The first classical concert I ever attended was in Toronto circa 1969 shortly after Karel Ancerl had been installed as chief conductor. I can't remember what was played but I do remember clapping after the first movement of a concerto, along with many others! Wished I'd had enough forethought to buy the programme. I have about 30 Ancerl CDs and am a Classics Today subscriber. Thank you David for the best value in classical music out there. I said no to Gramophone some years ago and have welcomed your UA-cam series of videos with open arms and ears. Vive le revolution!
Many thanks on posting this video because this set will be on my short list for purchasing. Interestingly, I like the Klusak composition and it reminds me of other (phantasmagorical) works from Rochberg, Berio and Schnittke. What do you expect from someone who likes cow mooing music - viola de gamba and Allan Pettersson (I love Pettersson!!!). I am so pleased Kabeláč and Feld were also included because I have listened to them for years and I am sure the performances are first rate!
Dave and crew, There can't be too much Ancerl for me. This was such a treat to wake up to this morning 😁 The Beethoven 8 snippet was gorgeous. (I'm partial to 2 & 8 but don't let the other symphonies know) can't wait to hear the rest of it. Dave you do a real service to neglected repetoire, when I first heard Kabelec and Novak, I had to get my hands on whatever I could find. Laughing outloud about the fair and balanced schulhoff marxisms and orff's struggles, I really don't care what composers believed or how they behaved, that's a matter for the courts. As Hamlet observed, If we're treated as we deserve noone would escape a whipping. After a piece of music convinces me that it's worth persuing further I might look into the background, it does add another dimension, I enjoy the complexity. Thanks again for this Dave, JIM Oaxaca
I had to smile on hearing your description of Martinu’s music as sometimes sounding like “dreamy fuzz.” It reminded me of Ned Rorem’s observation that Martinu’s music sounded to him like a “Chinese nightclub under water.”
Great review Dave! Thank you for putting things into context. This box is an essential tribute to the light-bringing art of Karel Ancerl and the unknown Czech composers, we want to hear more from.
Glad to see that Supraphon values its great recorded legacy. I'd really like to hear the Foerster "Easter" Symphony and the Novak works. Also Suk's Asrael..though I have a live performance (made directly from an original copy of the tape, not a broadcast) of Ancerl conducting it with the Cleveland Orchestra in Sept, 1971. Amazing. I was one of the very few students at the Institute of Music who knew who Ancerl was (from his great 60's recordings), so I hurried to secure a rehearsal pass as soon as it was announced. Wow..what a day. At the time, Ancerl was SUPPOSEDLY a candidate to replace George Szell, and these concerts were his "audition". Imagine that. Of course, Maazel had been secretly signed up a few months earlier; besides, Ancerl was considered too old (he died 2 years later). A great conductor. LR
Another neglected Czech composer championed by Ancerl was Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, who wrote wonderful antiphonal brass sonatas a la Gabrieli. Ancerl conducted one of the sonatas with the Boston Symphony at a concert at Tanglewood I attended in 1972. Also on the program was one of the most exciting Dvorak 8th's I can recall. Ancerl's concerts with the Boston Symphony were broadcast, but not made available on cd as far as I know.
I got my copy last week. I'm going to start listening next week. when I am fully ready to indulge myself. Now I feel delighted just looking at the box sitting on my shelf. So currently on the market, we have the gold series and the radio broadcasts on Supraphon, the Philips recordings on Australian Eloquence, and a handful of sets on Tahra (a label that I think releases cheap-looking products at more than full prices). I got to wonder if they are all of Ancerl's recordings or there are some more out there. I hope they can dig out more good stuff from the archives Thank you, Dave!!
i have on lp cbc records a very good performance of the pastoral symphony by beethoven with karel ancerl and the toronto symphonies orchestra recording in public in 1972....on of the best pastoral for me i have
Great and long expected box. And you're right that there are many debts to be payed regarding less known Czech composers. I especially like Kabeláč. Fortunatelly, at least his symphonies (he wrote eight, the 5th is perhaps the best but all are very enjoyable) are now available - there is a box by Czech Radio, issued few years ago, with Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Marko Ivanovič, very fine performances.
@@alanmcginn4796 Of course. But will you like them? Nobody can tell :-) It depends on what kind of music you like. Kabeláč wasn't an avantgarde composer, he prefered to follow classical forms, but developed original, distinctive style. Quite heroic type of symphonism. (If you are familiar with the Supraphon Ančerl Gold Edition, than you know his composition Mystery of Time.)
There is so much interesting Czech music that is unavailable on modern CD recordings. It is a major disadvantage to be a Czech composer, in this respect, as the national market is rather limited... and no one wants to go bankrupt, this is business and these are products that have to be SOLD on the global market... (Don't take me wrong... I would LOVE to have more Iša Krejčí or Bořkovec or Ježek on new CDs but I understand why it is hardly going to happen.) You can still sell a Dvořák or Janáček CD easier than Iša Krejčí or Pavel Bořkovec or the former Communist Party prominent Jiří Pauer or the highly suspected Jindřich Feld (a communist secret police agent FELAH, according to the Cibulka's list)... That said, there are exceptions. Jitka Hosprová recorded Feld's viola concerto for Supraphon in 2020, Radek Baborák recorded Pauer's horn concerto recently (Animal Music), a recording of Pavel Bořkovec's string quartet No 3 was published... The Opera Diversa Ensemble of Brno have recorded 3 CDs of Jan Novák's music... and the Brno Philharmonic are supposed to publish a CD of Jan Novák's music on their own label, soon. One has to dig a bit deeper to find all these...
I heard once those Variations on a Theme by Gustav Mahler, and I couldn't believe it. The composer just copy/pastes the first THREE MINUTES of the Adagietto.
Agree about the horrible Mahler Variations. Still don't appreciated Suk. Very good Don Juan. The Dvorak 8th makes a case for a work that somehow has been a blind spot for me since i performed in it during my college days. Generally a most interesting box worth getting. BTW, for all of the suffering Ancerl went through with the Nazis, his experiences made him a Communist. The Czech Philharmonic didn't like that fact when he was appointed their conductor.
The first classical concert I ever attended was in Toronto circa 1969 shortly after Karel Ancerl had been installed as chief conductor. I can't remember what was played but I do remember clapping after the first movement of a concerto, along with many others! Wished I'd had enough forethought to buy the programme. I have about 30 Ancerl CDs and am a Classics Today subscriber.
Thank you David for the best value in classical music out there. I said no to Gramophone some years ago and have welcomed your UA-cam series of videos with open arms and ears. Vive le revolution!
Many thanks on posting this video because this set will be on my short list for purchasing. Interestingly, I like the Klusak composition and it reminds me of other (phantasmagorical) works from Rochberg, Berio and Schnittke. What do you expect from someone who likes cow mooing music - viola de gamba and Allan Pettersson (I love Pettersson!!!). I am so pleased Kabeláč and Feld were also included because I have listened to them for years and I am sure the performances are first rate!
Dave and crew, There can't be too much Ancerl for me. This was such a treat to wake up to this morning 😁 The Beethoven 8 snippet was gorgeous. (I'm partial to 2 & 8 but don't let the other symphonies know) can't wait to hear the rest of it. Dave you do a real service to neglected repetoire, when I first heard Kabelec and Novak, I had to get my hands on whatever I could find.
Laughing outloud about the fair and balanced schulhoff marxisms and orff's struggles, I really don't care what composers believed or how they behaved, that's a matter for the courts. As Hamlet observed, If we're treated as we deserve noone would escape a whipping. After a piece of music convinces me that it's worth persuing further I might look into the background, it does add another dimension, I enjoy the complexity. Thanks again for this Dave, JIM Oaxaca
I had to smile on hearing your description of Martinu’s music as sometimes sounding like “dreamy fuzz.” It reminded me of Ned Rorem’s observation that Martinu’s music sounded to him like a “Chinese nightclub under water.”
Great review Dave! Thank you for putting things into context. This box is an essential tribute to the light-bringing art of Karel Ancerl and the unknown Czech composers, we want to hear more from.
Thanks for playing excerpts! It really makes your reviews more inclusive
Glad to see that Supraphon values its great recorded legacy. I'd really like to hear the Foerster "Easter" Symphony and the Novak works. Also Suk's Asrael..though I have a live performance (made directly from an original copy of the tape, not a broadcast) of Ancerl conducting it with the Cleveland Orchestra in Sept, 1971. Amazing. I was one of the very few students at the Institute of Music who knew who Ancerl was (from his great 60's recordings), so I hurried to secure a rehearsal pass as soon as it was announced. Wow..what a day. At the time, Ancerl was SUPPOSEDLY a candidate to replace George Szell, and these concerts were his "audition". Imagine that. Of course, Maazel had been secretly signed up a few months earlier; besides, Ancerl was considered too old (he died 2 years later). A great conductor. LR
Another neglected Czech composer championed by Ancerl was Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, who wrote wonderful antiphonal brass sonatas a la Gabrieli. Ancerl conducted one of the sonatas with the Boston Symphony at a concert at Tanglewood I attended in 1972. Also on the program was one of the most exciting Dvorak 8th's I can recall. Ancerl's concerts with the Boston Symphony were broadcast, but not made available on cd as far as I know.
I got my copy last week. I'm going to start listening next week. when I am fully ready to indulge myself. Now I feel delighted just looking at the box sitting on my shelf. So currently on the market, we have the gold series and the radio broadcasts on Supraphon, the Philips recordings on Australian Eloquence, and a handful of sets on Tahra (a label that I think releases cheap-looking products at more than full prices). I got to wonder if they are all of Ancerl's recordings or there are some more out there. I hope they can dig out more good stuff from the archives Thank you, Dave!!
Thanks for all the great content, David!
Thank you very much for watching (and tipping!).
i have on lp cbc records a very good performance of the pastoral symphony by beethoven with karel ancerl and the toronto symphonies orchestra recording in public in 1972....on of the best pastoral for me i have
Great and long expected box. And you're right that there are many debts to be payed regarding less known Czech composers. I especially like Kabeláč. Fortunatelly, at least his symphonies (he wrote eight, the 5th is perhaps the best but all are very enjoyable) are now available - there is a box by Czech Radio, issued few years ago, with Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and Marko Ivanovič, very fine performances.
Yes, I have the set.
Gentlemen. Are the symphonies worth listening to?
@@alanmcginn4796 Of course. But will you like them? Nobody can tell :-) It depends on what kind of music you like. Kabeláč wasn't an avantgarde composer, he prefered to follow classical forms, but developed original, distinctive style. Quite heroic type of symphonism. (If you are familiar with the Supraphon Ančerl Gold Edition, than you know his composition Mystery of Time.)
@@alanmcginn4796 you can sample this Ancerl box on youtube, I'm doing this as I write. All the best JIM Oaxaca
All. I have the ancerl set and I love it. I am eagerly awaiting a Supraphon gold edition box.
There is so much interesting Czech music that is unavailable on modern CD recordings. It is a major disadvantage to be a Czech composer, in this respect, as the national market is rather limited... and no one wants to go bankrupt, this is business and these are products that have to be SOLD on the global market... (Don't take me wrong... I would LOVE to have more Iša Krejčí or Bořkovec or Ježek on new CDs but I understand why it is hardly going to happen.) You can still sell a Dvořák or Janáček CD easier than Iša Krejčí or Pavel Bořkovec or the former Communist Party prominent Jiří Pauer or the highly suspected Jindřich Feld (a communist secret police agent FELAH, according to the Cibulka's list)... That said, there are exceptions. Jitka Hosprová recorded Feld's viola concerto for Supraphon in 2020, Radek Baborák recorded Pauer's horn concerto recently (Animal Music), a recording of Pavel Bořkovec's string quartet No 3 was published... The Opera Diversa Ensemble of Brno have recorded 3 CDs of Jan Novák's music... and the Brno Philharmonic are supposed to publish a CD of Jan Novák's music on their own label, soon. One has to dig a bit deeper to find all these...
I heard once those Variations on a Theme by Gustav Mahler, and I couldn't believe it. The composer just copy/pastes the first THREE MINUTES of the Adagietto.
Principal trumpet has 3 lungs, wow
Agree about the horrible Mahler Variations. Still don't appreciated Suk. Very good Don Juan. The Dvorak 8th makes a case for a work that somehow has been a blind spot for me since i performed in it during my college days. Generally a most interesting box worth getting. BTW, for all of the suffering Ancerl went through with the Nazis, his experiences made him a Communist. The Czech Philharmonic didn't like that fact when he was appointed their conductor.