Janacek: Orchestral suites from Jenufa and The Excursions of Mr Broucek. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by Peter Breiner – Naxos 8.570555 (70 minutes).
Famous for his orchestral and instrumental music, Leos Janacek (1854-1928) was also a prolific opera composer. But by the time Jenufa was premiered in 1904 in Brno, the composer was already 50, and practically all his previous stage works had failed miserably. It was only after this profoundly tragic work that Janacek’s stock started to rise steadily.
By the time Mr Broucek had its first performance in April 1920, the composer was a household name with audiences and critics alike. Today Janacek’s operas have gained their rightful place in the major opera houses of the world, especially the so-called ‘big five’ – Jenufa, Kata Kabanova, The Makropoulos Affair, The Cunning Little Vixen and From the House of the Dead.
Jenufa is a powerful tragedy set in a Moravian village, and deals with the misfortunes of a young girl who finally has her illegitimate child murdered by her stepmother in order to hide her pregnancy. Mr Broucek finds Janacek in a different mood altogether; indeed, the protagonist is a drunken landlord who somehow first finds himself transported to the moon – a place dominated by pretentious artistic characters, and is subsequently thrown back to the 15th century, where he gets embroiled in several patriotic wars. In the end he is revealed as nothing but a despicable coward.
As with most of Janacek’s oeuvre, these two operas are saturated with a wealth of melodic, rhythmic and harmonic inventions. The orchestration is also highly original and innovative; so all praise to Peter Breiner who has managed to put together two quite compelling orchestral suites full of exciting sounds that leave an overwhelming impact long after the music has ended.
Janacek’s music has always had a spellbinding effect on me. I fervently hope that this disc will stir in you the same high-octane emotions I feel whenever I experience this composer’s genius. Excellent sound and notes complete a perfect musical banquet.
Cui: 25 Preludes, Op. 64. Jeffrey Biegel, piano – Naxos 8.555557 (67 minutes).
For the average music lover Cesar Cui is just a forlorn figure of 19th century Russian music. But to all intents and purposes, he was just the opposite. To start with, he was not even Russian, and by profession, a military engineer. Born in 1835 in Vilnius, now the capital of Lithuania, to a French father and a Lithuanian mother, he rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, and was even an instructor to the last Czar in the field of fortifications.
He was appointed president of the Imperial Russian Music Society, and together with Balakirev, was responsible for the formation of the group of composers known as The Five, which also included Moussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin. Unfortunately, although this elite group shared the same ideals of promoting Russian music internationally, their works did not bear the stamp of uniformity. Indeed this could never be, as their style of composing was as diverse as their natures.
Maybe what distinguished Cui from the rest was his fanaticism for all that was Russian and his obscure critical acumen. He despised Tchaikovsky, massacred Rachmaninov’s First Symphony, condemned Wagner and damned Richard Strauss. His creative career spanned almost 60 years, and by the time of his death in 1918, his works ran into the hundreds, most of them piano pieces.
Despite his over-enthusiasm, Cui’s music is mainly old-fashioned and has a too gentle utterance, which makes it technically undemanding. Still, his many waltzes, mazurkas, polonaises and variations contain a charm that is wholly disarming and are extremely well crafted miniatures.
The Preludes under review date from 1903 and are clearly influenced by Chopin’s set. Varied in mood and atmosphere, they make an enjoyable hour’s listening, and are deservedly one of Cui’s most attractive and successful compositions.
Biegel’s advocacy of these pieces is indeed passionate, and his warm and colourful renditions reveal Cui as an imaginative and assiduous musician, albeit lacking that extra bit of technical mastery.
Copland: Symphony No. 3; Billy the Kid (suite). New Zealand Symphony Orchestra conducted by James Judd – Naxos 8.559106 (64 minutes).
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 14, 1900, Aaron Copland is arguably the greatest American composer of the last century, and the main musical voice who popularised the traditional American spirit the world over.
Throughout his career lasting nearly 70 years, Copland was lucky enough to study with the famous French pianist Nadia Boulanger in Paris when he was still 21, and this eminent musician left her imprint for the rest of the composer’s life. By the time of his death in 1990, aged 89, he was not only the recipient of many accolades such as the Guggenheim Fellowship and Pulitzer Prize, but was also recognised as one of the very few American composers to have successfully captured the very essence of the New World’s particular sound world with the Wild West taking centre stage.
Copland composed his hugely popular ballet Billy the Kid in Paris and Peterborough during the summer of 1938. The first performance was in an arrangement for two pianos that same year, and it was only a year later that the full orchestral version was given in New York to great critical acclaim. The suite on this recording dates from 1940.
With its vivid descriptions of the American prairies and remote border towns complemented by the brash and violent sounds depicting the famous outlaw William H. Bonney (1859-1881), the ballet has retained its freshness and excitement, and remains one of the composer’s most performed stage-works.
The Third Symphony is cast in the traditional four movements but has no specific narrative programme. Essentially American in its thematic suggestions of folk-song, the work is considered to be Copland’s most imposing creation for orchestra and even earned him the New York Music Critics’ Circle award for the best orchestral work of the 1946-47 concert season.
A highly interesting disc focusing on a composer who is still await-0ing the recognition he so richly deserves.
These CDs were made available for review by D’Amato Record Shop of 98/99 St John Street, Valletta.