I share your enthusiasm for Supraphon, Czech Orchestras, and musicians. (Many thanks for directing my attention to the Beethoven String Quartets performed by the Smetana Quartet, as well as these recommendations.) The Ancerl Mahler 9 is a great, heartfelt performance and indispensable, just wishing the decent enough sound matched the magnificence of the performance. The Kabeláč Mystery of Time is one of several compositions I adore for an originality exploring otherworldliness. The others are the haunting Nachtmusik of Mahler's Symphony no 7, Langgaard's Music of the Spheres, Markevitch's Icare, and Bartok's MSPC.
Yeah man… way to go mentioning Roussel again! Glad every time you sneak him in. Today I adjudicated auditions and used excerpts from the 3rd symphony for the sight reading. Many traps to fall into! Great survey. I recently heard a wonderful recording on streaming while dozing off on the plane, of Jakub Hrusa conducting the Novak Piano Concerto and Toman… I couldn’t sleep because Toman was so inventive and colorful. Really good stuff.
Some grim stuff, sort of: Otakar Ostrčil: Calvary (his greatest piece, IMHO), used to come coupled with Suk's Symphony in E major; Ladislav Vycpálek: Czech Requiem/Cantata of the Last Things of Man; Vítězslav Novák: The Storm
Thanks so much for introducing me to Kabelac. There is a wonderful live performance of the Mysteries of Time by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jakub Hrusa here on UA-cam.
An intriguing list for sure. But I am still digesting several of you recent lists of unusual compositions! But the Martinu got my attention, and it is WONDERFUL. Also, many thanks for bringing Martinu squarely in front of me, as he is now among my favorites, as is Reger, Dohnanyi, Delius, Raff, Lloyd the Americans, gosh, it sounds as if they all are...Anyway, thanks again!
Great talk Dave. Thanks again. I also loved your Groves vid. So rare to find untrammeled enthusiasm these days, especially from a critic! Supraphon releases are always special & were thankfully well distributed at low prices here in UK. When I look at my ancient vinyl collection I'm staggered at the quantity of marvellous supraphon albums...
Dave, I listened to the Kabelac and I must get it. It’s amazing. The passacaglia form is so interesting and unique, it might be a good subject for a video.
I see that Suprafon will be issuing a new cd of these two Kabelac works, plus his Metamorphoses, in late September, with Prague/Ivan over. I will preorder!
Wonderful label. The recordings of Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, the Czech early polyphonic & Bohemian plainchant choir, are marvellous, especially Codex Franus & music from the era of Charles IV
Some said that Czechia has the most number of composers in terms of the smallest part of land. Mahler grew up in Jihlava and learned music of Jihlava musicians. Smetana studied one year in Jihlava, but wanted to move to other gymnasium. Dvořak was performing on piano with cellist and violinist, on his tour in 40 cities before going to US, including Jihlava...But they said in new book and article that in Jihlava they had to pay special attention, because 20 percent of Jihlava were Czechs and 80 percent were Germans.
I truly cherish the Supraphons I bought during my college years, as they introduced me to the wonderful Czech trombone player, Zdenek Pulek. After that, I explored some other Supraphons, not easily available in the Houston record shops, where I discovered the wonderful sound of the Czech Philharmonic. To this day, Supraphon remains one of my favorite labels.
I am eagerly awaiting an Ancerl box. Will I be waiting or do we all think supraphon has a great Christmas present for us all up their sleeves. I think it would fly off the shelves. Please supraphon. Please!
There were so many Supraphon discs in my early collection e.g. the compilation Little Pearls of Czech Music, and Vaclav Neumann's disc with both of Dvorak's Cello Concertos - I had no idea that the earlier was an orchestration of an incomplete piano-score version, and wondered why so many people referred to THE Dvorak concerto. There was also Martinu's ballet "Who Is the Most Powerful in the World?" I'd heard it on the radio, was enchanted by it and marched into my classical specialist CD store to find it, and was basically laughed out of the store by the staff who told me that "no ballet by such a name existed by anyone!" Took me a few more years to track it down.
Yes The Greek Passion taped it off the radio loved this piece! BIg Martinu fan also need to get Julietta Key to Dreams such a quirky surrealist composer. Agree so many good Czech operas to explore from Dvorak not just Rusalka. Martinu wrote 16 operas I believe a lot of them short revues, also love his Cantata the Legend of the Smoke from Potato Fires😀
Another Supraphon record worth listening is Symphony No. 1 by Svatopluk Havelka. Technically, it is almost a copy of Shostakovich 6th, but filled with original tunes, resembling to those used in Havelka's film scores that he later became famous for.
Great video...! Totally new insights in great non-standad repertoire. Maybe it's interesting for your "early music" series: "Westhoff - 6 Sonates for Violin et Basso Continuo" played by David Plantier, Violin. I discoverd this CD lately and I didn't want to withhold it from you. Keep on listening!
I remember an LP of Andre Navarra playing the Cello Concertos of Darius Milhaud on Supraphon. I don't remember the Orchestra or Conductor. Wonderful sunny works. Do you have it?
Oh how I wish Supraphon would box together the Schulhoff recordings that came and went in too short a time. (Same with Decca and the Entartete collection.)
In addition to this list, I'd encourage you to investigate about Viktor Kalabis, another splendid Czech composer. Some of his symphonies, concertos and orchestral music have been recorded by Supraphon. His style is somewhat challenging, aggressive, reminding me of Honegger, mostly.
Lovely. As it happens I’m getting out of the UK next week and I’m going to Prague for a few days (anyone wants a coffee or whatever, let me know!) So I’ve been thinking reCzech music. I must check out (so to speak) some of these that I’ve never heard, so thanks. I did get a Foerster CD (Supraphon) of piano trios and I have to say the first one is really fun, sounds like something written collaboratively by Brahms and Dvorak after having a few too many in a Prague cafe - the final does have some good ideas but plainly by that point it wasn’t clear how to make it work! Quite charming though overall. I was wondering re Pavel Haas, who doesn’t turn up here, but a bunch of his stuff isn’t on Supraphon and is hard to get now (eg the Opera “šarlatan” which is really impressive). But his quartets are, played by the quartet named after him, and if people don’t know him, it’s at least someone who developed Janáček, so worth hearing. His story (like Ančerl’s, and connected in the most personal way) is very disturbing, but his music is also so interesting sans biography.
The Novak CD seems to be available on Amazon, but very, very expensive. It also seems to be available on youtube, two entries, one for each of the two pieces of music on the CD.
The Supraphon albums containing Nikotina and Signorina Gioventu can be easily found on Spotify. Good as those recordings are, these two glorious, colorful, and tuneful ballets cry out for new recordings to give them further exposure. I see that Naxos is embarking on a new series of Novak’s orchestral works under Marek Stilec, so maybe there’s hope!
It sounds like the Martinu Opera is based on the novel "Christ Recrucified" by Nikos Kazantzakis which is an excellent book, I am very curious to hear this opera now. thanks!
Supraphon is, indeed, a most wonderful record label with a lot of (hidden) treasures and gems. Glad that you draw attention to the fact, that Smetana was a composer of other operas than 'The Bartered Bride', that are of equal merit. Beside 'The Two Widows', personal favourites are 'The Secret' and 'The Kiss' (with that warmly comforting lullaby, spiked with just a slight drop of melancholy). With the risk of triggering the 'Delete-button': Mahler was a lot of things - a great composer, seen with the eyes of today; a great conductor and reformator (eradicating any kind of 'Schlamperei', i.e. bad habits and mindless routine, at the Vienna Staatsoper); and a great inspirator, just think of Walter and Klemperer. But, German?! Njah, I think not. He was - as rightly stated - from Bohemia and he was Jewish, but concerning his nationality, he was a subject of the Austrian-Hungarian double-monarchy. His short working stint in Hamburg made him no more a German, than it makes a Canadian an US-American to work a couple of years in New York City!
I think you are spouting the usual nationalist crap--it's all bullshit and you Europeans need to get over it. There, I didn't delete you, because I wanted to make the point. Come on! You're really smarter than this.
You've steered me towards composers I've not heard of, and works by composers that are new to me - I do hope you realize the hole you're making in my bank balance = still, I'd only spend it on booze and cigars...
Supraphon is a good label but so many albums are not downloads, including Vlaclav Neumann's Mahler. Also short playing time for some album's including this one, which I'm recommending. It contains Janacek Suite for Strings, Schulhoff Festive Overture a hoot! and Kubin Song Of Coal. Running time of only 36 minutes though. Ancerl's Mahler 9 is a classic and Kletzki's Beethoven sets you back $20, which to my mind is a bargain.
Thanks for this video. I'm proud of our composers and musicians. The problematic first name Jindřich you tried to pronounce means just Henry. Nothing special :))
I had so many things I was going to do today, but now I will be forced to listen to so much music. Darn you Dave.
So much music; so little time.
This is the extra special stuff you give us, Dave, that we are unlikely to find anywhere else. Thanks.
I share your enthusiasm for Supraphon, Czech Orchestras, and musicians. (Many thanks for directing my attention to the Beethoven String Quartets performed by the Smetana Quartet, as well as these recommendations.) The Ancerl Mahler 9 is a great, heartfelt performance and indispensable, just wishing the decent enough sound matched the magnificence of the performance. The Kabeláč Mystery of Time is one of several compositions I adore for an originality exploring otherworldliness. The others are the haunting Nachtmusik of Mahler's Symphony no 7, Langgaard's Music of the Spheres, Markevitch's Icare, and Bartok's MSPC.
I bought the Bloch violin concerto right away. It's fantastic. Thank you very very much. I love your videos.
Thanks for watching.
Yeah man… way to go mentioning Roussel again! Glad every time you sneak him in. Today I adjudicated auditions and used excerpts from the 3rd symphony for the sight reading. Many traps to fall into! Great survey. I recently heard a wonderful recording on streaming while dozing off on the plane, of Jakub Hrusa conducting the Novak Piano Concerto and Toman… I couldn’t sleep because Toman was so inventive and colorful. Really good stuff.
www.classicstoday.com/review/novak-wrote-a-piano-concerto-who-knew/?search=1
Other recommendable Supraphon albums:
1. Frantisek Tuma (1704-1774): Requiem (Roman Valek/Czech Ensemble Baroque)
2. Pavel Vranicky (1756-1808): Symphonies (Bohumil Gregor/Dvorak Chamber Orchestra)
3. Karel Kovarovic (1862-1920): Complete String Quartets (Stamic Quartet)
4. Oskar Nedbal (1874-1930): The Tale of Honza & Princess Hyacinth (Miroslav Homolka/Dvorak Chamber Orchestra) [The Tale of Honza contains his most popular piece, the wonderful Valse Triste!]
5. Otakar Ostrcil (1879-1935): Sinfonietta & Impromptu (Jiri Belohlavek/Prague Symphony Orchestra)
6. Karel Husa (1921-2016): Music for Prague (Tomas Brauner/Prague Symphony Orchestra)
Some grim stuff, sort of: Otakar Ostrčil: Calvary (his greatest piece, IMHO), used to come coupled with Suk's Symphony in E major; Ladislav Vycpálek: Czech Requiem/Cantata of the Last Things of Man; Vítězslav Novák: The Storm
Thanks so much for introducing me to Kabelac. There is a wonderful live performance of the Mysteries of Time by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jakub Hrusa here on UA-cam.
An intriguing list for sure. But I am still digesting several of you recent lists of unusual compositions! But the Martinu got my attention, and it is WONDERFUL. Also, many thanks for bringing Martinu squarely in front of me, as he is now among my favorites, as is Reger, Dohnanyi, Delius, Raff, Lloyd the Americans, gosh, it sounds as if they all are...Anyway, thanks again!
Thanks for sharing!
Great talk Dave. Thanks again. I also loved your Groves vid. So rare to find untrammeled enthusiasm these days, especially from a critic! Supraphon releases are always special & were thankfully well distributed at low prices here in UK. When I look at my ancient vinyl collection I'm staggered at the quantity of marvellous supraphon albums...
Dave, I listened to the Kabelac and I must get it. It’s amazing. The passacaglia form is so interesting and unique, it might be a good subject for a video.
Think about it...
Yes agree on the passacaglia form: Britten, Shostakovich, etc.
Supraphon have now a new recording...
I see that Suprafon will be issuing a new cd of these two Kabelac works, plus his Metamorphoses, in late September, with Prague/Ivan over. I will preorder!
That’s Prague/Ivanovec. I hate spellcheck. You can’t spell Czech.
Wonderful label. The recordings of Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, the Czech early polyphonic & Bohemian plainchant choir, are marvellous, especially Codex Franus & music from the era of Charles IV
I also want to thank you for bringing Martinu to my attention.
Some said that Czechia has the most number of composers in terms of the smallest part of land.
Mahler grew up in Jihlava and learned music of Jihlava musicians. Smetana studied one year in Jihlava, but wanted to move to other gymnasium.
Dvořak was performing on piano with cellist and violinist, on his tour in 40 cities before going to US, including Jihlava...But they said in new book and article that in Jihlava they had to pay special attention, because 20 percent of Jihlava were Czechs and 80 percent were Germans.
I truly cherish the Supraphons I bought during my college years, as they introduced me to the wonderful Czech trombone player, Zdenek Pulek. After that, I explored some other Supraphons, not easily available in the Houston record shops, where I discovered the wonderful sound of the Czech Philharmonic. To this day, Supraphon remains one of my favorite labels.
I am eagerly awaiting an Ancerl box. Will I be waiting or do we all think supraphon has a great Christmas present for us all up their sleeves. I think it would fly off the shelves. Please supraphon. Please!
There were so many Supraphon discs in my early collection e.g. the compilation Little Pearls of Czech Music, and Vaclav Neumann's disc with both of Dvorak's Cello Concertos - I had no idea that the earlier was an orchestration of an incomplete piano-score version, and wondered why so many people referred to THE Dvorak concerto.
There was also Martinu's ballet "Who Is the Most Powerful in the World?" I'd heard it on the radio, was enchanted by it and marched into my classical specialist CD store to find it, and was basically laughed out of the store by the staff who told me that "no ballet by such a name existed by anyone!" Took me a few more years to track it down.
Not sure they deserve the epithet specialist, I find a lot of charity shops offer better choice and service.
Yes The Greek Passion taped it off the radio loved this piece!
BIg Martinu fan also need to get Julietta Key to Dreams such a quirky surrealist composer.
Agree so many good Czech operas to explore from Dvorak not just Rusalka.
Martinu wrote 16 operas I believe a lot of them short revues, also love his Cantata the Legend of the Smoke from Potato Fires😀
Another Supraphon record worth listening is Symphony No. 1 by Svatopluk Havelka. Technically, it is almost a copy of Shostakovich 6th, but filled with original tunes, resembling to those used in Havelka's film scores that he later became famous for.
Great video...! Totally new insights in great non-standad repertoire. Maybe it's interesting for your "early music" series: "Westhoff - 6 Sonates for Violin et Basso Continuo" played by David Plantier, Violin. I discoverd this CD lately and I didn't want to withhold it from you. Keep on listening!
Thanks for suggesting this.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thank YOU for your videos!
I remember an LP of Andre Navarra playing the Cello Concertos of Darius Milhaud on Supraphon. I don't remember the Orchestra or Conductor. Wonderful sunny works. Do you have it?
Oh how I wish Supraphon would box together the Schulhoff recordings that came and went in too short a time. (Same with Decca and the Entartete collection.)
In addition to this list, I'd encourage you to investigate about Viktor Kalabis, another splendid Czech composer. Some of his symphonies, concertos and orchestral music have been recorded by Supraphon. His style is somewhat challenging, aggressive, reminding me of Honegger, mostly.
His Symphony no. 2 “Sinfonia pacis” is a powerful masterpiece, and not overly challenging either I’d say.
Nikotina is available on the streamers, though I don't see it as a download for purchase. It goes well with a cigar.
Lovely. As it happens I’m getting out of the UK next week and I’m going to Prague for a few days (anyone wants a coffee or whatever, let me know!) So I’ve been thinking reCzech music. I must check out (so to speak) some of these that I’ve never heard, so thanks. I did get a Foerster CD (Supraphon) of piano trios and I have to say the first one is really fun, sounds like something written collaboratively by Brahms and Dvorak after having a few too many in a Prague cafe - the final does have some good ideas but plainly by that point it wasn’t clear how to make it work! Quite charming though overall.
I was wondering re Pavel Haas, who doesn’t turn up here, but a bunch of his stuff isn’t on Supraphon and is hard to get now (eg the Opera “šarlatan” which is really impressive). But his quartets are, played by the quartet named after him, and if people don’t know him, it’s at least someone who developed Janáček, so worth hearing. His story (like Ančerl’s, and connected in the most personal way) is very disturbing, but his music is also so interesting sans biography.
What are the chances of you doing a similar talk on another Czech label, Nibiru? Their catalogue looks like a treasure trove.
The Novak CD seems to be available on Amazon, but very, very expensive. It also seems to be available on youtube, two entries, one for each of the two pieces of music on the CD.
The Supraphon albums containing Nikotina and Signorina Gioventu can be easily found on Spotify. Good as those recordings are, these two glorious, colorful, and tuneful ballets cry out for new recordings to give them further exposure. I see that Naxos is embarking on a new series of Novak’s orchestral works under Marek Stilec, so maybe there’s hope!
It sounds like the Martinu Opera is based on the novel "Christ Recrucified" by Nikos Kazantzakis which is an excellent book, I am very curious to hear this opera now. thanks!
That's the one.
Supraphon is, indeed, a most wonderful record label with a lot of (hidden) treasures and gems. Glad that you draw attention to the fact, that Smetana was a composer of other operas than 'The Bartered Bride', that are of equal merit. Beside 'The Two Widows', personal favourites are 'The Secret' and 'The Kiss' (with that warmly comforting lullaby, spiked with just a slight drop of melancholy).
With the risk of triggering the 'Delete-button': Mahler was a lot of things - a great composer, seen with the eyes of today; a great conductor and reformator (eradicating any kind of 'Schlamperei', i.e. bad habits and mindless routine, at the Vienna Staatsoper); and a great inspirator, just think of Walter and Klemperer. But, German?! Njah, I think not. He was - as rightly stated - from Bohemia and he was Jewish, but concerning his nationality, he was a subject of the Austrian-Hungarian double-monarchy. His short working stint in Hamburg made him no more a German, than it makes a Canadian an US-American to work a couple of years in New York City!
I think you are spouting the usual nationalist crap--it's all bullshit and you Europeans need to get over it. There, I didn't delete you, because I wanted to make the point. Come on! You're really smarter than this.
You've steered me towards composers I've not heard of, and works by composers that are new to me - I do hope you realize the hole you're making in my bank balance = still, I'd only spend it on booze and cigars...
Supraphon is a good label but so many albums are not downloads, including Vlaclav Neumann's Mahler. Also short playing time for some album's including this one, which I'm recommending. It contains Janacek Suite for Strings, Schulhoff Festive Overture a hoot! and Kubin Song Of Coal. Running time of only 36 minutes though. Ancerl's Mahler 9 is a classic and Kletzki's Beethoven sets you back $20, which to my mind is a bargain.
Novak Nikotina is available as an inexpensive download - as are many of these discs.
Do you plan to review the new I Musici box set?
Of course. One track at a time.
Thanks Dave! Do you know the Supraphone’s recording of Myslivecek’s violin concertos?
Sure.
Would you recommend this recording?
@@ThePamphili The music is nice, not thrilling, and the performances quite good, but there's not much to compare them to. So it's your call.
Thanks for this video. I'm proud of our composers and musicians. The problematic first name Jindřich you tried to pronounce means just Henry. Nothing special :))
I know what it means. Thank God it's not Frederick.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Happy Birthday. I wish you will keep enjoying running this channel with same enthusiasm.
Are you familiar with Hrusa?
Sure.
I meant karel husa@@DavesClassicalGuide