Ondráš. Ballet Music

Ondráš's Death


  • Recorded: 17th December 1956
  • Record Place: The Dvořák Hall of Rudolfinum, Prague
  • First Release: 1958
  • (P) 1958 SUPRAPHON a.s.
  • Genre: Orchestral

Artists

  • music by: Ilja Hurník
  • conductor: Karel Ančerl
  • musical group: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Album

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ančerl

Ančerl Gold Edition 43: Britten, Hurník, Dobiáš, Kapr, Kalaš, Kalabis, Seidel, Jirko, Eben & Bořkovec

Catalogue Number: SU 3944-2
Published: 28th March 2008
Genre: Orchestral
Format: 4 CD
On the occasion of the centenary of the birth of the conductor Karel Ančerl the "final word" remains to be said within the Ančerl Gold Edition. The four CDs sum up the work of Ančerl's contemporaries, with the exception of Britten's "The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra", that of Czech composers. The set bears unprecedented witness to the 1950s and 1960s, the period when the Communist powers that be decided on taste and composition trends, and when the criterion for acceptance or rejection of a work was its "mass appeal" andthe degree of consonance with the "Socialist Realism" style. The excellent Czech Philharmonic Orchestra with its internationally sought-after conductor is here involuntarily in the services ofpropagandist kitsch (Dobiáš's cantata "Build Up Your Country to Reinforce the Peace", Kapr's panegyric cantata "In the Soviet Country"). However, concurrently originating were also a number of recordings of remarkable works by composers who were able to withstand ideological pressures. Alongside folklore inspiration (evident, for example, in the ballet "Ondráš" by Ilja Hurník and Seidl's oboe concerto), neoclassical influences and "genetic" linkages to the work of Janáček, Dvořák, Suk and Novák were still palpable, while also present was the seeking of a singular and contemporary musical language (Eben, Bořkovec, Kalabis). Paradoxically, today's young composers could envy their counterparts of half a century ago - many a time their compositions experienced paramount concert performance and recording within a short time from the last note drying out in the score.



The 4 CD set mapping the post-February 1948 Czech compositional scene rounds off the Ančerl Gold Edition - a testimony of an epoch of our modern musical history

CD 1

Benjamin Britten
1. The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Variations and Fugue on a Theme of Purcell (1946), Op.34 17:56
Ilja Hurník
Four Seasons. Chamber Suite
2. Spring. Floating Ice 01:32
3. Spring. Cuckoo 01:46
4. Spring. Moon Above A Pond 02:28
5. Spring. Feast 02:35
6. Summer. Harvest 01:08
7. Summer. Sultriness 01:30
8. Summer. Harvest-home Polka 02:01
9. Summer. High Clouds 01:57
10. Autumn. Indian Summer 01:13
11. Autumn. Swalows Flying Away 01:30
12. Autumn. Village Fair 01:35
13. Autumn. Around The Fire 02:06
14. Autumn. A Badger Goes To Rest 01:26
15. Autumn. Rain 02:13
16. Winter. A Christmas Song 01:56
17. Winter. Snowflakes 01:19
18. Winter. A Hungry Birdie 01:27
19. Winter. Sleigh Ride 01:16
Ilja Hurník
Ondráš. Ballet Music
20. Dance With Whoops 02:23
21. Maiden's Wedding Dance 03:15
22. Brigand Dance 02:55
23. Oracular Dance 02:51
24. Dance At The Sviadnov Pub 07:15
25. Ondráš's Death 05:20

CD 2

Václav Dobiáš
1. Build Up Your Country To Reinforce The Peace. Cantata to František Halas's poetry 23:06
Jan Kapr
2. In The Soviet Country. Cantata for baritone, chorus and orchestra to Vítězslav Nezval's poetry 20:48
Julius Kalaš
3. The Nichtingale and The Rose. A symphonic fairy tale based on Oscar Wilde's story, Op. 81 16:12

CD 3

Viktor Kalabis
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1 (1958-59), Op. 17
1. Maestoso. Andante 08:26
2. Andante angoscioso. Quasi adagio 07:01
3. Allegro vivace 06:35
Jan Seidel
Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra No. 2 (1955)
4. Allegro animato 11:48
5. Variazioni. Moderato grazioso 05:41
6. Allegro vivace 06:26
Ivan Jirko
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 3 in G major
7. Allegro 08:38
8. Andante tranquillo 08:52
9. Allegro vivo 05:21

CD 4

Petr Eben
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1961)
1. Allegro risoluto 08:39
2. Tranquillo 10:02
3. Molto con brio 06:55
Pavel Bořkovec
Symphony for Large Orchestra No. 2 (1955)
4. Allegro moderato 09:53
5. Scherzo. Vivace 05:27
6. Adagio 09:32
7. Finale 06:52