Three fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) /Trois fragments del'opera Juliette (La Clé des songes)/, H. 253 A

Act 3: Finale (Finale du IIIe acte)


  • Recorded: 12th December 2008
  • Record Place: The Dvořák Hall of Rudolfinum, Prague
  • First Release: 2009
  • (P) 2009 SUPRAPHON a.s.
  • Genre: Vocal

Artists

  • musical group: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
  • music by: Bohuslav Martinů
  • libretto by: Bohuslav Martinů
  • translation: Bohuslav Martinů
  • tenor: Steve Davislim
  • piano: Karel Košárek
  • soprano: Magdalena Kožená
  • contralto: Michelle Lagrange
  • bass: Nicolas Testé
  • conductor: Charles Mackerras

Album

Various Artists

Martinů: Suite from the Opera Juliette, Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette

Catalogue Number: SU 3994-2
Published: 29th May 2009
Genre: Vocal
Format: 1 CD
This album has received following awards:
  • Gramophone Award, Gramophone Magazin (2009)
  • BBC Music Choice, BBC Music Magazine (2009)
  • Disc of the Month, Opera Magazine (2009)
  • Diapason d´Or, Diapason Magazine (2009)
  • ECHO Klassik, Deutsche Phono-Academie, Germany (2010)
This is not the first case of a premiere performance of a work by Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) decades after his death. On 11 December 2008 the sold-out Rudolfinum in Prague heard for the first time a work which ranks among Martinů's most significant and which the composer himself highly esteemed. Martinů originally composed the opera Juliette in Czech. However, so as to ensure appropriate publicity for the work, he wanted - already armed with a French libretto - to place extracts from the most relevant scenes on French radio. Yet Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) was not broadcast on the radio and had to wait some 70 years for its first performance. This was entrusted to the safe hands of that most competent of conductors Sir Charles Mackerras, who has devoted a great part of his life to discovering Czech music and promoting it on world stages. Thanks to Martinů's dreamily beautiful music and the remarkable engagement of all the interpreters, the conductor's December leave-taking of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was transformed into a joint triumph. After experiencing Magdalena Kožená in the role of Juliette, it is hard to imagine another star singer in her place. The Australian tenor Steve Davislim, who performed in the role of Michel, was a splendid partner to Magdalena Koženáin the lyrical and dramatic position.

On this CD, Three Fragments is supplemented by the orchestral suite from the same opera, which sensitively treats the music of all three Acts and corresponds with the "dreamy logic" of the original.
Bohuslav Martinů
Orchestral suite from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) for Large Orchestra, H. 253 B
1. Poco andante 04:54
2. Vivo 04:00
3. Lento 04:30
Bohuslav Martinů
Three fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) /Trois fragments del'opera Juliette (La Clé des songes)/, H. 253 A
4. Scene in the Forest (La scéne de la foret) 20:50
5. Scene of Memories (La scéne de souvenirs;) 05:47
6. Act 3: Finale (Finale du IIIe acte) 12:39