Top 5 Favorite Janáček Works

[Mirror Image]

Let's have some fun here! There are no stipulations for this poll.

My Top 5 (in no particular order):

Sinfonietta
Violin Sonata
Káťa Kabanová
Glagolitic Mass
Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)

[springrite]

On the Overgrown Path
String Quartet #1
Cunning Little Vixens
Sinfonietta
In the Mist

[North Star]

String Quartet no. 2 Listy důvěrné (Intimate Letters)
Po zarostlém chodníčku (On an Overgrown Path)
V mlhách (In the mists)
Příhody lišky Bystroušky (Adventures of the vixen Sharp-Ears)
Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)

(honorary mentions: Sinfonietta, SQ no. 1, Violin Sonata, Mládi, Pohádka, Piano Sonata, Violin Concerto, The Diary of One Who Disappeared, Our Father, The 70,000)

[Luke]

String Quartet no. 2 Listy důvěrné (Intimate Letters)
Po zarostlém chodníčku (On an Overgrown Path)
V mlhách (In the mists)
Příhody lišky Bystroušky (Adventures of the vixen Sharp-Ears)
Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)

(honorary mentions: Sinfonietta, SQ no. 1, Violin Sonata, Mládi, Pohádka, Piano Sonata, Violin Concerto, The Diary of One Who Disappeared, Our Father, The 70,000)

This is excellent. Almost what I'd write  Nice to see the Violin Concerto sneaking in, too.

I would take out Otce Nas, gorgeous though it is, and add in the Bezruc Choruses instead. And Riklada needs to be in here. And the Capriccio. And the Concertino. And Kat'ya, obviously. And The Glagolitic, equally obviously. And The Wandering Madman. And The Fiddler's Child.

Boiling down to five is hard, but maybe:

Intimate Letters
Diary
Vixen
Mists
Violin Concerto

[North Star]

This is excellent. Almost what I'd write  Nice to see the Violin Concerto sneaking in, too.

I would take out Otce Nas, gorgeous though it is, and add in the Bezruc Choruses instead. And Riklada needs to be in here. And the Capriccio. And the Concertino. And Kat'ya, obviously. And The Glagolitic, equally obviously. And The Wandering Madman. And The Fiddler's Child.

Boiling down to five is hard, but maybe:

Intimate Letters
Diary
Vixen
Mists
Violin Concerto

No quarrel with any of that, unsurprisingly. Agreed on all the additions, and I really ought to have included the VC in the top 5 instead of House.

[Luke]

It sort of sums House of the Dead up in some ways, in an even more concentrated form if that is possible. Ironically (given that it is not strictly speaking a 100% certified Janacek-only work, though the completion is nevertheless 100% convincing to my mind) it is my favourite orchestral Janacek piece. With Janacek later is better, essentially, and this one is as late they come.

[Wanderer]

Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead)
Zápisník zmizelého (The Diary of One Who Disappeared)
Taras Bulba
Sinfonietta
Piano Sonata 1.X.1905

(+ all the other works mentioned so far)

[North Star]

It sort of sums House of the Dead up in some ways, in an even more concentrated form if that is possible. Ironically (given that it is not strictly speaking a 100% certified Janacek-only work, though the completion is nevertheless 100% convincing to my mind) it is my favourite orchestral Janacek piece. With Janacek later is better, essentially, and this one is as late they come.

Yes - can't get later than posthumous. 

[Brian]

My nomination for most overlooked/underrated orchestral music is the two bits of incidental music for Schluck und Jau. With their fanciful horn-heavy writing and looping tunes, these short pieces get caught in my head almost as often as The Famous Stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/v/DuxCiP6cy9A

[Luke]

Yes, nice choice! Good n' late, too....

[Christo]

Taras Bulba (1918)
Říkadla (Nursery Rhymes)  (1926)
Sinfonietta  (1926)
Z mrtvého domu (From the House of the Dead) (1927)
String Quartet No. 2 'Listy důvěrné' (Intimate Letters) (1928)

(Was thinking about Věčné evangelium (Eternal Gospel) (1914), Lachian Dances (1924), Violin concerto (1926) and Schluck und Jau (1928) too.) 

[North Star]

My nomination for most overlooked/underrated orchestral music is the two bits of incidental music for Schluck und Jau. With their fanciful horn-heavy writing and looping tunes, these short pieces get caught in my head almost as often as The Famous Stuff.

Another +1

Here's a fine recording of them, and other essential orchestral Janáček.
[asin]B00000359R[/asin]

[Luke]

An essential Janacek CD, that. Strange how tastes converge, isn't it?

[Lisztianwagner]

Jenůfa
In the Mists
Lachian Dances
String Quartet No.1 'Kreutzer Sonata'
On an Overgrown Path

[TheGSMoeller]

Taras Bulba
String Quartet 2
Violin Sonata
Piano Sonata
Sinfonietta

[springrite]

If I could only choose one, I'd pick the soundtrack for The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which contain many Janacek works. 

[Ken B]

Quartets
Sinfonietta
Glagolitic Mass

Pretty conventional choices.

[Daverz]

Cunning Little Vixen
Sinfonietta
Glagolithic Mass
String Quartets
Taras Bulba
Mladi
From the House of the Dead

[amw]

Intimate Letters
Diary
Vixen Kreutzer Sonata
Mists
Violin Concerto

I don't know the operas. I should but I don't like listening to opera on cd

A little extra point for Čekám te! which is an absolutely perfect 45 seconds that (left unfinished) leaves the emotional footprint of something much bigger.

[vandermolen]

Glagolitic Mass
Sinfonietta
On the Overgrown Path
Taras Bulba