Repertoire: The BEST and WORST Janáček Sinfonietta
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- Опубликовано: 9 дек 2020
- Like all of the works of Janáček's last decade, the Sinfonietta offers extraordinary sonorities (from 14 trumpets, no less) and boundless energy-- in this case within a very compact, five-movement form. It has become extremely popular in recent decades, with many recordings that vary from superb to absolutely horrible. This chat will identify the best of them, while also offering some observations on the composer's distinctive idiom and sound-world.
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David! Very pleased to hear you mention, with gusto!, Maestro Serebrier’s 2-disc Janacek on Reference Recordings. We are very proud of these recordings and welcome music lovers to discover them.
PLEASE, release these in high resolution download format.
@@2005Axiom Thank you for your suggestion. If the original tapes condition will support a transfer to high resolution digital this might be possible. We'll pass this on to you engineering team.
One of my favorite of all times is the Symphonietta. What l can't understand is how the kettle drums are sometimes played softly. In this piece, they need to get banged as furiously as possible.
Dave, your passion is infectious. Thanks a million.
My pleasure!
@@DavesClassicalGuide I must agree. You remind me of my old record store days when we'd get excited about a piece or a recording., then rush home and play it again
These videos where you play portions of the music and point out specific things before (and after) are so incredibly helpful! I know they must be some work to make, but please know that they are incredibly interesting and informative to me (and I’m sure, others too)!
Glad you like them!
The first time I ever heard this was at a conservatory orchestra concert, and my impression was like discovering gold. "Where have I been?"
I know the feeling.
If there is one composer which really creates a new universe it's Janacek. The first time I heard music of him - Zápisník zmizelého (The Diary of One Who Disappeared) - it was the discovery of something that I never thought could even exist!
Dave, your insightful analysis gave me a deeper understanding of a piece I have always loved. For many years my "reference" recording of the Sinfonietta was the old (and great) Ancerl version. Thinking I needed to add a new and better-sounding recording of it to my library, I followed the advice of the "Penguin Guide" and obtained the Rattle version, coupled with the Glagolitic Mass. Boy, was I disappointed! After only one hearing I gave that recording to the local library and purchased the Wit version on Naxos, with which I am very satisfied (and the Mass coupling is equally fine). Your negative comments about the Rattle were right on target, as were your positive ones about the Wit.
Glorious! Like the music he loves, Hurwitz pours out a paean to life itself: the life of the soul, expressed in sound. Deeply perceptive, witty and wry by turns, incisive but never malicious, his words send one back to the music itself, refreshed and purified: prepared to listen hard: because music matters: and it matters that it be made surpassingly well. Many thanks for so kindly enkindling this passionate conviction in our souls, dear friend. Look to much more to come!
I was so looking forward to this video...the Sinfonietta is probably my single favorite work in the whole classical repertoire. My current favorite (which I got for a steal on LP just a couple of weeks ago is Bakala with the Czech Phil. Such ballsy brass! I’m a man obsessed. I will give Wit a listen, I quite enjoy all of his performances you’ve mentioned. Ancerl is wonderful too but not quite as bold and brave I think. Serebrier is very, very good and you get so much good stuff with it.
When you pulled up the Serebrier on Reference Recordings I knew I could rest easy. Stunning disc.
As also for me. Lahaina Dances are also great.
We have Solti to thank for Mackerras's Janacek. Solti and Mackerras were very close friends. They holidayed together etc. After Decca's "Ring" cycle with Solti, Decca asked Solti to record a Janacek cycle with the VPO .Solti said_"I know nothing of this composer. You should ask the conductor Charles Mackerras who knows everything about Janacek." Decca did. The rest is history...
Thanks David! I found all of the recordings on apple music. Can't wait to hear new interpretations of this work. I especially like when they "whack the crap" out of the timpani at the beginning.
Darn it, getting me to buy more recordings
How could there be a better video review of Janacek's Sinfonietta! Absolutely amazing (so detailed). I ordered a bunch of CD's. I ran across Janacek while going through the Szell big box that I bought as per your other video. you should have a show on Sirius -educational, reviews, etc. etc. Thanks so much for all you do! I am going broke but learning a ton!
Thanks for turning me on to the Kubelik Sinfonietta. I love my Mackerras/VPO but I was ready for something different. Both of Kubelik's---the DG and the Orfeo are marvellous! Also, I've never been a huge fan of Taras Bulba but Kubelik has now made me a believer! What a performance!
Hope you enjoy it!
It really warmed my heart to see you do an episode of the Janacek Sinfonietta. I went to listen to the Mackerras/Pro Arte recording and got the added bonus of the Weinberger Polka and Fugue from Schwanda. Reiner/CSO was the version I would usually listen to because no orchestra had better brass, but I always thought the recording was a little sterile. Mackerras lets the orchestra swing a little and it was way more enjoyable even if he didn't have Bud Herseth on trumpet. But thanks for giving me a whole evening worth of entertainment Dave!!!!
I had given this piece, and the composer, a wide berth because it struck me as noisy and abrasive long ago. Thanks for getting me to give it a close listen and discover its weirdness and wonderfulness. Your reviews concentrating on single works (such as the Tippett Piano Concerto) are especially useful
Thanks for the really informative talk on Sinfonietta. I've been enjoying the piece for decades without realizing things like the repeated ten note motif. Now, I enjoy and admire the piece even more. One of the reasons that the Serebrier/Czech State Philharmonic (Brno) may not gained much traction is a review in Fanafare by your former colleague Peter J. Rabinowitz which really panned the recording.
David, thank you for this chat on one of my absolute favorite works that went by very quickly! I love the Kubelik recording too, especially the ending which is just thrilling to my ears.
When you mentioned (at 21:02) the moment in the 3rd movement where the horns play those top two notes it reminded me of the NY Phil/Masur Sinfonietta. The horns "shamelessly" let loose those notes in that recording. (that is at 3:36 in that movement of that recording).
Yes, but it's a pity Masur is so dull otherwise!
Excellent review. Thank you. Ironic, I know only two recordings: my "imprint", the Ancerl from a Parliament stereo L.P. decades ago-- and the Horenstein. Fortunately I heard the Ancerl first.
Thank you for getting my day started with this. I have to ration my listening to this piece - there's only so much hair-on-back-of-neck raising that I can stand.
I have played both trombone and bass trumpet on various performances of the Simfonietta. This is very good info to have. Thank you.
ELP’s first self-titled album was my first exposure to Janacek and Bartok on the tracks Knife -Edge and The Barbarian. I later did attempt to learn Bartok’s Allegro Barbaro as a piano student.
David great synopsis on the piece itself. I have been in love with this piece since the late 70s. as a former professional horn player and teacher, i’ve always felt that the Chicago symphony recording with Ozawa was the standard.
Having stated this, and of course it’s just my opinion, I will certainly listen with an open mind and ear , The recordings that you have considered the best. Certainly I appreciate your insight.
I can’t wait to watch!!
Once I heard the Kubelik recording, I could never go back to any others. That's how good it is.
During a life spent working with classical music, I struggled with the fact that I was born a contrarian. I always need to shut my mouth up about expressing my opinions because I often disagree with most people. I am amazed that I agree with you so often and got addicted to these videos. In June 1996, in the Stadion Hall in Brno, I was there while Maestro Serebrier recorded his Makropoulos Case Synthesis and some of Chadwick's music (Aphrodite, and other pieces, I think). About the name of the orchestra: at that time, I was told they needed to often change the orchestra's name, like "Czech State", because in some markets, "Brno" sounded like the acronym of a radio (already then, geography was a neglected thing in schools). Inside the booklet of the original CD, which was single and different from the one you showed here, is written in the credits "Czech State Philharmonic of Brno". The orchestra's name is Brno Philharmonic (Filharmonie Brno), and I can see that RUclips AI called it "Burnout Philharmonic" 😂. A little anecdote that I remember, Mr. Serebrier started a huge battle with the orchestra union because he wanted the 4th French Horn replaced, which was impossible. I remember him going away while the management and musicians were fighting. It is so long ago that I hope it is not a big deal to tell.
Awesome, been wanting to listen to Janacek since I saw your video on his quartets
That Mackerras/Suphraphon box he showed near the end of the video is a great place to start for Janacek's orchestral music. 3 CDs and one concert DVD of Jancek, one CD of Martinu. Presto Classical has it on sale for about $30. The Dvorak/Smetana box is also great.
Learned a lot from this - thanks!
Fantastic review. I love Janacek, especially Taras Bulba, which I heard originally on an earlier Naxos recording but not Wit. I also have the Serebrier which has great vitality and chi.
I would love to hear you do a video on the Taras Bulba Rapsody, which is my favourite Janacek composition.
Cheers from Australia Dave
Symphonietta is wonderful and great but I think I might like Taras Bulba even more .
Mine too! Cheers from NZ.
A previously unknown composer to me, but not anymore thanks to your enthusiastic analysis of this sinfonietta.
In the small bit of reading I've done on Janacek, prior to creating the series of masterworks in his last decade he carried a little notebook around, and when he heard something he thought was interesting he would write down a few notes to mimic it. It could be a phrase he heard somebody say with a particular cadence or a bird song. He apparently accumulated thousands of them. David, I presume they must have been the origins of many of the small repetitive phrases in his music like the ones you talk about in the Sinfonietta.
Yes, most likely.
Yes, that's what hast been taught about him. Some 30 years ago we did a folklore piece based on his notes from visiting Prague. He noted the sound of a tram (electric streetcar), the beer barells being transported to a pub on a carriage, women bickering about something, street newspaper vendors shouting. It was always a few notes and a text in Czech. He really had an ear for the language.
Some of those arpeggios are ghastly-difficult to play for the viola section--- bizarre enharmonic equivalents, and many which reach tropospheric heights in the treble clef, which can be a little "terra incognita" for us denizens of the groovy alto-clef...
Thank you. I have not heard those. I do have CSO and Cleveland Orchestra recordings. The last chapter heading of your video here mentions the "Burnout Philharmonic".
Thanks for all the your great (and entertaining) reviews. I have been watching your Shostakovich videos, my favorite composer, and I came upon this one. I know you are a busy man but I have a question. The Sinfonietta (and much of Shostakovich) require a top tier stereo system to hear the music in all its grandeur. So, when listening at home, what stereo system do you listen to? I have a system from 1972 which features a 40w Pioneer receiver coupled with a set of Acoustic Research speakers. It is not a system which will deafen you but it has incredible clarity, a 3D transparency in a warm ambient sound.
I do not discuss audio equipment. Sorry.
Thanks for this great talk! One question about the changes Mackerras made in the Decca recording. I always understood that Mackerras made them because it was what he found in the original manuscript. The publisher changed bits partly because some orchestral players couldn't play the original notes (piccolo - too high) or because they didn't have a viola d'amore in the orchestra. Is that true?
Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Janacek was so impractical and we don't really know (as is usually the case) if the changes were approved or not--and frankly, they don't really matter in this case. Mackerras played the music both ways without qualms.
Thanks David for your video I see some time! obviously agree with you on Ancerl, Mackerras (but I only have the Wieners) and Kubelik. But I don't find both Kosler and Rogner (on Berlin Classics) much inferior. Above all the latter is perhaps close enough to the "raw" and "edgy" sound you say.....correct? always thanks and greetings from Sardinia
Hello Dave, her Gilles from France. Mackerras, (2) Ancerl and Neuman are very great versions of the Sinfonietta but i think you have also to take into account 2 recordings of this work by Rafael Kubelik : first a concert recording on the 16th of october 1981 (Bayerischen Rundfunks, Orfeo) and, more, the recording with the Czech Philharmony on 1951. I foundthis one in a 10 CD Box (Milestones of a Legend : Rafael Kubelik) and it seems to me this interpretation is marvellous. Thanks a lot for all your analysis and counsels
Purcell, Mozart, Schubert, Bizet, Ethelbert Nevin, Hugo Wolf (for the masochistic amongst us), Mahler, Berg, Gershwin etc - I'm sure we all have a list of composers to whom we wish the good Lord had allocated an extra 5 -10 years or more but I would certainly root for Janáček. Extraordinary music and getting better by the year. But at least he went the way most of us only dream of.
any purcell pieces you could recommend me?
i saw a video of ‘sound the trumpet’ and it revolted me so profoundly through every flesh and sinew that i have a gained a sort of prejudice against him but i read such good things
What's masochistic about liking Hugo Wolf?
@@SpaghettiToaster Each to his own of course but I had a very bad early experience (a whole lieder recital of nothing but, all in German, wondering if there will ever be anything approaching a melody - there wasn't - sensing everyone around me was also bored stiff and a bladder that was crying for attention) and I've steered clear ever since.
@@weewee2169 I'd be inclined to give him a miss unless you have an EpiPen or somesuch to hand.
@@henrygingercat Understandable, he's not for everyone. I like his music but I agree that he doesn't have the melodic gift of neither his predecessor, Schubert, nor his successor, Joseph Marx, whose best songs I definitely prefer to Wolf's best.
Such a challenging timpani part! My favourite recording is the Vienna Philharmonic with Mackerras conductor
Totally agree with the Kubelik on DG! Looking forward to hearing your take on Taras Bulba, although I suspect your list of best recordings will be very similar to what you talked about here.
Yes, it's a problem!
Dave, thank you for this marvelous overview! Have you heard the stirring rendition by the Hungarian National Orchestra under the terrific and underrated Tibor Ferenc?
Yes. I wasn't impressed.
David, did you have a chance to listen to the DECCA recording with the Czech Philharmonic under Jiri Belohlavek? In my opinion they often sound naturally "soft on the other side of rough edges" (because they can) if this makes any sense. One of my favorites besides the Kubelik. Thank you for this little "musical lecture" - much more than a review, hope you're going further in this direction!
Yes, i have heard it, and I didn't especially like it.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Just listened to Kubelik again, and I stand corrected: it's much more vivid than Blohlavek - and Kubelik is even better than Gardner, which is very good recorded. As the Monty Python would say: "Let' s call it a draw!" :-) Thx again.
I've got the BBC recording of Tennstedt in '91 flying around - is it any good?
Not especially.
That was one of the most eagerly awaited videos of yours - and now, I'm disappointed. NO, WAIT! I just had nothing to discover concerning the recordings, because your list is mine in absolutely all cases. Kubelik is the best, the others you mentioned, are quite good, especially Mackerras, of course - and of course not the one with Vienna. The brass doesn't sound right, especially the horns are too broad in tone, too soft and romantic, and the trombones are not enough rough-edged. And, yes, Rattle is awful in his first and better but not good in his second recording. He cannot let the music flow, it's not speech but stammer. If one doesn't get Kubelik or Mackerras, then I would plead for Wit and Ancerl.
Besides: Do you know Kubelik with the Vienna Philharmonic? (Of course, you do!) That was my first Sinfonietta, when I lay down at the age of 14 or 15 with a heavy flue and asked my mother, if she could play some of her father's disks for me. I know that she said: "Well, this one is rather modern stuff, let's do some Liszt" - she meant "Mazeppa". But I wanted to hear the "modern stuff", and it was the "Sinfonietta". Since then, Janacek is one of my musical gods. Even today, I find the older Kubelik-recording interesting, because one hears how the Vienna Philharmonic has to struggle with this music (at the beginning of the 2nd movement, f.e.). With Mackerras, they can play the music technically better, but it's idiomatic wrong (or let's say not totally right).
And now, why I'm NOT disapponted at all. You shared an observation, I overlooked until now: The changed voices in the Andante. Great! You're mentioned now with pencil in my study score "Variation of 1/ bottom is top / observation by David Hurwitz".
Thanks, wonderful!
You may be the first person to be disappointed because we are in complete agreement. That's interesting! But I'm glad I was able to point to at least one new thing in your understanding of the piece.
@@DavesClassicalGuide That's easily explained: I always want to get suggestions and - do you know the german word "Reibebaum"? When one has to check a conviction? In my case, it was Ormandy. It took a little time, then I thought, maybe, David is right... Okay, you're right. And that's my personal benefit from your talks. They widen my horizon. But my remark about my Janacek-disapointment wasn't serious, as you know...
@@edwinbaumgartner5045 Yes, I know!
I really like the ViennaPO/Mackerras because of a tiny detail absent from most of the other recordings: the final 2 minutes are difficult to shape if you dont't want it become boring or dull. Mackerras does it wonderful and the roll of the timpani is not a diffuse carpet as with others, but has a certain thrilling staccato. I haven't heard the Vienna/Kubelik yet, but will soon do so!
Kubelik guest-conducted the Sinfonietta with the NYPSO. I was blown out of my seat. All sorts of extra trumpets across the back of the stage, and they were long ones. I have no idea what they are called. They looked like some baroque trumpets, but I'm sure they weren't.
Hello! Those most likely were Herald trumpets, sometimes referred to as fanfare trumpets. These are the same total length of tubing as a modern b-flat trumpet, just wrapped differently. They are almost identical to play compared to their standard counterpart (i.e. same mouthpiece, same fingerings, same partials), just a different sensation for the performer and audience!
This is going to be tough! I have so many recordings of this fabulous work that it’s nearly impossible for me to pick the “best” ones! I was hoping you would do only those that are coupled with Taras Bulba! Nonetheless, I look forward to your video later today.
i have a recording of Sinfonietta with Kubelik and Bavarian Radio on Galleria coupled with Smetana Tone Poems. Always enjoyed it. Is it the same performance of Sinfonietta?
Yes.
@@DavesClassicalGuide Thanks! Just listened to it again. Incredible!
Based on your recommendation I picked up the Mackerras & Czech PO 2 CD recording of the Sinfonietta & Taras Bulba at my local thrift store for $3! What a great live recording of both! Until I heard this review I didn't realize that Emerson, Lake and Palmer ripped off the Sinfonietta for their song Knife Edge on one of their early albums (in addition to ripping off Bach). I still love ELP's stuff though. It is interesting how much early progressive rock bands took from classical music (ELP, Renaissance, Yes, etc.). That might be an interesting topic to do for one of your shows.
Some great choices here. So glad you gave Neumann the credit he deserves - it's a really good performance. And the Testament Mackerras disc is still a knockout after 60 (!) years. As for Serebrier, I'd say it's deservedly under-rated...not great at all. But Jílek, Mackerras/CPO, Ančerl and Kubelík/BRSO are a stunning quartet. Horenstein is spectacularly bad, but Abbado's Berlin recording is not even quite good - there are too many mistakes in the playing (e.g. the harp after Fig. 10 in the second movt). I suppose his LSO one is marginally better, but it's nothing special. Belohlavek is plain dull, which is pretty much what you say. You don't mention Van Immerseel's 'period instrument' version - it's got some interesting moments. But one that needs to be in the mix because it's a good performance conducted by a Janáček pupil (though in limited sound) is Bakala's 1951 Supraphon recording with the Czech Phil. In the 2002 remastering, it sounds better than any earlier incarnations of it. Another fascinating conductor of this piece is Klemperer who did it a lot, and gave the performance (in Berlin) that Janáček said was the best he'd ever heard. There are at least two live Klemperer performances and they're both well worth hearing. I wish he'd recorded more Janáček - unlike Horenstein, he really understood it.
I deliberately omitted Bakala--even though I agree that it sounds better than formerly, it's still pretty limited comparatively. Same with Klemperer, sadly. You are right, he did "get" this music. I stand by my recommendation of Serebrier--not "the best," perhaps, but still very good and the two-disc set is well worth hearing.
Just got the Kubelik. What a revelation! Not to mention, certain moments in the 3rd movement where the 2 note motive sounds like how it was written! As opposed to a lot of other recordings where the first note of this two note rhythm sounds like an upbeat.
I had a very weird LP of the Janacek - it was the Ozawa with Chicago on Angel, but the piece took up both sides of an LP, not paired with anything else.
It was a 12" record made to be played at 45 rpm, presumably for better something-or-other. I think I got it either used or in a cut-out bin. That 45 rpm thing was quite a gimmick. That was in the days when they were figuring out that nobody wanted the hyper-expensive quadraphonic LP systems - with three different encoding systems, depending on group of labels.
They're still issuing the 12" 45 rpm albums in jazz, where they get people to pay $50 for the same vintage albums released over and over in supposedly better sound. The wider grooves with 45 rpm (due to less content per album side) allows for wider dynamic range. Very low end frequencies on vinyl have to be edited out of the recordings to keep the stylus from bouncing out of the grooves.
Thank you, David. In the Kubelik's studio version with his bavarian orchestra, the pace and rythme are really good but we can only hear trumpets ! The strings are totally absent, especially in the final. Ancerl for ever ! And I would mention Tennstedt live in 1991 :)
Sorry, but that's a gross exaggeration, and simply untrue.
I heard Mackerras conduct it with the Phiharmonia in the late 2000's i it would be.
I wish I went to more of this concerts when he was principal guest. They were so good.
. He and Colin Davis were the finest of the post-war generation in my opinion. I heard Sir Colin do the Glagolitic Mass with the LSO!
I can't help it but I feel like the trumpets are a tiny bit off pitch in the Kubelík version. (I am listening to the Beyrischer Rundfunk orchestra Kubelík on Tidal) It's noticeable in the first movement around 0:40 and 1:40 especially in the highs. Am I just imagining it? I prefer the Ančerl version specially because of this. Please someone with an absolute pitch ear tell me that I am not imagining it 🙏🏻👂™️😂
Yes - I hear it too, as if something get warped for a minisecond - but I think its part of the pecular wild charm of the interpretantion. I miss it on other recordings :)
I must give you thanks for your analysis of this amazing work. And I agree with your favourite recordings. Perhaps I like better the live Kubelik on Orfeo because of the thrilling of a live concert, but anyway Kubelik is absolutely fantastic in this piece (and in almost everything he did).
As for Antoni Wit, don't you think he is an magnificent conductor. I mean, I have listened to many of his records and all of them are at least very, very good. I think he's someway underrated, but he's an invariably excellent conductor (i.e. his Lutoslawski or Szymanowski in Naxos).
Yes, Wit is first rate, and I've often said so.
I'd like to put in a good word for Zdenek Kosler's 1977 Czech Philh. Sinfonietta & Taras Bulba, which I found on a Denon "two-fer" coupled with a Neumann/CPO 1977 "Ma Vlast" from Tokyo and a 1993 Dvorak Notturno for Strings with the Prague Chamber Orchestra.
This little set -- well worth any collector's time -- bears the title "Czech Tone Poems", and seems to be part of a budget Denon series called "Classics Exposed". "What a canny selection of performances," I mused....and then noticed the legend, "Compilation Produced & Annotated by David Hurwitz".
I know it is. I wrote the notes.
I’m relatively new to classical music and have been picking up albums from charity shops etc, mostly on vinyl. Purely by chance, in the last two weeks, I’ve come across, and purchased, records from your worst and best choices (Rattle and Kubelik). After the reaction to the Simon Rattle one I was hoping the other might have fared better so let out an audible ‘yesss’ when it came out on top 😀.
I got the Wit with the Glagolitic Mass & I wasn’t disappointed.
Love it. Love Janacek!
Great list, agreed too about Netopil's ice cube of a performance. For what it's worth, Dohnanyi's was released by the orchestra, not on one of his commercial Decca recordings. It was better than last year's live one by Franz Welser-Most which was like the Netopil, only less involving, if that's possible. What do you think of Tennstedt's live performance on BBC Legends? It's not quite up there with Kubelik, but it struck me as pretty damned good last time I gave it a spin.
I haven't heard the Tennstedt. Regarding Dohnanyi, you're right. It was Taras Bulba coupled to the Dvorak 6th. I saw the Sinfonietta live--that's what I was thinking of.
David :) You mention the word 'athletically' or athletic? This is what the seventy-ish LJ wrote the piece for, an outdoor gymnastics display :) I ionce used it for a firework display :) Bless you David :)
If there were a third Fantasa (the first of course was Disney's animation as art for its own sake that went no further), then the first moement of Janacek's Sinfonetta would be the perfect intro.
Janacek knew how to write for the winds. Powerful stuff and pleasant to the ear--unlike lots of other composers (I hate to mention Mahler, who's sometimes very difficult to listen to as far as the winds go, as if he's having a tantrum). Love Janacek and thanks for mentioning this neglected composer---why don't orchestras play more of his work?
Because there's so little of it. And Taras Bulba requires an organ. He's so impractical.
I'm just enjoying the Jilek performance on Supraphon. I note with interest, that David characterizes the impact of the performance as "raw and edgy". This certainly applies to the opening and closing fanfare, though I wonder to which extent this impression might somehow be brought to the fore by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra not having the same high degree of polish and perfection as have the Czech Philharmonic under Ancerl?
Juxtaposing Ancerl with Jilek, the former's interpretation, that I in many ways finds ideal (rhytmic precision, clarity, vigour, forward propulsion, etc.), I perceive as the more modernistic, in your face rendition, while Jilek (at least to these ears) seems in many places to choose a slightly broader, not to be confused with slack, approach, that to a higher degree stresses the lyrical aspects of the piece.
In this Jilek called to mind an old Palexa recording with Břetislav Bakala, that I acquired many years ago, and that I cherished for its inherent lyricism (an Amazon search revealed, that that recording now seems available on Supraphon).
Bakala studied composition with Janáček and was by Charles Mackerras considered nothing less than "a great milestone" in the interpretation of Janáček (Wikipedia). I wonder, if both Bakala and Jilek could be said to represent a specific Brno-school of Janáček interpretation, that especially stresses the lyrical aspects of the composers output, while in no way sacrifying the intensity of the music?
I think you said "the struggle is part of the music". Yes, yes, and yes. I work in the classical music business and it seems to me that everyone is trying to sound smooth and effortless. (Effortless to me means they didn't put any effort into it.) Anyway, this is the way modern brass instrument makers sell their instruments. "It's so easy to play!" This is why Kurt Weill liked to use amateur musicians. He wanted to avoid the boring effect of smooth professionalism.
When I first heard it, as a poor college student, the only LP performance I could find was Szell. I loved it, but, what did I know? I have found that the opening of the first movement makes the ideal custom ringtone: It grabs and holds my attention, and it sounds so unique I that I never have to ask who's phone is ringing. I acquired the Wit primarily for the Mass. Do I really need the Kubelik, too? Hmmm.
YES!
That Jilek recording - it's one of the best, if not the very best, recordings that orchestra ever made. And BTW, the Brno orchestra has changed names several times over the years, and the two you mentioned are the same band some years apart.
David - your pronunciation of Czech names is almost always very good. Jilek is pronounced Yee-leck. So the J sounds like Y just like Janacek. But he's been dead since 1993, so he won't be offended.
Whoops. Well, he's always gotten good reviews, so that makes up for it I guess.
I was a bit surprised to discover that I do own the Jilek recording. I got that disc for the rarer pieces (Danube, Schluck and Jau), so I forgot that it also has the Sinfonietta. I think my main other recording (there might be one in a box I forgot as well) is Mackerras/Vienna. I heard the piece in the radio as a teenager in the 1980s (probably Szell or Kubelik, it didn't matter then) and a few years later when I could afford to get CDs beyond the base repertoire, I got the Mackerras because it was in some midprice line and Digital.
A now-Canadian-citizen violinist friend / colleague, who was born in the then-Czechoslovakia and who moved to Canada in his high-school years, insisted that the diacritical marks in the spelling of Janacek's name means that it should be pronounced Ya-NAH-check, with the stress / accent on the middle syllable of the three. Make of that what you will...
@@colinwrubleski7627 It's like this - the diacritical mark of an accent represents vowel length.
The rhythm of Czech and Slovak is markedly different from Polish and from the other Slavic languages to the east and south. It follows rules similar to that of Hungarian, although Hungarian is not a Slavic language at all.
1. In standard Czech, every word is accented on the first syllable.
2. Vowel length literally means a long vowel is held for about twice as long as a short one.
The ambiguous situation arises when the first vowel is short and the second one long, like "Janáček" or "paráda" (which means "wonderful"). The long vowel tends to be given higher intonation. Between the length and higher intonation, it pretty much cancels out the stress on the first syllable. But in no case should there ever be a strong emphasis on the second syllable.
Also, there is never vowel reduction. A vowel is pronounced exactly the same whether it is stressed or not. Vowel reduction of unstressed first syllables in some Russian words makes the accent on the following syllable sound even stronger. Czech does not do this.
So your friend is not "wrong" in what he says, but the pronunciation definitely is not an exaggerated yuh NAAAH chek. Just double the length of the second syllable and avoid a descending intonation and you've got it.
On a walking tour of the Czech Republic, I asked our guide (a native Czech) about the correct pronunciation of the name. She said it's "yah-NAH-check."
I also love Janacek's eclectic, gregarious musical language. I have run across come yawners of the Sinfonietta too; I'm thinking of Masur with the NYP on Teldec coupled with Dvorak 8. Zzzz...
If we ever have live concerts again, and there are any orchestras left capable of handling this piece, GO HEAR IT. Meanwhile, Kubelik was a mainstay of my LP collections, but sadly absent from my CDs. Sounds like I should spend the next couple of weeks exploring the DG box.
The Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, based at the main campus of Mahidol University in Salaya, a sub-district of Nakhon Pathom province, immediately to the west of Bangkok (but with much of said province still in the Greater Bangkok area), has performed the Sinfonietta twice, once each under its first chief conductor (Icelander Gudni A. Emilsson) and its second [and current] chief conductor, Italian {firebrand^^} Alfonso Scarano. As a result, however, it may be quite a while before it gets programmed again... Both Emilsson and Scarano have also programmed the Janacek "Taras Bulba" for good measure.^^
Amusingly, the CC (Closed Captioning) function on this dumb so-called smartphone on at least one occasion transcribes Horenstein as "horrible"...^^
Just to be persnickety, Bartok and his fellow Magyars (Hungarians) were and are not Slavs / Slavic. So unique is the Hungarian language, and so ingenious some of its citizens (e.g., the human computer John van Neumann), that some commentators have somewhat tongue-in-cheek posited that the Magyars were from another planet...
The aforementioned Gudni Emilsson often stated in TPO rehearsals of the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba that the Moravians often boast that they capture the spirit of Janacek much better than the Bohemians from the Praha (Prague) area
Here I go: Overall, I agree with you. However, my favorite changes every time I hear this marvelous work. Mine in no particular order: Mackerras (4 recordings including a live one with the BBC Phil from a Proms concert where he really gets the orchestra to play like Czechs! The last movement will blow you away and Mackerras is a bit “looser” on this than on any of his commercial recordings, varying the tempos more, but never slack. Otherwise, I agree that his Czech Phil one is his best and it comes with the equally terrific Schluck und Jau - a piece that ought to be as popular as the Sinfonietta. Other favorites include Wit, Serebrier, and Belohlavek (not the Chandos, but his last one on Decca with the Czech Phil-absolutely marvelous). I still listen to the two that introduced me to the work, too: Ancerl and Kubelik (DG Galleria coupled with 4 Smetana tone poems). I find Ancerl’s timpani a bit soft and distant and Kubelik’s brass has some tuning issues.
There's a FIFTH Mackerras recording, with the Pro Arte Orchestra.
@@pbarach1 David mentioned the Pro Arte Orch recording, Mackerras’s first one. I have it on an EMI Phoenix disc that also contains the opera preludes and terrific accounts of Weinberger’s Polka and Fugue from Schwanda and Smetana’s Overture to the Bartered Bride. The other three of which I am familiar are the Vienna Phil on Decca, Czech Phil on Supraphon, and the live BBC Phil on a BBC Music cover disc. What is the fifth one?
As I was watching this I was wondering if you would mention the Horenstein recording. His recording of the Sinfonietta is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard!
Tell me about it...
Dear David, I'm Mackerras's nephew, also a conductor. I adore your reviews of EVERYTHING! I'd like to write to you personally. How do I do this?
Feel free to send an email: dhurwitz@classicstoday.com
I sat on a train to Edinburgh with him where he said-"I've just discovered this book from an assistant to Brahms's favourite conductor discussing exactly how Brahms intended his symphonies to go.I'm going to change my entire interpretation according to this book." I said-"But Charles, you start tomorrow!" He said-"No issue-I know what needs to be done." Listen to the SCO recording-DEFINITIVE Brahms. He could change tempo with the slightest flick of a finger. No one else could do this. Listen to the opening of the 1st symphony! 20 times he changes tempo slightly according to the mood Brahms wanted. Not even Karajan could do this. Can you imagine what would of happened if he'd been made MD of Berlin Phil after Karajan??? Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart, Scubert , Schumann, Janacek, Dvorak, Mahler, Strauss Etc.all done to perfection
Do you have an antibiotic to offer? I've become addicted to your repertoire.
Sorry!
There are some excellent recordings - Kubelik, Ancerl, Mackerras - but oned of the worst is surely Abbado. I think he may have done it twice, but the one I'm thinking of is not good. The opening is far too slow.
How about inserting an ad before the "however" moment? Anticipating and teasing. Hehe
Everyone else here would kill me, and then you for suggesting it.
lol
I personality stick with Mackerras' with the Czech Phil, nothing beats it. Although it's funny to think my first experience with the work, was in hearing one of Klemperer's live versions from the early-60's or something. That would've been roughly 10 years ago or so now. In some parts it's arguably worse than Horenstein imo, cause at least with Horenstein, you can use it as an effective way to cure insomnia! Klemperer, on the other hand, drives me insane.
I hear you!
My guess on Szell: the fellow understood classical structure well, and that requires some rigidity of expression. He tried to make such a composer as Dvorak fit the Viennese classical form and that worked. But Janacek is anything but part of the Viennese classical form which can be extended even to unlikely composers like Sibelius or Tchaikovsky. Janacek is in no way classical. Although it might be tempting to force a Mozart-like structure on Janacek, it just does not work!
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....I played timpani in a performance of the fanfare. It didn't go too well. I only had three drums (it needs five). (Story of my life.) The conductor was a top professional trumpeter. Unbeknownst to me, he was on the verge of a major nervous breakdown. Before the rehearsal, he came up to me and said he didn't want the timpani to be 'hammered'. He wanted a more 'lyrical' sound. So...first play through, he stops and says: "I can't hear you." Second play through I play louder but try not to 'hammer'. He stops, turns purple in the face and yells "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!!!!!!" So I end up hammering the hell out of the sodding things LOL.
Chappy Chanukah!
You too.
Kubelik is the best in my opinion too!
If you want an "authentic" stinkeroo, check out the lethargic (26:09!), soft-grained and utterly unidiomatic Jos van Immerseel and Anima Eterna on Alpha. Or just take it from me and don't.
So-called "period" instruments, perchance-?
@@colinwrubleski7627 So they say.
- video idea you will no doubt find lame -
- also because this is about your opinions not others-
there is a minor british institution you may know called ‘desert island discs’ where bbc radio get celebrities on to share their music picks
you could look at some of the classical ones they have had on like stokowski, joan sutherland, kirsten flagstad, charles mackerras etc and rate them
the reason i mention this is reading charles mackerras’ one got me into janacek in the first place