Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

This world premiere of Leos Janacek´s opera, Sarka, in CD format is the last title making complete the series of Janacek opera recordings. The young Janacek began to write his first opera in 1887; in the following year he discontinued work on it and laid the unfinished opus aside. By the time he returned to Sarka, in 1918, he was a mature and respected composer. He then made a number of changes in the vocal parts, and involved his pupil Osvald Chlubna in work on the instrumentation of Act Three. Sarka was premiered by the Brno National Theatre, in November 1925. In its final version, the opera offers a combined projection of the youthful Janacek enchanted by the 1880s Romantic music, and the sophisticatedly original Janacek widely knownf for his masterpieces, Jenufa and Kata Kabanova. This project brought together a brilliant team of artists: the internationally renowned Janackian conductor and scholar Sir Charles Mackerras; star singers Eva Urbanova and Peter Straka as Sarka and Ctirad; and the excellent Czech Philharmonic Orchestra backed by the Czech Philharmonic Choir. For this particular occasion Universal Edition Wien produced new, critically revised performing material and score. This complete CD set of Janacek´s Sarka ranks at the top of Supraphon´s list of exclusive titles.

A Czech conductor who excelled worldwide. Martin Turnovsky recordings for the first time on CD.

Paradoxically, a greater opportunity to witness the artistry of the remarkable Czech conductor Martin Turnovsky, whose teachers included Karel Ančerl and George Szell, has been afforded to audiences abroad.

After winning the international conducting competition in Besancon (1958), he had to wait almost a decade for the real launch of his international career, since the totalitarian regime in Czechoslovakia prevented him from travelling around the world.

He was chief conductor of the Dresdner Staatskapelle and Staatsoper, and, after emigrating to the West at the end of the 1960s, led the Operas in Oslo and Bonn, guest-conducted the New York Philharmonic, the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic and other major orchestras. Only after the regime change in Czechoslovakia in 1989 could he renew his work with orchestras on home soil. In the 1960s he made numerous recordings for Supraphon. The majority of those presented on these discs are now available on CD for the first time. They bear witness to Turnovsky’s distinct talent, which several years later would dazzle to the full in front of the world’s most renowned orchestras.

Rarely mentioned in the same breath as his illustrious colleagues Talich, Kubelík and Ančerl, Karel Šejna (1896-1982) was perennially second-in-command, yet despite failing to receive the credit he deserves he too played a crucial role in shaping the history of the Czech Philharmonic. Initially solo double-bass of the orchestra, he began conducting upon Václav Talich’s request and in 1939 was officially named its second conductor. And he also remained deputy after the departure of Talich, who was replaced by Rafael Kubelík, as well as after Kubelík’s emigration, when Karel Ančerl was appointed (originally against the orchestra members’ will) to the vacant post of chief conductor. Consequently, still playing “second fiddle”, Šejna went on to conduct dozens of concerts and make numerous recordings, which today rank among the finest in the Supraphon archives. Period critics branded him a flexible and vivid conductor who always required an understanding of the style and consistently worked with detail. In 1972, Šejna rounded off a half-century of work for the Czech Philharmonic with Mahler’s Symphony No. 4. Šejna’s sensitively remastered recordings from 1950-1962, from the bracing Mozart played “with a light hand” to Mahler’s fourth, are now released by Supraphon for the first time on CD.

Owing in large part to their exotic inspiration, Rimsky-Korsakov’s Sheherazade and Aram Khachaturian’s Gayane are among the most beautiful and most frequently performed Russian and Soviet works of music. The creator of Sheherazade, who as a young navy officer travelled the oceans, was enchanted by the Oriental collection of stories and folk tales The One Thousand and One Nights.

Yet Rimsky-Korsakov’s colourful instrumentation also gave lustre to another work, Mussorgsky’s fantasia Night on Bald Mountain, with its dramatic depiction of a wild Sabbath of witches. Khachaturian’s ballet suite Gayane includes Armenian folk melodies, which were the composer’s most powerful inspiration and undoubtedly helped to earn the piece global popularity (the celebrated Sabre Dance is one of the most frequently played compositions worldwide). The recordings of all three works were made between 1953 and 1955, the paramount period of Zdeněk Chalabala, the chief conductor of Prague’s National Theatre Opera at the time. The great imagination with which he tells stories, combined with the inimitable timbre of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, makes these recordings truly remarkable. Yet another treasure appearing on CD for the first time…

Karel Reiner (1910–79) – a lost voice in Czech music – suffered under both the major tyrannies of twentieth-century Europe: he was imprisoned in Terezín and other concentration camps, including Auschwitz, but survived them all, only to have his music banned when he dared to criticise the Czechoslovak Communists after the War.

His Cello Concerto, recorded here for the first time, was written as an act of defiance under Nazi occupation, his last piece before he was deported: it was scored for a large orchestra when there was no chance of a performance.

The most important Czech cello concerto after the Dvořák, it is a large and powerful piece, audibly in the Czech tradition.

The three chamber works on the CD – all also first recordings – reveal a mildly modernist voice, influenced by Martinů and Stravinsky.

This is Toccata Classics’ first SACD recording.

The sound, the name, the first international successes, as well as the first recordings made by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, are inseparably linked with the name of Václav Talich. The recordings contained on this CD originated under truly exceptional circumstances and document unrepeatable moments.

The performance of Smetana’s My Country on 5 June 1939 in Nazi-occupied Protectorate Prague – and what’s more, at the National Theatre, perceived as a symbol of national cohesion – was an expressive manifestation of Talich’s patriotism. The moment’s sheer emotional charge gave rise to what may justly be considered the conductor’s finest recording of My Country and, following a long-lasting ovation, the enthusiastic audience spontaneously rounded off the concert by singing the Czech national anthem.

The presented recording of this concert and that of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, which was performed at the National Theatre four days later, have been preserved owing to their direct transmission to several European cities. The recording was made by Radio Norway, which possessed the most advanced audiorecording technology of the time. Talich’s My Country, exuding defiance and a resolve to protect freedom, stands in stark contrast to Rafael Kubelík’s legendary 1990 My Country, which reflects the euphoria at the regaining of freedom. This recording, first released by the Czech Philharmonic, was hailed by the distinguished critic Rob Cowan in Gramophone magazine as perhaps the most powerful My Country to have ever been recorded.

Suk’s Asrael – Sir Charles Mackerras’s unreleased recording with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

Josef Suk began writing the funeral symphony Asrael to commemorate his teacher and father-in-law Antonín Dvořák. During the course of work, however, Fate dealt him another crushing blow: Asrael, the Angel of Death, took away Suk’s wife and Dvořák’s daughter, Otilie. The symphony is a story of a suffering whose strength seems simply unendurable, yet also a story of its overcoming, seeking solace and hope.

Sir Charles Mackerras’s live recording of Asrael originated on a Good Friday, 6 April 2007, one hundred years after the symphony’s premiere. The Australian conductor had first heard about the Asrael some sixty years previously from Suk’s close friend, Václav Talich. In later years Mackerras confessed that he perceived the work in a completely different light after his daughter had died. Sir Charles conducted Suk’s Asrael during one of his last performances with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. It is also his last previously unreleased recording with this orchestra.

Rostropovich’s famous performance of Dvorak’s second cello concerto appears at super budget price for the first time and is coupled with Maxian’s rendition of the Piano Concerto. Idiomatic accompaniment is given by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Vaclav Talich.

'This is a performance in which the soloist emphasises the lyrical side of the work and dwells yearningly on its lovely tunes in a way that is poignant and moving........ Rostropovich commands a beautiful singing tone’ Gramophone

When reflecting on Nicola Benedetti’s varied career to date it’s easy to forget that she has only just turned 23. Benedetti shot into the public spotlight as winner of the BBC Young Musician of the Year at the age of 16 and has since released four albums for Deutsche Grammophon while building a solid international career.

Benedetti’s career was crowned this summer when she made her BBC Proms debut, performing Vaughan Williams’ ‘The Lark Ascending’ in the Royal Albert Hall. Other recent and upcoming highlights include debuts with the Russian National Orchestra, as well as her Dallas and Pittsburg debuts.

In her previous recordings Benedetti has always made creative repertoire choices with innovative groupings of pieces. Works have included world premiere recordings by leading British composers such James MacMillan and Sir John Tavener. But now Benedetti, for the first time, has recorded two giants of the violin concerto repertoire, the Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, op.35 and Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor, op.26.

The Tchaikovsky and Bruch concertos, composed in 1878 and 1866 respectively, are two of the best-known – and best-loved - concertos in the repertoire. In the case of the Tchaikovsky it is also one of the most technically demanding.

Although Benedetti’s fifth album for Deutsche Grammophon, this will be her first of entirely standard violin repertoire. With this album, Benedetti has recorded works against which all violinists must test themselves.