November: Bedřich Smetana's Má Vlast

[Seán]

^^ thank you Sean.... that was a very enjoyable read. I have my Kubelik 'Ma Vlast' to hand, and will be giving it another spin, this week.

My pleasure Jared, thanks for the feedback.

[Jared]

Other interesting recordings:

3.London Classical Players/Roger Norrington. This is the only recording on period instruments. A nice touch was to include the Czech National Anthem since it´s a century old tradition to perform it before Má Vlast in the Czech Republic. I believe this is the only recording to do so, and maybe it was possible because of Norrington´s very fast tempos. This is a very "dry" Má Vlast, Norrington may be right to exclude "personal interpretation" because at the time, the first conductors with "personal views" were only beginning to appear. The London Classical Players play well, but it´s not hard to imagine a much better performance from Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique.

I've been having a bit of a rifle through my drawers and come up with a recording of Parts 1-3 performed by RN with the National Youth Youth Orch, from the 2004 Proms, which I will listen to and give some feedback on, in due course.

[Jared]

My pleasure Jared, thanks for the feedback.

the posting of pretty pictures, always helps those of us with a limited concentration span... ;-)

[Seán]

My pleasure Jared, thanks for the feedback.

the posting of pretty pictures, always helps those of us with a limited concentration span... ;-)

and Sarka is next.....

[fergus]

Great stuff Seán! I am playing catch up here so tonight I gave this one a listen just to familiarize my old ears....

[Seán]

Great stuff Seán! I am playing catch up here so tonight I gave this one a listen just to familiarize my old ears....

Thanks Fergus, the Talich/CPO 1954 performance is indeed a great recording and I never tire of the listening to the Vltava:

[Seán]

One cannot over estimate the importance of Smetana's Má Vlast to the Czech people.

Talich live in Occupied Prague

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 audio-recording 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!

http://bit.ly/Y4xOxS



and here is Rob Cowan's review:

Václav Talich - Live 1939
Smetana Má vlast Dvorák Slavonic Dances
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Václav Talich
Supraphon

On March 15, 1939, Hitler made a triumphal entry into Prague. The region had become a German protectorate but seething beneath the surface was the burning presence of Czech patriotism. Less than three months later, in early June, the great Czech conductor Václav Talich was at the city’s National Theatre leading an augmented Czech Philharmonic for a fiery performance of Smetana’s Má vlast, or ‘My Fatherland’, six dramatic tone-poems about the nation’s soul, history and countryside. Talich had already recorded the cycle on 78s and was to re-record it on two further occasions; but this live performance is something else again, an impassioned affirmation not only of the music but of a people tragically caught in the throes of a despotic occupation. Each performance is tailed by a thunderous volley of applause but come the finale, where the two main themes combine in defiant counterpoint, the packed hall’s response suggests the thrill of an Olympic victory. And that’s not all: suddenly, after roughly a minute’s worth of ecstatic applause, the entire audience spontaneously breaks into the Czech national anthem and the full import of what we have just heard registers. There is nothing else quite like it in the entire realm of recorded music and the Dvorák Slavonic Dances, Op 72, from a concert given just a week or so later at the National Theatre, press all the same buttons.

Rob Cowan

[fergus]

Next up for me....






Irrespective of which version one listens to it is great music!

[fergus]

The First Movement: Vyšehrad


The strains of the harps opening this work are very distinctive and one immediately recognises the music when one hears it. It is also very apt that this particular instrument is used as it invokes the bards of old recalling the tale of Vyšehrad. For me it is almost reminiscent of the Irish tradition and could be the beginning of a planxty Vyšehrad. The music develops into a wonderful evocation of the castle in all of its former glory and ultimately its decline. The tone poem is packed with emotions such as wistful longing, celebration, wild excitement and lamentation. I like the orchestral tones and colours used with judicious but effective use of brass and woodwinds, all of which strikes a fine tonal balance.

Interestingly, for all of its nationalistic fervour the Kubelik performance is considerably longer at 15:40 mins than the Talich at 14.09 mins despite the Kubelik feeling faster. However the Talich never feels rushed and the Kubelik version certainly never feels slower or more ponderous.

[fergus]

The Second Movement – Vltava (River Moldau)

This is a gorgeous work, it is probably the most popular of the six poems. The splendid and evocative melody which runs through this composition, just as the river Moldau runs through the Bohemian countryside is derived from a Swedish folksong and tells the story of the rise of the river from two small spring waters in the Soumova Mountans of Southern Bohemia and its passage through the countryside, it is a classic essay in musical illustration

The poem starts with bubbling figures on flutes and clarinets painting a picture of the two mountain streams. The river passes through a forest from which we hear the sound of a hunt, past a rustic wedding dance (in the form of a polka), it runs over rocks and the Rapids of St John above Prague. The climax comes with the river flowing into the city itself past Vyšehrad. This is the point at which the opening theme from the first symphonic poem returns in triumph.

I have always marvelled at this piece of music in the way that it depicts the course of a river from its gurgling source. I find it a very evocative and descriptive piece that is filled with highly descriptive and varied imagery and the conclusion is a wonderfully rousing and exciting piece of music. The main theme is synonymous with Smetna and one is always reminded of Sibelius’ Finlandia (in his attempt to get to the essence of his country’s identity/culture) when one hears it. Another piece of music that is brought to mind on hearing Vltava is Schumann’s Symphony No.3. (albeit it a tentative connection).

The instrumentation is, once again, well worked in this Tone Poem. From the initial gurgling of the source to the full flow of a large body of water the depiction of the movement is very effective. I particularly like the opening woodwinds, the swirling strings at the first entry of the main theme and the same for the flutes around the middle of the work; there is a wonderful evocation of moving water in those places.