Marketa Lazarová

Zdeněk Liška's music for the feature film "Marketa Lazarová" represents the height of the legendary composer's legacy. In 2015, the first and so far the only concert performance of the work took place at the Fórum Karlín concert hall in Prague as part of the Strings of Autumn music festival. The work was performed as a 90-minute oratorio created by Petr Ostrouchov on the basis of the authorial manuscript, retaining the original orchestration. The performance featured vocal soloists Kateřina Kněžíková and Josef Moravec, actors Josef Somr and Jana Štěpánková, and the ensembles Martinů Voices, conducted by Lukáš Vasilek, and Baborák Ensemble, conducted by Radek Baborák. The production met with high critical acclaim and an enthusiastic response from the audience. Three years later, Animal Music and Strings of Autumn now issue a studio-mastered recording of that live performance which is also the first recording of Liška's composition since it was originally captured on the film soundtrack. The two-disc edition with an elaborate booklet is only issued on CD.