Suk: Prague/ Summers Tale

Opis

Suk: Prague/ Summers TaleOpis:ReviewLate Romantic composer Josef Suk, Antonín Dvorak’s son-in-law, wrote a substantial body of works, many of them bold and ambitious and deserving of a place in the modern repertory.

Suk has no greater champion today than his Czech compatriot, Jiří Bělohlávek. Following up his previous Chandos release coupling Suk’s Symphony No.1 with Ripening, here Bělohlávek presents two substantial symphonic poems, again with ‘his’ BBC Symphony Orchestra – the excellent studio recordings were made in January 2012, eight months before he was due to stand down as the orchestra’s Chief Conductor of six years.

Suk’s best known orchestral work, the mournful Asrael Symphony, was written in memory of Dvorak and his daughter Otilka – Suk’s wife – whose deaths within months of each other in 1904 devastated the composer. The double tragedy occurred while Suk was already planning a new piece, one which subsequently reflected his acute loss. Prague, Suk's Op. 26, was conceived as a symphonic poem dedicated to the Czech capital, incorporating elements of its rich, sometimes turbulent, history and reflecting its mystical allure. The finished 25-minute work conveys pride in his home city, but there is poignant sorrow in a love-theme originally written during his courtship to Otilka.

From the super-hushed atmospheric opening, shimmering strings representing the mist-shrouded Vltava river, through the swashbuckling Hussite horn calls and vivid battles scenes, to the triumphant conclusion with spine-tingling organ, Bělohlávek inspires a performance of total commitment. The orchestral sound may not be distinctively Czech, but the vibrant playing is full of character and brings the work alive brilliantly, compensating for a lack of musical development in its most programmatic passages.

They bring the same dedication to A Summer's Tale, an hour-long, five-movement symphonic poem from 1907, the second of a four-part reflective cycle encompassing death and the meaning of life. More positive than the bleakness of Asrael, it explores the healing powers of nature through an enthralling score that fuses epic, Mahler-ian romanticism with adventurous forays into impressionism (Debussy's La Mer had premiered in Paris two years earlier). Bělohlávek and the BBC SO make a powerful and impassioned case for this intense work, one that deserves to be much wider known. --Jude Clarke Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off in a new windowProduct DescriptionSUPER AUDIO CD IN SURROUND SOUND Two symphonic poems by Suk are performed here by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Jiri Belohlavek, who also brought us the highly acclaimed recording of the composers First Symphony and Ripening, which was Disc of the Month in BBC Music Magazine. A Summers Tale is a highly personal work, rich and imaginative, not to mention brilliantly orchestrated in late romantic style. The work followed the heartfelt and sorrowful outpouring of the Asrael Symphony of 1905 06, composed in memory of his father-in-law, Antonin Dvorak, and wife, Otilka. In the words of the composer: After wild fleeing I find consolation in nature. The jubilation of the opening Voices of Life and Consolation is thought to emphasise natures healing powers and the composers putting a positive face to the world after the bleakness of Asrael. Midday depicts the all-embracing heat of noon, while the Intermezzo, Blind Musicians, expresses compassion for those who can never appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. The storm and wild longing of In the Power of Phantoms give way finally to the mystical calm of Night. The Symphonic Poem Prague is likewise strongly personal and atmospheric, speaking of the history and mystery of Suks home city, its troubles and its triumphs. The opening section conjures up a picture of the early morning mists rising from the Vltava, the river flowing through the city. The mists begin to lift and the ancient fortress of Vysehrad emerges high above on its rock. Gradually thAutor:BBC Symphony OrchestraNośnik:Audio CDPłyt:Język: English: Published; EnglishData wydania: 2012-09-02Waga: 0.18 gramWysokość: 0.6 cmSzerokość: 5 cmDługość: 5.6 cmShrink-wrappedUWAGA: Kupując produkt na tej aukcji zgadzasz się na wydłużony termin realizacji wysyłki (10-14 dni roboczych). Podany towar pochodzi z zagranicznego magazynu, stąd wydłużony czas realizacji który podany jest obok.