Janáček (Leoš' Lair)

[Mirror Image]

You mean that the unique sound of the Czech orchestras doesn't make even the slightest difference?
I didn't mean they can't play the music well, but with Janacek so much has to do with the local speech patterns and folk music, and I find pronunciation and orchestral tone to be important. Of course there are singers like Soukupova and Blachut in the Mackerras box, so that isn't an issue.
Anyway, the Mackerras & WP recordings are great, too - forgot to add that earlier.

Not when you have conductors and/or performers who study Czech music, and if the performer is a vocalist, the dialect of the Czech language. It can be learned. The bottom line is simple: music is a universal language. You can listen to Elgar played by a German orchestra or an American composer played by a Finnish orchestra and it doesn't make the slightest bit of difference because the music will always speak it's own language. What the conductor or performers interpret, on the other hand, will always be different.

Edit: Please don't take offense by anything I'm writing to you, Karlo. I have nothing but good intentions.

[Lisztianwagner]

I'm not reading the libretto most of time I'm listening, either. If libretti don't matter at all, even in somewhat stranger operas, definitely get the Mackerras box first thing.

I don't say that they don't care at all, because, besides music, I would like to know what I'm listening to in an opera, especially if it is sung in a language I don't understand. Not to mention that libretti are usually great examples of poetry! Anyway thank you for all your suggestions.

[Madiel]

I've had my eye on this set for quite a little time, I'm going to get it for Christmas:

[asin]B0001Y4JH0[/asin]

My introduction to Janacek, which I am still working through, but so far so VERY good.

[Brian]

If anybody has the score of the Sinfonietta (Luke???) - can you post the composer's full dedication? I'd always assumed that it was dedicated to military forces by which it was premiered, but I just read that it is "also" dedicated to an Englishwoman named Rosa Newmarch.

[Luke]

If anybody has the score of the Sinfonietta (Luke???) - can you post the composer's full dedication? I'd always assumed that it was dedicated to military forces by which it was premiered, but I just read that it is "also" dedicated to an Englishwoman named Rosa Newmarch.

I'll check the fine print when I get home!

[Luke]

Rosa Newmarch was quite an important figure in Janacek's life, however. She was the guiding force behind his trip to London in 1926; she also wrote about his music quite early on for the English-speaking world

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosa_Newmarch

Somewhere I have her six volumes 'The Concert-goers Library'...

[MishaK]

Is there a good English language (or for that matter German language) biography of Janacek? Thanks.

[Luke]

1st - Brian, there is no official dedication in the score of the Sinfonietta.

2nd - Misha - there are a few good biographies, but by far the best and most exhaustively complete are the two massive volumes by John Tyrell, the pre-eminent Janacek scholar of the non-Czech-speaking world. He is responsible for most of the essential Janacek volumes - notably his edition of the correspondence regarding the operas; his edition of Janacek's letters to Kamilla; his edition of Zdenka's own memoirs - but these two monumental tomes, fairly recently completed, are his life's work and show an understanding of Janacek and his world that is unbeatable. There are other very good, smaller books on Janacek's life-and-works, though. Personally I am very fond of the Horsbrugh one, which has a tone I find endearing.

[Brian]

Thank you, Luke! That... makes matters even more confusing 

[Karl Henning]

Whoops! Where'd that darned № 2 go? . . .

[Brian]

MusicWeb just posted my evisceration of the new Marek Janowski Glagolitic Mass:

"...then the wheels really came off the Janowski recording, and the doors fell off, and the engine burst into flames. More or less any fast or loud bits of this performance are as energetic, strong-willed, bold and exciting as a bowl of Jell-O.

"I'll be honest: there was no recording in 2013 for which I was more excited than this. I'd been eager to hear it. The original, uncut Mass! Marek Janowski! State-of-the-art surround sound! If it had been merely pretty good, that would have been one thing. If it had been mediocre, I would have been sorely disappointed. But it's not even mediocre. It's saddening. It's heartbreaking. This is bad. This is not the perverse, fun, oddball kind of bad. It's the dull, limp, pitiful, shambolic kind of bad. Given the missed opportunity it represents, this is the worst Janáček CD I have ever heard."

Full write-up

[Madiel]

I just listened to Pohadka (Fairytale) for the first time.

Absolutely magical!

[North Star]

Pohadka is a magnificent piece, Orfeo!

Bah, we forgot to celebrate the 85th anniversary of his death on Monday.  (3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928)

[Brian]

Man, it gets none of the limelight, but the 9-minute incidental music to Schluck und Jau is the BOMB. I often listen two or three times in a row. As intensely Janacek-y as all the mature masterworks.

[North Star]

Man, it gets none of the limelight, but the 9-minute incidental music to Schluck und Jau is the BOMB. I often listen two or three times in a row. As intensely Janacek-y as all the mature masterworks.

Hm, I haven't paid enough attention to this, I'll definitely listen to this later (Neumann & CzPO on Supraphon)

[Karl Henning]

Man, it gets none of the limelight, but the 9-minute incidental music to Schluck und Jau is the BOMB.

Schock und awe, eh?

[bhodges]

MusicWeb just posted my evisceration of the new Marek Janowski Glagolitic Mass:

"...then the wheels really came off the Janowski recording, and the doors fell off, and the engine burst into flames. More or less any fast or loud bits of this performance are as energetic, strong-willed, bold and exciting as a bowl of Jell-O.

"I'll be honest: there was no recording in 2013 for which I was more excited than this. I'd been eager to hear it. The original, uncut Mass! Marek Janowski! State-of-the-art surround sound! If it had been merely pretty good, that would have been one thing. If it had been mediocre, I would have been sorely disappointed. But it's not even mediocre. It's saddening. It's heartbreaking. This is bad. This is not the perverse, fun, oddball kind of bad. It's the dull, limp, pitiful, shambolic kind of bad. Given the missed opportunity it represents, this is the worst Janáček CD I have ever heard."

Full write-up

Just saw this - ouch! What a shame...

--Bruce

[Madiel]

Does anyone know where I might find the text for Rikadla (nursery rhymes) online?

Here's the thing: I know I saw it somewhere, when I didn't need it. Now that I want it (there's no text in the otherwise excellent Decca box set) I can't find it. (EDIT: It's possible that what I found before was just the titles of the sections, rather than the full text. Even the section titles are missing from Decca).

I know they're basically nonsense verses, but it'd be far more entertaining to know exactly what kind of nonsense!

[North Star]

Does anyone know where I might find the text for Rikadla (nursery rhymes) online?

Here's the thing: I know I saw it somewhere, when I didn't need it. Now that I want it (there's no text in the otherwise excellent Decca box set) I can't find it. (EDIT: It's possible that what I found before was just the titles of the sections, rather than the full text. Even the section titles are missing from Decca).

I know they're basically nonsense verses, but it'd be far more entertaining to know exactly what kind of nonsense!

Here

[Madiel]

Thanks, found it there myself just before seeing your reply! I should always remember Hyperion as a first port of call, they've helped me a number of times.