Janáček (Leoš' Lair)

[aligreto]

Finally, I concluded my vinyl listening with this version by Kosler/Czech Philharmonic Orch....





This is a gently flowing version but with a lovely bite in the brass.

[Turner]

I had the pleasure of visiting the Janacek museum in Brno, the Czech Republic, in late January, while staying in the nearby lovely mountain town of Znojmo.

http://www.mzm.cz/en/leos-janacek-memorial/life-and-work-of-leos-janacek/

It´s quite small and resides in building where he taught for many years - adjoining is the local organ school, and it´s not far from the conservatory of music, opera and concert buildings.
The museum has mainly two rooms, a meticulously reconstructed living room with many details, and an exhibition room showing manuscripts, letters, photographs and other memorabilia.

For a start, there´s the option of watching an 18 min documentary on Janacek, produced by Supraphon. The documentary is quite simple, focusing I think too much on the opera "Jenufa"´s importance, and there´s a risk of the soundtrack - dominated by opera clips with Czech singers, whose vocal ideal is somewhat different from the most modern Western one - can hinder people from becoming really interested in the composer. But there is some very moving and interesting material in the documentary as well. They also sell a few books etc.

Overall, a visit is definitely worth it, and the exhibitions are more interesting than say those of the Smetana museum in Prague.

Brno is not a big city and the centre is small and rather townish, but there are some big, official buildings, a long shopping/walking street, & quite an extensive musical and cultural life, including museums and galleries also with modern art.

I haven´t checked, but it´s quite likely that Janacek also visited Znojmo from time to time - a photo below.

[North Star]

Very nice, Turner. The closest I've been to there is the photographs by Josef Sudek.

 
   

[Turner]

Very nice, Turner. The closest I've been to there is the photographs by Josef Sudek.

 
   

Yes, I am a big fan too of Sudek! There are two galleries directly associated with him and his life in Prague, in the Uvoz and Ujezd streets, and I try to visit them when in Prague. It turns out that he participated in the work with 13 or 16 different documentary Czech books, and I managed to get one of them this time, one about Prague. He also made a photo book about Hukvaldy, Janacek´s birth village,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wu3ODi4QVvk (music in the clip by Mozart, as far as I remember)
and was very interested in music, his record collection and messy home being a meeting place for the Czech intelligentsia in mid-20th century. 

[Guido]

Hello all,

I don't post much here any more, but for those who remember me, or who love Janacek, or opera in general, I am directing The Cunning Little Vixen by Janacek this summer at the Arcola theatre in London as part of the Grimeborn festival. I would love to see some of you come along - I have a fabulous cast including Alison Rose as the Vixen who is vocally ideal and a brilliant actress - she will have her debut at the English National Opera next season. I'll post this in the opera forum too!

Tickets can be got here:
http://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/cunning-little-vixen/

Let me know if you are coming and we can have a chat afterwards!

Attached is my show image!

Guido

[aligreto]

Hello all,

I don't post much here any more, but for those who remember me, or who love Janacek, or opera in general, I am directing The Cunning Little Vixen by Janacek this summer at the Arcola theatre in London as part of the Grimeborn festival. I would love to see some of you come along - I have a fabulous cast including Alison Rose as the Vixen who is vocally ideal and a brilliant actress - she will have her debut at the English National Opera next season. I'll post this in the opera forum too!

Tickets can be got here:
http://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/cunning-little-vixen/

Let me know if you are coming and we can have a chat afterwards!

Attached is my show image!

Guido

I wish you the very best of luck with the production 

[SurprisedByBeauty]

Latest on Forbes: When the Cleveland Orchestra comes, Vienna listens!

Review: A Ravishing Cleveland Vixen In Vienna

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2017/11/16/review-a-ravishing-cleveland-vixen-in-vienna/#1ec66fc74a79

[vers la flamme]

Been hooked on the Janáček string quartets lately. I have a disc w/ some of the piano music that I'm listening to here & there. I also have the Glagolitic Mass & Sinfonietta on a disc conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Finally, I have the wind sextet Mládí on Naxos. But I have no idea where to go from here...

What are some essential Janáček works for someone who knows very little about this music? It appears that I have little of the orchestral music and would like to hear more. Eventually I would like to dip my toes into the operas—which would be the one (I repeat: one) to check out as a beginner, and someone who cares very little about opera, generally speaking...?

[Roasted Swan]

Been hooked on the Janáček string quartets lately. I have a disc w/ some of the piano music that I'm listening to here & there. I also have the Glagolitic Mass & Sinfonietta on a disc conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Finally, I have the wind sextet Mládí on Naxos. But I have no idea where to go from here...

What are some essential Janáček works for someone who knows very little about this music? It appears that I have little of the orchestral music and would like to hear more. Eventually I would like to dip my toes into the operas—which would be the one (I repeat: one) to check out as a beginner, and someone who cares very little about opera, generally speaking...?

Opera-wise Jenufa & Cunning Little Vixen are good entry points into's Janacek dramatic/operatic world.  From the House of the Dead is a remarkable work too.  One less well known area I especially enjoy is his music for unaccompanied chorus - male/female or mixed.  To be honest pretty much ANY Janacek is good - once he found his own unique musical voice, there are almost no weak works at all.  All I would say is that the language is so important to Janacek - he word set very specifically - that I find it is important to have performers who are completely at home with the text.  That doesn't always mean "mother tongue" - the Mackerras/VPO operas prove that - but it proves to be true more often than not.

[vers la flamme]

Opera-wise Jenufa & Cunning Little Vixen are good entry points into's Janacek dramatic/operatic world.  From the House of the Dead is a remarkable work too.  One less well known area I especially enjoy is his music for unaccompanied chorus - male/female or mixed.  To be honest pretty much ANY Janacek is good - once he found his own unique musical voice, there are almost no weak works at all.  All I would say is that the language is so important to Janacek - he word set very specifically - that I find it is important to have performers who are completely at home with the text.  That doesn't always mean "mother tongue" - the Mackerras/VPO operas prove that - but it proves to be true more often than not.

Thanks! I think I will be seeking out the Mackerras/VPO Cunning Little Vixen in due time; I had a feeling this would be a fairly accessible opera.

[Biffo]

Janacek didn't write a lot of purely orchestral music - the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba are the most often recorded and they usually come coupled with the Glagolitic Mass or suites drawn from the operas. There are a few relative rarities such as the Lachian Dances, The Ballad of Blanik, The Fiddler's Child and The Eternal Gospel - latter is a choral/orchestral work.

If you enjoyed the string quartets you should try the Concertino and the Capriccio, chamber works for rather unusual ensembles. Also check out the piano music, especially the DG Firkusny album mentioned in the forum recently. In one of its incarnations it included the Capriccio and Concertino.

For the operas you could try either Jenufa or Katya Kabanova  the latter was my introduction to the operas and I was gripped from the start though it was a live performance (Mackerras/ENO).

[Mirror Image]

Been hooked on the Janáček string quartets lately. I have a disc w/ some of the piano music that I'm listening to here & there. I also have the Glagolitic Mass & Sinfonietta on a disc conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. Finally, I have the wind sextet Mládí on Naxos. But I have no idea where to go from here...

What are some essential Janáček works for someone who knows very little about this music? It appears that I have little of the orchestral music and would like to hear more. Eventually I would like to dip my toes into the operas—which would be the one (I repeat: one) to check out as a beginner, and someone who cares very little about opera, generally speaking...?

Janáček is such an outstanding composer, but I'm not particularly drawn in by his operas as highly regarded as they may to be. I'm much more into his chamber, piano, and choral music. I do like several of the orchestral works he composed, too, like Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba for example. A few of my favorite works of his: the SQs, In the Mists, On an Overgrown Path, Piano Sonata 1.X.1905, Violin Sonata, Pohádka, Otče náš, Elegy on the Death of Daughter Olga, and the Glagolitic Mass.

[Symphonic Addict]

I've listened to all his operas (well, practically all of them) and I can say that even the early ones are quite compelling, works of a mature composer musically speaking. Janacek is one of those composers whose voice is instantly recognizable, that is one of his clear appeals.

[Daverz]

Thanks! I think I will be seeking out the Mackerras/VPO Cunning Little Vixen in due time; I had a feeling this would be a fairly accessible opera.

I prefer the Neumann/Czech Phil recording.  Much more colorful orchestral playing.

[asin] B0000262LZ[/asin]

[Mirror Image]

One work I need to become more familiar with is The Diary of One Who Disappeared. I recently acquired this new Hyperion recording:

[Mirror Image]

Listening to Káťa Kabanová now (Mackerras on Decca) and absolutely thrilled by this opera. This was one of the Janáček operas I really connected with, but in listening to this opera, it has prompted me to give a listen to the others I have in my collection. I'll mainly stick to the Mackerras Decca set, but for The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, I'll have to rely on Jílek on the Supraphon label since I don't own the Bělohlávek recording on Deutsche Grammophon.

[relm1]

Listening to Káťa Kabanová now (Mackerras on Decca) and absolutely thrilled by this opera. This was one of the Janáček operas I really connected with, but in listening to this opera, it has prompted me to give a listen to the others I have in my collection. I'll mainly stick to the Mackerras Decca set, but for The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, I'll have to rely on Jílek on the Supraphon label since I don't own the Bělohlávek recording on Deutsche Grammophon.

I really like the Cunning Vixens by Mackerras but haven't heard Kata Kabanova so will remedy that.

[Mirror Image]

I really like the Cunning Vixens by Mackerras but haven't heard Kata Kabanova so will remedy that.

I think you'll really enjoy it. The singing, conducting, and orchestral playing are top-notch.

[Mirror Image]

I prefer the Neumann/Czech Phil recording.  Much more colorful orchestral playing.

[asin] B0000262LZ[/asin]

You see here's the rub for me. I find Neumann almost always boring in Janáček. Mackerras was more wild and uninhibited. I also thought the Wiener Philharmoniker played this music gloriously and with plenty of color.

[Daverz]

You see here's the rub for me. I find Neumann almost always boring in Janáček.

And in this Cunning Vixen?