in 1955 by Karel Ančerl, conducting the Czech Philharmonic. The composer never got to hear the piece performed in public yet he had the chance to listen to the gramophone record sent to him at his friend’s house at Schönenberg, where he had found a temporary home. Some 60 years later, the Bouquet of Flowers has now been let blossom in its entire beauty by Tomáš Netopil, one of the most distinguished contemporary Czech conductors. Drawing upon traditional Moravian songs as the major and irreplaceable source of inspiration, one that had a marked influence on his singular musical idiom, Martinů solely based his Bouquet of Flowers on folk ballads – and the performers have duly approached it with the loving care and tenderness of seasoned gardeners.

Reviews

March 2018

An idiomatic performance of Bouquet of Flowers, an engaging cantata based on folk song, and displaying hints of Janáček and Stravinsky.

February 2018

Although Ančerl’s recording has been issued several times over the past 50 years, it is currently unavailable. Tomas Netopil’s new account is a more than satisfactory alternative, gentler and softer than the older version but with no loss of precision…Buy and enjoy!

Martinu: Bouquet of Flowers & J. Novak: Philharmonic Dances

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