Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
& other works
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Václava Housková (mezzo), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet)
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, June 2019
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Record Review, 6th July 2019
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Gramophone Magazine, August 2019, Recording of the Month
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Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
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Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Vocal
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Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - Vocal
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BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020
-
Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Solo Vocal
This excellently recorded performance is strikingly direct. The ebb and flow of the drama is brilliantly captured. Nicky Spence’s tenor is flexible across a huge range…Drake’s accompaniment...
Janáček: The Diary of One Who Disappeared
& other works
Nicky Spence (tenor), Julius Drake (piano), Václava Housková (mezzo), VOICE, Victoria Samek (clarinet)
Purchase product
Awards:
-
Presto Editor's Choice, June 2019
-
Record Review, 6th July 2019
-
Gramophone Magazine, August 2019, Recording of the Month
-
Presto Recordings of the Year, Finalist 2019
-
Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year, 2019, Nominated - Vocal
-
Gramophone Magazine, December 2019, Critics' Choice
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020, Winner - Vocal
-
BBC Music Magazine Awards, 2020
-
Gramophone Awards, 2020, Winner - Solo Vocal
This excellently recorded performance is strikingly direct. The ebb and flow of the drama is brilliantly captured. Nicky Spence’s tenor is flexible across a huge range…Drake’s accompaniment...
About
Like many of Janáček’s late masterpieces, the genesis of the ‘Diary’ is unseparable from its composer’s intense, obsessional love for Kamila Stösslová. A song-cycle like no other, here it’s the main work in a recital which showcases the extraordinary talents of Nicky Spence, Václava Housková and the vocal trio Voice.
Contents and tracklist
- Václava Housková (mezzo-soprano), Nicky Spence (tenor), Victoria Couper (vocals), Clemmie Franks (vocals), Emily Burn (vocals), Julius Drake (piano)
- Victoria Couper (vocals), Clemmie Franks (vocals), Emily Burn (vocals), Victoria Samek (clarinet), Julius Drake (piano)
- Nicky Spence (tenor), Václava Housková (mezzo-soprano), Julius Drake (piano), Victoria Couper (vocals), Clemmie Franks (vocals), Emily Burn (vocals)
Spotlight on this release
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Awards and reviews
-
Presto Editor's ChoiceJune 2019
-
Record Review6th July 2019
-
Gramophone MagazineAugust 2019Recording of the Month
-
Presto Recordings of the YearFinalist 2019
-
Limelight Magazine Recordings of the Year2019Nominated - Vocal
-
Gramophone MagazineDecember 2019Critics' Choice
September 2019
This excellently recorded performance is strikingly direct. The ebb and flow of the drama is brilliantly captured. Nicky Spence’s tenor is flexible across a huge range…Drake’s accompaniment is always alive to the operatic nuance of the work…This is a magnificent realisation of a viscerally rewarding work.
August 2019
Not only does Spence’s voice offer a rare mix of steely strength and velvety tenderness but his bright, vibrant timbre communicates a touching, wide-eyed sense of ardent longing, tinged with melancholy...[Drake] conjures up the cycle’s sound world superbly from the start…As persuasive an introduction to Janáček’s songs as you’ll find.
June 2019
Spence is in absolutely glorious voice, cresting the top Cs with ease – and unlike most of his predecessors on disc genuinely sounds like he could plough a field and marshal a team of oxen.
30th June 2019
Spence is prized for his operatic Janáček roles and delivers a wide variety of tone, while Drake adds quasi-orchestral drama to the piano part. The makeweight works are welcome, revealing the composer’s roots in Czech and Moravian tradition.
19th July 2019
He’s convincingly earthy as the village boy of this quasi song cycle, unafraid of top Cs and movingly tender when needed. The drama quotient is always high...Best of all, the pianist Julius Drake invests his instrument with almost orchestral panache, masterfully conjuring up every image.
classicalsource.com October 2019
Nicky Spence’s searing yet beautiful account with admirable support from Julius Drake makes for compelling listening.
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