Newsletter 66 — January 2004 (Summary)

  Page last updated Apr 10 2005

This Newsletter is produced with the generous financial support of the Czech Foreign Ministry.

This is a summary of Newsletter No.66. The full text—which for this issue runs to 32 pages of A4-size text and graphics—has been mailed to all members of the Dvořák Society in the United Kingdom and around the world.

Contents

Regular items

Items special to this issue

Editorial

Happy New Year to all!

We look forward to these events in 2004—

Liverpool Day of Czech Music (21st February)
Leamington Festival (30th April – 9th May)
Philharmonia Orchestra Janáček and Dvořák series (January and June)
Dvořák Society Annual Dinner (1st May)
Janáček Opera Festival in Brno (February)

All contributions to the Newsletter are welcome. For the next issue—No. 67 April 2004—the editorial deadline is 10th March 2004.

Announcements

Every issue of the Newsletter includes announcements on a wide variety of topics. This is an extremely valuable service to Members, because the announcements are by no means limited to those of the Society. The organisations using our pages in this way are truly international. Those in Newsletter No. 66 are summarised below.

Liverpool Day of Czech Music—a one-day course entitled Dvořák One Hundred Years will be held on Saturday, 21st February 2004, at the Centre for Continuing Education, Liverpool. The course ties in with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra concert that evening, when Petr Altrichter returns to conduct the following all-Dvořák programme: Scherzo Capriccioso B.131, Cello Concerto no.2 in b minor B.191 (Jonathan Aasgard, cello) and Symphony No.8 in G B.163 (with free pre-concert talk ).

Leamington Festival 2004—30th April to 9th May. The concerts include works by Dvořák, Janáček, Richter, Novák, Fibich, Martinů, Suk, Mahler, the Terezín composers Vilém Tauský and ‘Composer in Residence’ Sylvie Bodorová. Performers include the Panocha and Martinů Quartets, Guarneri Piano Trio, Marián Lapšanský, Bohuslav Matoušek, Jana Nováková, Eva Garajová, Fine Arts Brass Ensemble, William Howard and Chroma. (Details from admin@warwickarts.org.uk or visit www.warwickarts.org.uk)

Dvořák/Janáček anniversary concert series, parts 1 & 2— at the Royal Festival Hall, London with single concerts at the De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford and two concerts in Vaduz and Luzern, Switzerland. The Philharmonia Orchestra will be directed by the conductors Jiří Bělohlávek and Sir Charles Mackerras. Music to be performed is: Dvořák’s Overture, Carnival, Symphonies Nos. 6, 7, & 9, Violin Concerto (soloist, Midori) and Cello Concerto (soloist, Hang-Na Chang); Janáček’s Sinfonietta, Taras Bulba, and Glagolitic Mass; Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 23 (soloist Zoltán Kocsis); Smetana’s Overture to The Bartered Bride; and Brahms’ Violin Concerto (soloist, Joshua Bell).

Dvořák/Janáček Study Day—in the Chelsfield Room in the Royal Festival Hall, London to accompany the Philharmonia Dvořák/Janáček Series, on 24th January 2004: chaired by Professor Jan Smaczny.

Dvořák’s opera Vanda will be performed by University College Opera, conductor Charles Peebles, at the Bloomsbury Theatre, Gordon Street, London WC1, on 22nd, 24th, 26th and 27th March 2004.

Janáček Day on BBC Radio 3—Vilém Tauský has already recorded his reminiscences of Janáček for a programme to be broadcast in July 2004.

Thirty Years of Interpretation Courses in Bechyně—Míla Smetáčková gives information about the oldest of the summer activities organised by the Czech Music Society: the thirty year old meetings and interpretation courses of Friends of Chamber Music in Bechyně, South Bohemia.

Shawn: short & sharp: News from the Secretary (Shawn Pullman)

The Secretary contributes a regular report concentrating mainly on the administration of the Society (including Society trips). His contribution to Newsletter No. 66 is summarised below.

Southampton Recorded Music Society
The Southampton RMS programme for 2003/4 focuses on Central European composers, including presentations by a number of Dvořák Society members.

Annual Dvořák Society Dinner 2004
The Annual Dinner for 2004 is set to take place at the new Jephson Gardens restaurant in Leamington on 1st May 2004, during the Leamington Festival when a generous helping of Czech works and artists are featured.

Our Chairman reports: by Graham Melville-Mason

Each issue of the Newsletter includes a report from the Chairman, either dealing with matters of particular importance to the Society or with particularly interesting information drawing on his many contacts with the world of Czech and Slovak music. His contribution to Newsletter No. 66 is summarised below.

Karel Husa: Performances and Publications
Recent performances of Karel Husa’s works include his Serenade for Wind Quintet, Harp, Piano & Strings in Minneapolis and Prague; Elegie et Rondeau for saxophone and orchestra in New York; Suny in Michigan and Potsdam; Saxophone Concerto in Minneapolis; and Les Couleurs Fauves was performed in Sweden. Recent recordings include: his Music for Prague 1968; Apotheosis of this Earth; andConcerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Band. Scores published recently are: Sonatina for flute and piano and String Quartet No.4 (Poems), (AMP/Schirmer New York); Symphony No.1 and Mosaiques, (Schott International, Mainz); and sixteen of his works for wind band, (GIA Publications, Chicago and Meredith Press).

The Beno Blachut Society
A Beno Blachut Society has been founded in the Czech Republic. This well known Czech tenor was born in 1913 in Ostrava-Vítkovice and died in Prague in 1985. The ‘Beno Blachut Society’ aims not only to concentrate upon the life and career of Beno Blachut but to include gradually studies of the other operatic singers from the ‘golden age’ of the National Theatre in Prague. Members wishing to join the Society should contact the Secretary at:

Společnost Beno Blachuta,
Týnská ulička 8,
110 02 PRAHA 1 (Staré město)
or: (e-mail: spol.b.blachuta@centrum.cz)

British Critic Praises Martinů!
British music critics have had a collective ‘down’ on Martinů, but David Hart’s review in The Birmingham Post for 6th October 2003 of a concert by the Martinů Quartet praised lavishly both the work being performed—String Quartet No.2—and the performance.

The Emmy Destinn Foundation
Our Member Jarmila Karasová continues her sterling work for the encouragement of young singers, British, Czech and Slovak, through the Trust set up by her, with the support of a small team of Trustees and a Board, in the name and memory of the great and legendary Czech soprano Emmy Destinnová. The Czech conductor, Jiří Kout and the new Czech Ambassador, Štefan Füle have agreed to become Patrons of the Foundation. The competition for the 2004 awards will be held on 25th and 26th February 2004.

Dvořák International Seminar at Vysoká
Our member, Vladěna Šplíchalová, Curator of the Kaunic House at Vysoká, has sent preliminary information of a Dvořák seminar forming part of the events marking the 100th anniversary of the death of Antonín Dvořák in 2004. Details may be obtained via e-mail on: pamatnik@antonindvorak.cz .

Martinů Review: compiled by Greg Terian

Greg Terian is a specialist in the music of Martinů. He contributes an article to each issue. That for Newsletter No. 66 is summarised below.

IBMS CDs
Subscribers to the International Bohuslav Martinů Society for 2003 should by now have received their copies of the CD drawn from performances at the 2001 Martinů Festival. The next CD, to be sent tin 2004, will include a ‘live’ recording of the music which Martinů composed for a short film entitled The Slipper made in 1936 for the Baťa shoe company.

Martinů Days in Basel
It is reported that the Swiss Martinů Society’s Festival in Basel opened with a huge success on October. Antonio Meneses and Robert Kolinsky performed the Martinů Cello Sonata No.3 and the Variations on a Slovak Folk Song as well as Petr Eben’s Suite Balladica. Subsequent concerts included the Serenade H.334 was performed by the Brodsky Quartet with Dimitri Ashkenazy and the Chamber Music H.376 by Ensemble Basilisk with Ursula Holliger.

A Comedy on the Bridge for modern times
Greg summarises a review by Patrick Lambert of the production of Martinů’s opera by the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, in a double bill with Berlioz’s Béatrice et Bénédict in November 2003. The full text of the review will appear in the next IBMS Newsletter. The reviewer was not disappointed by the performance—he thought it was sung and acted with great flair by the students and with the small orchestra under Clive Timms coping well with the composer’s highly transparent scoring—or by the stark, pared to the bone production which made for black comedy and pointed up the absurdity of the characters’ predicament.

[Patrick Lambert’s Prague Autumn Impressions contains a review of a rare performance of Martinů’s patriotic Czech Rhapsody cantata.]

Rozhdestvensky family in Boston
The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s advance brochure for the 2003/2004 season contained one strikingly original programme to be conducted by Gennady Rozhdestvensky. It was to have featured the Martinů Concerto da Camera for violin, piano, percussion and strings with the conductor’s son Alexander and wife Viktoria Postnikova respectively taking the solo violin and piano parts. (The American premiére of Suk’s Summer Tale was also scheduled.) However, the more familiar and palatable Martinů Third Piano Concerto was substituted in the final version of the brochure.

A celebration of Janáček & Dvořák and Martinů
On 11th May the Friends of St. John’s Smith Square and the Philharmonia will present an original celebration of the Janáček and Dvořák anniversaries. Matoušek will appear with David Cohen (Philharmonia Cello Principal) and the pianist Lada Valešová to perform some less well-known works in connection with the anniversaries and also the Martinů Third Violin Sonata.

Great Conductors of the 20th Century
Following the successful Ančerl and Talich releases in 2002, Patrick Lambert has recently been engaged in assembling another two disc album in the above series for IMG/EMI, this time devoted to Rafael Kubelík and due for provisionally in May 2004.

A CD from Boosey & Hawkes
Boosey has issued a promotional CD of Martinů’s orchestral music, entitled The Key to Dreams.

Julian Bliss on CD
The young clarinettist Julian Bliss and the pianist Julien Quentin have recorded for EMI a debut album which includes the Martinů Sonatina along with works by Poulenc, Françaix, Messager and others.

Kaprálová update
First copies of the Suprahon disc of Kaprálová songs have begun to emerge as performed by Dana Burešová accompanied by Timothy Cheek. Most of the songs are not otherwise available.

Martinů Festival 2003
Saturday, 6th December saw a performance at the Estates Theatre in Prague of the opera Le Jour de Bonté (The Day of Good Deeds). Vanda Procházka and Patrick Lambert have written at length in previous Newsletters about this South Bohemian Theatre production. The reconstructed work is not vintage Martinů but was well received and provided an enjoyable evening’s entertainment.

The Lorna Corner

Lorna makes a characteristically wide-ranging contribution to the Newsletter.

It’s here at last, 2004, our special year of celebration.
Aside from the anniversaries of Janáček and Dvořák, the Dvořák Society will be thirty years old on 9th March! Interesting to note that the Hong Kong Philharmonic will also celebrate thirty years as a full professional orchestra. We send our heartfelt congratulations to them.

Pešek in Singapore
In October 2003 Libor Pešek returned at the invitation of the Singapore Symphony Orchestra to conduct two concerts in the concert hall of the new Theatres on the Esplanade (locally known as the two durians). The main concert on the Saturday night included Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony, which followed Glinka’s Overture Ruslan and Ludmilla and Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto, played to rapturous applause by Denis Lee. The concert was well supported by our Dvořák Society members in Singapore, Peter and Lily Sy and Mr Voon Shih Hui. The ‘Casual Concert’ took place on the Sunday afternoon and lasted about one and a half hours. This included excerpts from the previous night’s concert and also a question and answer session which took place after the interval. The Orchestra’s 2004 programme—not yet finalised— is to include many exciting Czech works in honour of the Janáček and Dvořák anniversaries.

What is the collective term for composers?
This was a question I discussed with Petr Pokorný during the interval of a delightful concert given by the Prague Chamber Orchestra conducted by Tomáš Hanus, in the Dvořák Hall, Prague early in December 2003. The first half of the concert opened with Concertino Pastorale pro tři solo a smyčce by Petr Eben, followed by the unusual rhythms and dynamic sounds of Svatopluk Havelka’s Taneční Sinfonietta (both composers were present). The concluding work was Martinů’s Kytice (Bouquet of Flowers): the singers, including Bambini di Praga, Prague Philharmonic Choir and soloists Lenka Šmídová (alto), Simona Procházková (soprano), Aleš Briscein (tenor) and Richard Novák (bass), were superb. What else could it be but . Here in this great hall, as I mentioned, the composer Petr Pokorný, also Oldřich Korte and renowned conductors Martin Turnovský and Petr Altrichter. But going back to the question, just what is the collective term for composers? A melody? A stave? It remains unanswered

A First for the Netherlands Philharmonic
In addition to the pre-concert talk, patrons of the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam can see a short video, relating to the concert in question, where the conductor gives a short talk and some explanation of the main work to be performed. It is shown on very large TV screens situated at the entrance and in the main foyer. It lasts about five minutes and is repeated until the concert commences. In mid-November the video was of Libor Pešek, seen with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra in rehearsal and giving some details regarding Josef Suk’s Asrael Symphony, which was being performed by the Netherlands Philharmonic for the first time. Thee subsequent concert was very warmly received.

Peter’s Pages

Peter Herbert is a Dvořák Society member based in the north-west of England. He writes a quarterly article on a wide range of matters in each issue of the Newsletter. A summary of his contribution to Newsletter No.66 is below.

The Zvoneček Tour, August 2003
Two brave boys and dozens of girls representing the Prague choir, Zvoneček, toured southern Britain and part of France last August. Since Jarmila Novenková became their conductor, this ensemble has rapidly become one of the very best children’s choirs in the Czech Republic. Their first concert at Canterbury was short (because they could not use the organ on this occasion): but for sheer quality, enthusiasm and beauty, it will linger forever in the memory. Music by Petr Eben predominated. The audience was delighted and quite right too!

Zvoneček during their recent tour of England and France

Leoš Janáček, can you help?
[See the request by member Dr Jiří Jirák in Request for Help section]

Stamic Quartet return to Britain
We were delighted to be able to hear the Stamic Quartet in action on two nights running, 5th and 6th November, 2003. In the superb first concert, in the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Mozart’s The Hunt was delivered with great panache from the first note. Schulhoff’s Quartet No.2 was given a very good performance indeed. After the interval, The inherent Czech quality of Dvořák’s Quartet in E flat B.57 came ringing through both passionately and most tunefully.

In Preston the following night the Stamic played Haydn’s Op.64 Quartet and then brought a deep and truly serious feeling to their performance of Smetana’s 2nd Quartet (in the version with a slightly edited finale). Beethoven’s Quartet Op.135 was well played after the interval. The encore—the Allegro gajo movement from Schulhoff’s 2nd Quartet brought the house down.

Discovering Jan Novák
The remarkable website devoted to this composer—1921 to 1984— is at http://www.klassphil.uni-muenchen.de/~stroh/jan_novak.htm. Here, in German but also frequently in Latin, you can learn much about Jan Novák’s life and music. It was his ability to speak and write in Latin that helped him to corner a niche market in classical circles but his music has the timeless quality of the Bohemian/Moravian uplands and breathes a fresh and enlightening air. The site also lists all those CDs containing music by the composer.

Patrick Lambert’s Prague Autumn Impressions

Rachmaninov in the Orthodox Cathedral, 25th September 2004
Rachmaninov’s Vespers (All Night Vigil) were performed movingly in the Orthodox Cathedral of Cyril and Methodius, which has an appropriate acoustic for this work. The performance—by the Prague Philharmonic Choir under Jaroslav Brych—had memorable contributions from the soloists, especially the contralto whose voice had a most remarkable timbre. Although the choir never quite succeeded in sounding like a genuine Russian cathedral choir, the entire ensemble, especially the powerful soprano section, sounded comparatively fresh-voiced. There was a slight lack of power in the tenor section.

Martinů in Prague Castle, 27th September 2004
There was a rare performance of Martinů’s patriotic cantata Czech Rhapsody in the historic Vladislavský Hall in Prague Castle. Conducted by Martin Turnovský, the performers were the Kühn Mixed Choir, baritone soloist Vladimír Chmelo, organist Petr Hostinský and the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra. The conducting was inspired, with the performers really making the most of this early and not entirely characteristic Martinů piece, written when he was 27. The first part of the concert comprised Gorecki’s Beatus vir.

Talich Chamber Orchestra in Beroun
A further festival that should not be overlooked is Talich’s Beroun. This very well organised festival is now in its twenty-first year. The opening concert (7th October), which proved a hugely enjoyable occasion, was given by the Talich Chamber Orchestra conducted by the violinist Jan Talich. In the first half, there was a sprightly performance of an Orchestral Quartet by Karel Stamic, which preserved a period flavour by applying minimal vibrato. Then the conductor himself was soloist in Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G, creating in the slow movement a suitably tender and hushed atmosphere, but rather underplaying Mozart’s impish humour in the outer movements. After the interval, the works played were Dvořák’s Notturno, followed by Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 and Vaughan Williams’ Tallis Fantasia. In this final piece the conductor drew from the orchestra string tone of such warmth for the fervent climaxes that one forgot the rather dry acoustic of the packed out hall. By contrast, in the antiphonal solo passages the players adopted a ghostly, vibratoless timbre that effectively evoked the sound of viols. The festival booklet promised further delights every Tuesday evening for the next five weeks, but, sadly, it was time for Patrick to fly back to London.

Reports of Events

Each issue includes reports of events of interest to lovers of Czech and Slovak music. A variety of authors, members and others, contribute. A summary of this section in Newsletter No. 66 follows.

Dvořák Society 2003 Annual Dinner
The 2003 Annual Dinner took place on Saturday, 25th October, at the Vincent Rooms, Westminster Kingsway College. Member Donald Rich reports that this was a new, very pleasant, location and the food was excellent. There were no speeches but our Chairman gave a few words of welcome.

Brno International Musical Colloquium 2003
Imagine an old wine-cellar deep in Southern Moravia, filled with tipsy academics, the dazzling sound of the Moravian folk band Polana, and of course, plenty of freely-flowing Moravian wine. This wonderful scene was the climax of the inspiring International Musicological Colloquium of Brno 2003, a three-day series of lectures. Rose Malone—a music student who recently embarked on a year’s study at Masaryk University, Brno—writes an interesting report on this multifaceted event. The academic focus was New Music in the ‘New’ Europe 1918-1938: Ideology, Theory, and Practice. The individuality of the Czech musical heritage was acknowledged along-side its role in international musicology. Thus, amongst new perspectives on Janáček and Suk, were broader issues: Ostrčil’s Honzovo královstí and the ‘Fulfilment’ of Czech Musical Modernism (Brian Locke), and Brno: New Music in the New State: the Problem of the Category ‘New Music’ in the Czech Lands in the 1920s (Jiří David). The same balance was seen throughout. [For more about the Brno Colloquium, email colloq@phil.muni.cz.

Live Performance Reviews

Each issue of the Newsletter includes reports of live performances. The reviews in Newsletter No. 66 are summarised below.

Czech Music in Stockholm, by Günter Thiele
The musical scene in Stockholm has turned out to be an attractive one for friends of Czech music this season. Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and Korngold’s Die Tote Stadt were performed at the Royal Opera; a series of six string quartet concerts was launched by the Royal Philharmonic, each programme containing at least one quartet of Antonín Dvořák; there have been Czech cultural evenings at the Royal Library; and concerts by Ensemble Martinů.

At Ensemble Martinů’s first concert we heard Dvořák’s Bagatelles, Op. 47 in an unusual instrumental garb. Then pianist Daniel Weisner performed the first part of Smetana’s Czech Dances and a Koncertní Étude from 1861. The other works performed were Václav Riedelbauch’s The Fable for flute, violin, cello and piano; Martinů’s Promenades for flute, violin and harpsichord and Miroslav Kubička’s Quartet in C. An enthusiastic and crowded house also got two encores by Lukáš and Dvořák. Three days later in the old concert hall of the Musical Academy, a much smaller audience heard the Ensemble’ second concert consisting of a fine arrangement of Beethoven’s Quintet for Winds and Piano, Op. 16 in a delightful interpretation; Dvořák’s charming Bagatelles once more; and finally Zdeněk Lukáš’s wonderful Quartetto con flauto. This last was the crowning achievement of the Ensemble Martinů’s dedicated and unobtrusive performances in Stockholm.

[Note that there are many more reviews in this issue of the Newsletter, in Martinů Review—Prague Autumn Impressions—Peter’s Pages—Lorna Dobson’s columns]

Czech Ensembles: by Geoff Piper of MusicEnterprise, Luxembourg

This is the ninth of a series of articles on Czech ensembles by Geoff Piper of MusicEnterprise Luxembourg.

On this occasion Geoff writes about the Apollon String Quartet (Prague). Thoroughly established on the Czech string quartet scene, the group offers concerts which are half classical and half jazz. The quartet has won the international Beethoven competition and reached the finals of another prestigious competition in Düsseldorf. They have been in masterclasses with members of the Fine Arts Quartet and the Alban Berg Quartet.

Membership News: from Tony Pook

The Membership Secretary reports that nine new members have enrolled during the last quarter (eight in the U.K. and one each in Belgium).

Requests for Help

Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde: member David Cohen is seeking a recording of Jiří Bělohlávek’s 2003 Glyndebourne performance.

Our member in Plzeň, Dr. Jiří Jirák (e-mail at jjirak@centrum.cz) is attempting to locate a copy of a CD that was apparently recorded and published in Brazil. The known details are as follows—

CD by Sony Music Entertainment, Brazil, no. 107.117. Eugeny Ratchev conducts the Orquestra de Camara do Pará in works by Tchaikovsky, Janáček (Suite for Strings) and Alberto Nepomuceno. The recording was made in the Teatro Maragarida Schiwazzappa, Belém, in June 1992.

From the Editor’s Postbag (and e-mail)

Colin Davies writes about the music and career of Florian Leopold Gassman who was born in 1729 in Most, North Bohemia and died in 1774 in Vienna.

Record Service Report: by Bill Marsden

Members of the Dvořák Society find the Record Service—run by Bill Marsden—a very economic and convenient way of buying recordings, including those hard to find items on small labels. A certain amount of stock is maintained by Bill, whilst other recordings are ordered. Each quarter, his report gives information about current news items about records and the industry, and includes the current stock list. The report in Newsletter 66 is summarised below.

Distribution News
This part of the report deals with the changes in record distribution companies and the effect on the labels that the Record Service can supply.

New Releases Among a number of interesting new releases on labels distributed by Codaex is a Camerata (Tokyo) recording of Rejcha’s Clarinet Quintet Op. 89 and Horn Quintet, Op. 106. Perhaps the most significant of recent recordings is the world première CPO issue of Koželuch’s oratorio Moses in Egypt.

Dvořák Society Stock List
The first part of the list comprises the Society’s normal “trading” stock; and this itself is divided into post-1830 and pre-1830 sections (the date classifications are approximate). The post-1830 section lists 77 recordings. Featured composers include Bittová, Bodorová, Brahms, Copland, Dohnányi, Dvořák, Fibich, Fišer, Françaix, Goetz, Goldscheider, Haas, Hanuš, Hurník, Ives, Janáček, Karel, Kodály, Korngold, Krása, Kubik, Martinů, Moscheles, Moyzes, Mussorgsky, Novák, Popper, Prokofiev, Respighi, Řezníček, Schönberg, Schulhoff, Slavický, Smetans, Stevenson, Suk, Ullmann and Ysaye.

There are 72 issues listed in the pre-1830 section. The composers include Bach, Beethoven, Bella, Benda, Biber, Dusík, Field, Gluck, Gossec, Hertel, Hummel, Koželuh L, Kramář, Mozart, Mysliveček, Pichl, Pokorný, Rejcha, Richter, Rössler, Schmelzer, Schubert, Stamic (J & K), Triebensee, Vent, Vaňhal, Voříšek, Vranický, Zach and Zelenka.

Members have donated 30 CDs and these are in the second part of the list. Composers include Bartók, Beethoven, Benda (J), Debussy, Dvořák, Havelka, Hummel, Husa, Gemrot, Jírovec, Kvěch, Loudová, Lukáš, Martinů, Mozart, Pärt, Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Schnittke, Sibelius, Smetana, Tchaikovsky, Vivaldi, Vranický, Wagner and Weber

Short Reviews of Recordings: by Members

Seven CDs and one DVD are reviewed by society members in this issue—

CDs

Alexander Goldscheider: Stabat Mater and Ave Maria for soloists, mixed chorus and orchestra
Performed by: Kühn Choir, chorus master Pavel Kühn, soloists Šárka Frančová, Jaroslava Maxová, Jaroslav Březina and Roman Vocel, Romantic Robot Orchestra
Romantic Robot records: number not supplied
Reviewer: Karel Janovický

Alexander Goldscheider: The Song of Songs
Performed by: Jaroslava Maxová (alto), Jaroslav Březina (tenor) and Šárka Frančová (soprano), Romantic Robot Orchestra
Romantic Robot records: number not supplied
Reviewer: Karel Janovický

Dvořák: Te Deum; Psalm 149; In Nature’s Realm, Carnival and Othello Overtures Performed by Chandler, Zeller, Westminster Symphonic Choir, New Jersey SO, Mácal Delos DE 3314 Reviewer: Bill Marsden

DVOŘÁK: String Quartets in D minor Op 34 and A flat Op 105
Performed by: Delmé String Quartet
SOMM SOMMCD231
Reviewer: Mark Todd

DVOŘÁK: Violin Concerto TCHAIKOVSKY: Violin Concerto
Performed by: Pavel Šporcl / Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Vladimir Ashkenazy (Dvořák), Jiří Bělohlávek (Tchaikovsky)
SUPRAPHON SU 3709-2 031
Reviewer: Mark Todd

DVOŘÁK: Symphonies No 4 and 8
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Zdeněk Mácal
EXTON OVCL-00078
Reviewer: Mark Todd

MARTINŮ: Symphonies No 3 and 4
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Jiří Bělohlávek
SUPRAPHON SU 3631-2 031
Reviewer: Mark Todd

DVDs

Dvořák: Rusalka
Soloists/Orchestra and Chorus of Paris National Opera/Conlon
TDK DV-OPRUS
Bill Marsden

Record News from Prague: by Graham Melville-Mason

Graham Melville-Mason’s regular report of record news includes both new recordings and reissues.

The report, which is by no means limited to Supraphon (although as one would expect, issues from that label tend to dominate), is a valuable source of information to members about releases which might otherwise be overlooked, particularly those on small labels.

Supraphon

September issues:
SU 3750 Rejcha Fugues Op.36 [20 of the 36] (Milan Langer, piano); SU 5498 ‘Himalayan Echoes’ (Martin Kratochvíl).

October issues:
SU 3709 Dvořák / Tchaikovsky Violin Concertos (Pavel Šporcl / Czech Philharmonic / Ashkenazy / Bělohlávek); SU3763 Bellini / Catalani / Cilea / Mascagni / Massenent / Puccini / Verdi ‘Italian Operatic Arias’ (Eva Urbanová /Prague ND Orch / Lenárd)

November issues:
SU 3631 Martinů Symphonies Nos.3 & 4 (Czech Philharmonic Orch / Bělohlávek); SU 3748 Kramář Clarinet & Two Clarinet Concerti (Mareš / Hlavář / Prague Ch.Orch /Pešek); SU 3752 Kaprálová Songs (Dana Burešová / Timothy Cheek)

December issues: SU 3475 Pavlica / Zrunek Masses (Ars Brunensis Chorus, Brno Chamber Orchestra / Mottl); SU 7005 Jarmila Novotná DVD.

Plans for 2004 include—
Janáček orchestral works (Suite: Cunning Little Vixen; Sinfonietta; Schluck und Jau; Žárlivost; Káťa Kabanová – two Intermezzi; Overture: Šárka; Taras Bulba) (Mackerras)—Dvořák: Opera – Tvrdé palice (Bělohlávek)—Martinů: Opera – Mirandolina (from the Wexford Festival)— Zelenka: Oratorio – I Penitenti al Sepolchro del Redentore (Hugo) and the next set of issues in the Ančerl ‘Gold’ series, which includes Novák: V Tatrách and Slavický, K.: Moravské taneční fantasie. Later in the year—Martinů: La revue de cuisine; On tourné; Le raid merveilleux (Hogwood)—Martinů: Symphonies Nos.5 & 6 (Bělohlávek). Archive reissue—Smetáček recording of Dvořák: Stabat mater.

CDs of Czech and Slovak Music on Non-Czech/Slovak Labels

For members, this regular item is a valuable supplement to Record News from Prague. There is no room in a summary to list all 45 of the releases—on labels ranging from Accord to Virgin and including some DVDs— noted in this edition of the full member’s Newsletter 66.

Library Report: by Vera Marsden

This section of the Newsletter regularly keeps Members up to date on additions to the Dvořák Society’s large library of recordings, scores, videos, books and other publications.

25 years ago …

This regular item briefly recalls the issues and events of concern to Dvořák Society members a quarter of a century ago.

In January 1979 the Society’s Journal contained articles about a UK tour by pianist Radoslav Kvapil, the Janáček Festival in Brno and a major article Zdeněk Fibich—Czech fin-de-siècle by Sir Cecil Parrott (former British Ambassador in Prague).

Diary

The regular Diary section of the Newsletter gives details of performances and other events that are scheduled for the next few months. The Diary is in two parts, British and Overseas. This issue lists 123 British and 149 Overseas events. Events range all the way from large-scale opera and symphonic performances to solo recitals, taking in such diverse activities as touring choirs, chamber music and study weekends.   www.dvorak-society.org