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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Martinu - Symphonies Nos. 5 & 6
Jirí Belohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic follow up their critically acclaimed 2005 album of Martinu’s Symphonies Nos 3 and 4 (SU36312), which was nominated for a Grammy award and hailed by critics as a recording par excellence of these works. This eagerly awaited CD, the second in a planned complete set, presents the composer’s last two symphonies, both written during his post-war sojourn in America. Symphony No. 5 was finished in 1946 and reflects Martinu’s doubt and disenchantment over developments in Czechoslovakia, the homeland to which he would never return. His last symphony, dedicated to his friend Charles Munch, then conductor of the Boston Symphony, was written during the years 1951–53. The wide-ranging and colourful orchestration of the “Symphonic Fantasies,”as Martinu himself titled it, marked a return to the symphonism and traditions of the late-Romantic music of the late 19th/early 20th centuries. On this album, Jirí Belohlávek leads the Czech Philharmonic in a tribute to a composer on whose works he has been focusing for decades. “the complex textures of the first movement [of the Fifth] are superbly delineated and the finale has thrilling immediacy... Belohlávek responds to [the Sixth's] disparate moods magnificently in a performance of, at times, breathtaking intensity.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2010 **** “Both works are splendidly rendered with No. 5 best of all, a vivid interpretation benefiting from the buzz of a live performance. Belohlávek gets the balace in the tricky finale just right, letting the mood-progression of sadness-joy-determination flow organically and logically...A richly rewarding disc.” Gramophone Magazine, June 2010 “The Czech Philharmonic cycle under Belohlavek on Chandos has real authenticity of feeling and very good recording quality to commend it.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition “The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is brilliantly precise yet thoughtful.” Sunday Times, 10th January 2010 **** “There's an easy mastery about his approach, which belies the difficulty of making this deceptively straightforward music appear as naturally expressive as it does here, and which he was clearly able to transmit to the BBCSO players as well. The busiest textures are beautifully transparent, ensuring the piquancy of the harmonies is never blunted, and no details are overlooked” The Guardian, 21st July 2011 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Bohuslav Martinu
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“It has all the sense of discovery and wonder that makes a strong claim on collectors even though the mono sound has its limitations.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Martinu - Symphonies
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“Time may yet confirm Martin?'s symphonic series as one of the most original reflections of their age... Naxos and Fagen put a wide listenership in their debt by making the full story available at bargain price.” BBC Music Magazine | | | (also available to download from $5.75) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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Recorded live at the Barbican in London, these recordings represent the first complete CD cycle of Martinu’s symphonies conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. The critically acclaimed concerts were given to mark the 50th anniversary of Martinu’s death in 1959. Martinu’s six symphonies are a major contribution to 20th-century symphonic literature, and yet are still undervalued. Spanning the years before, during and after the Second World War, they capture the turmoil, hopes and fears of the composer and his homeland – a homeland that suffered unimaginable cruelties under the Nazis. At the end of the war, Martinu was the only major Czech composer of his generation to have survived. Yet through the underlying currents of menace in the later works, the irrepressible Czech spirit survives, and the country’s folk music is never far from the surface in these powerful and sincere works. As conductor Jiří Bělohlávek says ‘I personally love all of Martinu’s symphonies for the rich, colourful orchestration and undeniable Czech flair which always prevail in them, despite the fact that they also reflect the musical developments of their time.’ “Magic always happens when Belohlávek conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra in Czech works...this set of Martinu’s six symphonies, taken from Barbican concerts last season, overflows with the same qualities that make the music so endearing: heart-warming ebullience, visionary fantasy, soaring passion, the most piquant orchestral colours.” The Times, 15th July 2011 **** **** Sunday Times, 10th July 2011 “You won’t find a more persuasive champion than Belohlávek, who has the music in his blood. His skill at unravelling Martinu’s rhythmic and textural knots – evidenced time and again in these live performances by the BBC Symphony Orchestra – is such that you immediately sense the stature of the music.” Financial Times, 30th July 2011 **** “Martin˚u’s symphonies tend to divide opinion and have not enjoyed anything like the same exposure as those of his Czech predecessor, Dvorak. But if anyone can find the key to their language, it is Jiří Bělohlávek...there is plenty of freshness, verve and expressive wisdom on this set.” The Telegraph, 4th August 2011 “The BBC Symphony Orchestra sounds consistently alert, nimble and alive to Martinu's distinct musical moods...Bělohlávek demonstrates total commitment and concentration and his players are with him at every turn, captured in sharp sound that reveals the workings of the music. And since when did the BBC SO's strings have such a chameleonic ability to twist and shade their collective mood? Impressive and charming.” Classic FM Magazine, October 2011 **** “Belohlavek and the orchestra are superb in the first three symphonies. He captures Martinu's shimmering, luminous orchestral textures and invests the pervasive 'sprung' rhythms of the faster movements with an infectious bounce. Belohlavek's emotional engagement is always complete...and throughout the set, Belohlavek's grasp of the trajectory of the symphonic argument is at all times apparent.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2011 ***** “Play them back to back and the inevitable risk is that they may all begin to sound too much alike, but such is Jiri Belohlavek's skill as a Martinu interpreter that the effect is still of impressive stylistic variety...In short, Belohlavek and the BBC SO are now my top recommendation for the Martinu symphonies” Gramophone Magazine, October 2011 | | Onyx - ONYX4061 (CD - 3 discs) Normally: $33.50 Special: $23.45 |
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| |  | Martinu - Complete Symphonies
As with all enormously prolific composers, Martinuº’s works are uneven in quality; but his symphonies are generally held among the outstanding 20th-century examples of the genre. All six were written in the USA, the first five in consecutive years from 1942 – the shadow of war can be heard in several march-like movements – but they frequently reveal the composer’s Czech origins, particularly in the stirring slow movements which become darker and more probing as the cycle progresses. The textures and rhythms have a percussive energy that derives both from his formative years of study in Paris in the 1920s and from the prominent use of a piano within the orchestra. “The Bambergers play for all they are worth for Järvi, who brings out Martinu’s individual qualities and secures a remarkable degree of clarity.” Gramophone Magazine | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Martinu - The Symphonies
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Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Valek The sextuplet of Martinu symphonies originated within a very short time frame (Symphonies Nos. 1-5 within a mere five years – from 1942 to 1946 in the USA; Symphony No. 6, designated Fantaisies symphoniques, was completed in 1953) at a time when the composer enjoyed general acclaim and was bursting with creative energy. It was as if only on a new continent, where he was driven by war and was warmly welcomed, could Martinu muster up the courage to plunge into this classical form and seek to catch up on what he had “missed out on” until then. | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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Gramophone Awards 2010
Gramophone Magazine