Newsletter 67 — April 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.67. The full text—which for this issue runs to 36 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

Vilém Tauský 1910–2004: our distinguished Vice President died on 16th March after a short illness. Pending a fuller tribute in Newsletter 68, our Chairman Graham Melville-Mason acknowledges Vilém’s contribution to the Society. He was an ever present and faithful Society member who had been a friend of Martinů, Kaprálová and Firkušný, a student in Brno in Janáček’s time and had known Dvořák's widow and children. Only last month he was awarded the Janáček Medal to add to his many and well deserved honours.

In the regular editorial section, editor Annette Percy notes the award of five Janáček Medals for services to the music of Leoš Janáček by the Janáček Foundation, Brno. The medals were went to John Tyrrell, Hideo Sekine, Graham Melville-Mason, the late and Antonín Tučapský. Four of the recipients are members of our Dvořák Society, while Hideo Sekine is the founder of the Janáček Society in Japan.

The Society’s President, Sir Charles Mackerras,has been made a Companion of Honour in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Musical Faculty of the Janáček Academy in Brno.

There is to be a Janáček Day on BBC Radio 3 on BBC Radio 3 (4th July).

Czech Music Anniversaries 2004—

150th Anniversary of Janáček’s birth 100th Anniversary of Dvořák’s death 180th Anniversary of Smetana’s birth, and 120th Anniversary of his death. 130th Anniversary of Josef Suk’s birth 145th Anniversary of Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s birth 90th Anniversary of Rafael Kubelík’s birth 45th Anniversary of Bohuslav Martinů’s death 130th Anniversary of Oskar Nedbal’s birth 55th Anniversary of Vítězslav Novák’s death

And it’s also the 30th Anniversary of the Dvořák Society!

All contributions to the Newsletter are welcome. For the next issue—No. 68 July 2004—the editorial deadline is 10th June 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. 67 are summarised below.

The Turner Sims Concert Hall, Southampton University, is presenting a Škampa Quartet Dvořák Weekend on 8th & 9th May. Works to be performed include the Quartet No 14 Op 105 and Piano Quintet in A, Op 81 (with pianist Melvyn Tan). There will also be music by Suk, Bodorová and Martinů—his Quartet No 7, H314, Concerto de camera.

The Philharmonia Orchestra continues with Part 2 of the Series led by Sir Charles Mackerras in London’ Royal Festival Hall on 24th & 29th June.

Antonín Tučapský’s opera Majitel pohřebního ústavu (The Undertaker) is to have several performances by students of the Opera Studio of the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno in November with further performances in Prague next year. Antonín has been invited to chair the International Choral Festival in Truro, Cornwall, from 29th April to 1st May, and to compose a choral piece which for the final concert in Truro.

The Orchestra of St.John’s, conducted by John Lubbock explores some of the more rarely played repertoire by Dvořák and Janáček at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on 4th June. There is a 20% group discount for groups of ten or more Dvořák Society members.

The International Summer School of Early Music in Valtice, South Moravia takes place from 3rd to 13th July, in a region of historical monuments and huge vineyards. As well as classes, there are concerts in the splendid marble stables of this Lichtenstein castle. All the courses are for professionals, students and amateurs, but also for passive participants. Full information from xejir@volny.cz or from Míla Smetáčková at the Czech Music Society, Radlická 99, 150 00 Praha 5.

The International Guitar Festival in Brno will be from 8th to 14th August. Full information from vlblaha@sky.cz .

The Meeting of Chamber Music Friends in Bechyně takes place from 30th June to 11th July. All lecturers speak some foreign language and both active and passive participants are taught music by outstanding Czech professionals, soloists and teachers.

Courses for brass instruments in Vimperk, near the German border,about 150 km from Prague, will be held from 2nd to 9th July. Information is on www.trombofera.hyperlinkx.cz or at the Czech Music Society (address as above).

Martinů Matters: Castle Vilémov Castle. This chateau (a zámek, not a hrad!   http://www.vilemovcastle.org) near Kutná Hora is the venue for an amateur music workshop (suitable for non-playing guests) from the evening of 30 or 31 May (as desired) to the morning of Sunday 6 June. The sub-title of the workshop is ‘Martinů matters’. It is being organised by MusicEnterprise, an entirely non-profit-making organisation. Details from—

MusicEnterprise (Geoff Piper),
24, rue des Cerisiers,
1322 Luxembourg (Grand Duchy).
Phone : +352 474269, fax +352 223585,
email : pipergeo@pt.lu Web : http://www.intermusica.org

The Study Weekend at Burton Manor (Friday 10th to Sunday 12th September, 2004) will have the theme of Dvořák in England. The prospectus states—

“We will focus on the considerable but under appreciated importance of Dvořák’s relationship to England and his nine visits between 1884 and 1896, with special attention to the works associated with England including his Stabat Mater, last four symphonies, Violoncello Concerto No 2, Requiem and other choral and orchestral works.“

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. 67 is summarised below.

He reports the deaths of two members of the Dvořák family. Dvořák's grandson, Jiří Fiala, youngest son of Aloisie Dvořáková and brother of Věra Johnová, died in Příbram on 20th. October 2003 after a long period of ill health. On 14th. February 2004, Ivanka Hlávková died. She was Aloisie Dvořáková’s great-granddaughter, the daughter of her oldest son Antonín Josef Fiala, Mrs. Johnová’s brother.

A further loss was our long-standing member, Peter Gellhorn, whose long and distinguished career in music would be remembered by many.

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. 67 is summarised below.

Leamington Fanfare
A Fanfare which Martinů composed in 1948 for the Sokol Festival but was subsequently classified as a ‘lost’ score—Salute to the Sokol Festival Ceremonial Fanfare (H. 320)—has been rediscovered through the Martinů Institutein two formats: as transcriptions piano and for brass quintet (the latter made by Jan Hanuš). This very short piece will be performed in May at the Leamington Festival by the Fine Arts Brass Ensemble. Also on the programme are Sylvie Bodorová’s Five Pictures from Emperor Rudolf’s Prague and Antonín Tučapský’s Music for Brass Quintet.

Martinů Festival 2003 (concluded)
The given on 8th December included a rare performance of the 1st Piano Concerto by Martinů, from his early years in Paris. The soloist, Miron Šmidák, was the winner of the 2002 Martinů Foundation piano competition. However, he gave an aggressive interpretation at odds with the essential character of the work and in any case unsuitable for the acoustic of the Martinů Hall. Things went better in the second half of the concert with the Chamber Philharmonic of Pardubice under Douglas Bostock giving nicely turned performances of the Tre ricercari and Roussel’s Spider’s Feast. The audience went away on a happy note following a performance of the Little Suite from the Comedy on the Bridge as an encore.

Boston Symphony Orchestra award
In recognition of the long association between Martinů and the Boston Symphony Orchestra extending over thirty years—and the significance of the support the composer received from the Orchestra and its music directors Serge Koussevitsky and Charles Munch in the creation and performance of his orchestral works—the Board of the Martinů Foundation has awarded that orchestra the Martinů medal. The ceremony of the award took place during the afternoon concert on Friday, 13th February, prior to a performance of Martinů’s 4th Piano Concerto by Viktoria Postnikova and the BSO under Gennady Rozhdestvensky.

Supraphon CD Releases
Volume 24 in the ‘Ančerl Gold’ series, which groups together the Martinů Frescoes and Parables with Janáček’s Sinfonietta (SU 3684-2 011), is a rewarding disc, albeit with less than ideal recording quality most obviously in the opening fanfare of the Sinfonietta where the timpani is barely audible. The 2002 Wexford Festival recording of the opera Mirandolina—using the original Italian libretto—should be available shortly (SU 3770-2 632). Martinů buffs will need no urging to buy this world première recording.

Christopher Hogwood has now been able to complete his recording of the 1927 Martinů ballet scores the Czech Philharmonic. It will include a first recording of On Tourne. The new disc should be available in May/June. Hogwood and the CPO are also involved in Bohuslav Matoušek’s series of recordings of the composer’s complete works for violin and orchestra. The next release should be available in the autumn and will include the Concerto for Two Violins and Orchestra.

Vítězslava Kaprálová
‘Forever Kaprálová’: under this title the Supraphon CD devoted to the songs of Vítězslava Kaprálová is now available (SU 3752-2 231). Until now there has been little opportunity to hear any of these songs outside the Czech Republic. Some members may recall a first UK broadcast by Jill Gomez in 1988 of the three songs Opus 12 entitled Forever along with Kaprálová’s last song The Letter in memorable performances. Kaprálová was born in 1915, the daughter of the composer Václav Kaprál. The songs date from 1932, when she was a 17 year old student at the Brno Conservatoire, to April 1940 shortly before her death at the age of 25. The earliest songs carry hints of Debussy but Kaprálová soon found a distinctive voice of her own, albeit with some echoes of Martinů with whom she went to study in Paris in 1937. The songs Opus 12 from which the title of this album is taken are perhaps the finest of all with a haunting musical and emotional content. The songs are admirably performed by Dana Burešová who maintains a beautiful vocal line throughout. She is accompanied by Timothy Cheek who also wrote the liner notes.

ROH revivals
Visitors to Covent Garden will have another opportunity of seeing Kenneth Macmillan’s absorbing 1971 production of the ballet Anastasia, which incorporates music by Tchaikovsky as well as Martinů’s 6th Symphony. Performance dates are 21,23,26,28,29 April and 1,3,5,7,12 May. The anticipated revival of David Pountney’s successful production of the original version of Martinů’s The Greek Passion is due in September with Sir Charles Mackerras again conducting. Performance dates are 19,21,23,25 September and 1 October.

Matoušek violin recital
After his appearance at Leamington, Bohuslav Matoušek accompanied by Lada Valešová will be giving a recital at St John’s Smith Square on 11th May when the programme will include the Martinů 3rd Violin Sonata. Dvořák Society members can obtain discounted .

The Kaprálová Society Annual Report for 2003

Newsletter 67 contains edited extracts from the Kaprálová Society’s Annual Report for 2003 [those wishing to have more detail should visit the Kaprálová Society’s site at http://www.kapralova.org/ANNUAL.htm].

By the end of 2003 the Kaprálová Society had 178 members residing in eighteen countries. Since October 2003 the society has its own periodical, The Kaprálová Society Newsletter. This bi-annual publication, dedicated primarily to Kaprálová research and information, is available on Kaprálová Society’s website.

Last year was an important year for promotion of Kaprálová’s music, as a record number of Kaprálová compositions was released on compact disc and published in print. The most significant among these projects was the release of Kaprálová’s art songs by Supraphon in November, an initiative was made possible thanks to the dedicated efforts of Dr. Timothy Cheek and the financial assistance of the University of Michigan and the Kaprálová Society.

Kaprálová’s music was broadcast last year by Czech Radio 3 (Vltava), Czech Radio 7, public radio networks in Chicago and Princeton, and the University of Michigan Television. Czech Radio in particular was very active in promoting the composer. The composer’s music was also promoted at the International Festival of Film on Art in Montreal that presented (on March 16 and 20) the Kaprálová documentary Last Concertino produced in 2001 by Czech Television (Brno Studio).

The Lorna Corner

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

In this issue, Lorna writes about—the Janáček Opera Festival in Brno; the Day of Czech Music in Liverpool; a forthcoming Vienna Festival production of Dvořák’s Vanda by Czech National Theatre forces conducted by Gerd Albrecht; the continuing Dvořák centenary celebrations at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam (including a performance of Novák’s In the Tatras); an upgrade to the regular Czech Airlines bus service between Prague and Brno; a forthcoming Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra concert which is to include Dvořák’s Third Symphony; a scheduled piano recital by Marieta Petcová in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Welsh National Opera’s touring production of Janáček’s Káťa Kabanová; a tour of the USA by classical guitarist Vladislav Bláha; and a forthcoming concert in Hong Kong, where Libor Pešek is to conduct the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.

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 67 follows.

Richard Beith reports on the Course Dvořák 100 Years On given by Graham Melville-Mason at Liverpool University’s Centre for Continuing Education on 21st February 2004, a date chosen to coincide with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic’s all-Dvořák concert held that evening to commemorate the centenary of the composer’s death (see Peter Herbert’s review). The course considered the place of Dvořák in today’s musical world and the continued prejudices against certain works. Using recorded examples, the audience were asked to comment on various performances of movements from the Quartets Op 51 and Op 96; and whether they could distinguish between Czech or non-Czech performances. The course then turned to the operas and their slow progress in Britain—the first professional performance of a Dvořák opera was not until 1959, when Vilém Tauský conducted a production of Rusalka at Sadlers Wells Theatre with Joan Hammond and Charles Craig. By contrast, the international proliferation of productions of Janáček’s opera was noted. It was agreed that the situations and characters in Janáček’s operas were more in tune with current audiences and benefited from libretti based on noted writers such as Ostrovsky and Dostoyevsky. After lunch, Dvořák’s symphonic music was considered, with particular reference to the Symphonic Variations and Symphony No 8. For the last hour the conductor Petr Altrichter discussed his current programme building in Brno, as well as Dvořák’s very successful relationship with British audiences during the composer’s lifetime and its importance for Dvořák’s later success in Vienna and New York.

Live Performance Reviews

Each issue of the Newsletter includes reports of live performances. The reviews in Newsletter No. 67 are summarised below.

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin, 24th January 2004: conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Report by Vera Marsden
This was Mackerras’s debut with this orchestra in a programme framed by Janaček’s Overture Jealousy and Sinfonietta, where the stunning virtuousity of this orchestra allowed clarity and balance as perfect as the reviewer had ever heard in the concert hall and the visceral sort of sound more typical of Slav orchestras. The other works performed—Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.22 with Mitsuko Uchida and Dvořák’s Symphonic Variations—were equally satisfactory in rather different ways.

Korngold Die Tote Stadt Deutsche Oper, Berlin 25th January 2004: conductor Christian Thielemann
Report by Vera Marsden
This was the première of a new production of an opera which avoided the traditional Bruges backdrop to reveal the inner workings of the hero’s mind in other ways, to my way of thinking, exceptionally successfully. The conductor excels in this German Romantic repertoire and the singers were of high international calibre.

Dvořák Rusalka National Theatre Prague, 27th January 2004: conductor Peter Feranec
Report by Vera Marsden
Although efficiently conducted and sung, this six year old staging and production of gave the overall impression of a tired, lacklustre company going through the motions.

Czech Nonent 80th Birthday Concert, Martinů Hall in the Lichtenstein Palace, Prague, 8th January 2004
Report by Míla Smetáčková
This event celebrated the 80th anniversary of the very first concert given by the Czech Nonet on 17th January 1924. The programme of the Jubilee Concert contained real jewels of the Nonet repertoire: Nonet – Divertimento by Iša Krejčí (1904-1968), the Nonet, Op. 147 by Josef Bohuslav Foerster, and the highly emotional Quintet in D major, Op. 42 by Zdeněk Fibich. The Czech Nonet could not have chosen a better programme for this festive concert and it played in perfect coordination, with admirable virtuosity and tender devotion. The piano parts were beautifully played by Marián Lapšanský.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Dvořák Centenary Concert, Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool, 21st February 2004: conductor Petr Altrichter
Report by Peter Herbert
This concert was something of a curate’s egg, in that parts of it were truly excellent while some could have been better. The opening Scherzo Capriccioso sounded a little under-rehearsed and lacked some sparkle and necessary verve to be convincing. While the orchestral playing in the Cello Concerto in b minor was mainly stupendous, the horn section is a pale shadow of what it was ten years ago. The soloist was the RLPO’s Principal cellist, Jonathan Aasgaard who patently loves the work but failed to projuect his soun sufficiently. Altrichter was a superb accompanist who made sure that the orchestra achieved a true pianissimo at times and its effect was magical. Aasgaard and Leader for the night, Malcolm Stewart, then gave a spirited rendition of one of Martinů’s Duos for Violin and Cello. After the interval we were treated to a stupendous performance of the Symphony no. 8 in G. Here all was as perfect as one could wish, with conductor and orchestra all fully back to the standard that was achieved during the maestro’s Liverpool reign. It was a performance to make the hairs on your neck stand up.

Dvořák Celebration in Westmorland, Westmorland Orchestra, Kendal 13th March 2004: conductor Barry Sharkey
Report by Peter Herbert
The orchestra got better and better through the evening and, even if they have weaknesses as an amateur ensemble, they have some true stars as well, notably their principal players and the brass section. The opening Hussite Overture was shaky at the beginning but the closing bars were very strong. Then Lorraine McAslan showed herself to be a violinist of truly robust as well as romantic style as soloist in the Violin Concerto. At times a trifle too robust in the closing movement but this was momentary in truth and the orchestra and soloist found a tremendous unity of purpose in a beautiful account with the pace overall was judged superbly well by Sharkey. In the second half of the concert, the Scherzo Capriccioso some awkward moments were outweighed by the overall performance with praise-worthy brass playing. The Symphonic Variations provided a tremendous climax to the evening, with the great challenges for each section of the orchestra met and overcome with admirable élan: and the final fugue was brilliantly taken. As an encore, we were given the First Legend.

Martinů Festival 2003 (concluded)
Report by Patrick Lambert
A brave experiment to resurrect Laterna Magika’s adaptation from the 1960s of Martinů’s cantata The Opening of the Wells did not succeed in creating a convincing artistic whole. Martinů’s already highly evocative and highly imaginative music does not need visual aids. However, his film music for Vladislav Vančura’s Marijka nevěrnice (Unfaithful Marijka), screened in the first half of the evening, was a different matter, being intended of course as an accompaniment to visual images. A mixed evening, but not without interest.

The concluding concert of the Festival was given by the Czech Philharmonic under its new chief conductor Zdeněk Mácal, who has very quickly established a close rapport with his players. The works performed were Martinů’s Inventions (with pianist Jaroslav Šaroun), his Duo Concertant for two violins (solists Jennifer Koh and Bohuslav Matoušek) and Ravel’s First & Second Suites from ‘Daphnis et Chloe’. All the soloists were impressive with the two volinists’ styles well contrasted both tonally and rythmically. The orchestral playing was virtuostic with tight ensemble and a full dynamic range. Mácal’s detailed control secured a great clinching climax in Ravel’s Second Suite. This was a great concert, excitingly rounding off a stimulating Festival.

On the Janáček Trail…Impressions in the Snow

Fred O’Callaghan provides an Irish member’s impressions of the Society’s recent trip to the Janáček Festival in Brno. The article contains much information on the social and practical aspects of the trip which took place in January and February 2004. From Prague Airport, the group of three dozen persons and their luggage were transported by luxury coach to a comfortable hotel, the ‘Myslivna’, pleasingly situated, high on a wooded slope on the outskirts of Brno and overlooking it.

The group were probably unanimous in viewing this trip as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take the full impact of Janáček’s operatic output in one short spell. In fact there were two different productions of The Cunning Little Vixen (Příhody lišky Bystroušky), one being an Irish adaptation (hence Irish tricolour on the photograph of the Mahen Theatre in Brno).

The overall artistic impression was that the city’s Janáček 150th anniversary celebrations had got off to a good start. Two grounds for optimism were the size and the enthusiasm of the audiences and the quality of performance from the younger generations. Special mention should be made of the Music Faculty JAMU presentation of The Beginning of a Romance (Počátek románu) and the performance by the Kylián ballets and the choir Kantiléna of Rákoš Rákoczy.

With so much progress in Janáček’s cause on the musical front, Fred suggests a new generation of producers and designers are necessary to fulfil the composer’s full instructions and intentions as regards staging.

Patrick Lambert’s Prague Winter Impressions

Patrick Lambert gives his impressions of a recent winter visit to the Czech capital

He comments, following a performance of Klement Slavický’s 1951 composition Moravian Dance Fantasies in the Rudolfinum by the Czech Philharmonic (26th February 2004), that the resurrection of compositions from the Stalinist years is uncommon today in the Czech Republic but considers that this example standa up quite well with its rather brash Khachaturian-like manner balanced by a rhythmic vitality and Janáčkian impulsiveness.

Further comments relate to a live television transmission of a concert by the Smetana Trio from the billed by Czech TV 2 ‘Chamber Concert from the Senate’ and a public rehearsal of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra in the Rudolfinum at 10am, prior to their live broadcast in the evening of 9th March. The soloist in Dvořák’s Violin Concerto was Václav Hudeček and the conductor was the young Canadian Charles Olivieri-Munroe. On the latter, Patrick remarks that the combined attraction of Hudeček, accessible music and above all modestly priced tickets (70 Kc) resulted in a packed-out hall. Although said by the Rudolfinum box office that such public rehearsals were intended for students, they were little in evidence and instead it seemed as if the entire Prague population of music-loving pensioners had flocked together for the event. It was obvious that the withdrawal of state subsidies had placed normal concert tickets out of reach to a whole sector of society.

Czech Ensembles: by Geoff Piper of MusicEnterprise, Luxembourg

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

In this article Geoff turns to the Prague Spirit Quintet. The name of the ensemble refers to ‘spirit’ in the sense of ‘esprit’ (and also ‘whisky’). Most conventional string quintets have, of course, one more viola than a string quartet, but for this ensemble, closer to the jazz set-up, a double bass is more useful and so we have only one viola. But Jiří Rajniš, the violist, is a particularly important member of the group since he is the indefatigable arranger of folksongs, blues, oldies, pop songs and anything else that the Quintet feels it would be nice to play such as Duke Ellington, Gershwin, Charlestons and blues.

Membership News: from Tony Pook

The Membership Secretary reports that nine new members have enrolled during the last quarter (seven in the U.K. and one each in the Canada and the U.S.A).

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

Ivan Štraus writes to take issue with Patrick Lambert’s assertion in Newsletter 65 that natinalism had unduly influenced the result of Violin Competiton at the 2003 Prague Spring Festival.

Philip C Carlin praises the recent ‘Quartetfest’ at the Royal Northern College of Music and asks other members for their views on what steps the Society should be taking to help young musicians in the UK perform Czech or Slovak music.

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 67 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 the new releases special attention should be drawn to première recordings of Schulhoff orchestral song cycles (Orfeo), Hummel’s Missa Solemnis in C (Naxos), Hummel arrangements of Mozart piano concertos for piano, flute, violin and cello (BIS), and the long-awaited recording of Vaňhal wind concertos (Talent). Note also the Naxos Educational release (4CDs) of The Life and Works of Dvořák (see Short Reviews).

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 100 recordings. Featured composers are Balakirev, Bittová, Blodek, Bodorová, Brahms, Burghauser, Copland, Dohnányi, Dvořák, Eben, Elgar, Fibich, Fišer, Foerster, Francaix, Goldscheider, Haas, Hanuš, Hurník, Ives, Janáček, Ježek, Kaprálová, Karel, Kittl, Klein, Kodály, Korngold, Korte, Krása, Kubík, Mahler (A & G), Martinů, Moyzes (M & A), Mussorgsky, Nedbal, Novák, Popper, Prokofiev, Respighi, Řezníček, Schönberg, Schulhoff, Slavický, Smetana, Stevenson, Suk, Tchaikovsky, Ullmann and Ysaÿe.

There are 83 issues listed in the pre-1830 section. The composers include Bach, Beethoven, Benda (F), Benda (J), Biber, Dusík, Gluck, Hummel, Koželuh (J), Koželuh (L), Kramář, Mozart, Mysliveček, Pichl, Rejcha, Richter, Rössler, Schmelzer, Schubert, Stamic (J), Stamic (K), Vaňhal and Vranický.

Members have donated 33 CDs and these are in the second part of the list. Composers include Benda (J), Debussy, Dvořák, Havelka, Hummel, Husa, Loudová, Lukáš, Martinů, Michna, Mozart, Pokorný, Prokofiev, Ravel, Tchaikovsy, Schmidt, Smetana, Wagner and Weber.

Short Reviews of Recordings: by Members

Five CDs and two DVDs are reviewed by society members in this issue—

CDs

Dvořák: Piano Concerto; The Golden Spinning Wheel
Performed by Aimard, Royal Concertgouw Orchestra, Harnoncourt
Teldec 8573 87630 2
Reviewer: Bill Marsden

Dvořák: Piano Concerto; Piano Quintets
Janáček: Concertino and Capriccio
Performed by: Firkušný, CPO, Neumann, Ridge String Quartet
RCA 74321 88683-2 (2 CDs)
Reviewer: Bill Marsden

Hummel: Missa Solemnis in C; Te Deum
Peerformed by: Soloists, Tower Voices New Zealand, New Zealand SO, Grodd
Naxos 8.557193
Reviewer: Bill Marsden

The Life and Works of Dvořák: Written and Narrated by Jeremy Siepmann
Naxos 8.558101-04 (4CDs)
Reviewer: Bill Marsden

Antonín Tučapský: Violin Concerto, Viola Concerto
SOMM CD 221
Performed by: Vítězslav Kuzník (violin), Pavel Peřina (viola), Janáček Philharmonia Orchestra, Petr Vronský (for Violin Concerto), Prague Symphony Orchestra, Elli Jaffe (for Viola Concerto)
Reviewer; Jonathan Woolf [Reprinted in Newlsletter by kind permission of MusicWeb http://www.musicweb-international.com/index2.htm]

DVDs

Jarmila Novotná: ‘A Star of the Metropolitan Opera’
Supraphon SU 7005-2
Reviewer: Bill Marsden

Janáček: The Makropulos Case
Performed by: Anja Silja, other soloists, Glyndebourne Festival Opera, London Philharmonic, Sir Andrew Davis
NVC Arts, 0630-14016-2
Reviewer: 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 not limited to Czech and Slovak labels (although as one would expect, issues from Supraphon tend to dominate), is a valuable source of information to members about releases which might otherwise be overlooked, particularly those on small labels. The full Newsletter available to members gives details of composers, artists and disc numbers. In Newsletter 67 there is information about 16 releases on Supraphon and others on the R F Art Production, Vars and Ensemble Music labels

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 32 of the releases—on labels ranging from Amati to Vox— noted in this edition of the full member’s Newsletter 67.

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.

Among other things in April 1979, the Society was five years old, Sir Charles Mackerras had just received his knighthood, English National Opera had been performing Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr Brouček and Nottingham University Opera Group had produced Dvořák’s Dimitrij.

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 131 British and 153 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