Viktor Kalabis / Composer & Conductor

Viktor Kalabis (1923–2006) – Youth. Overture for Large Orchestra, Op. 7 (1950); Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, “Hommage à Stravinsky”, Op. 3 (1948); Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 8 (1951/1956)

Miroslav Petráš – cello, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Janáček Chamber Orchestra, conductor Viktor Kalabis

The centenary of the birth of Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006), a major 20th-century Czech composer, is worthy of attention. The previous Supraphon album, Symphonies & Concertos (SU 4109-2), mapping his mature and late works, met with critical acclaim (Gramophone Choice / Reissue of the Month, Choc de Classica). Much of Kalabis’s early output, however, is yet to be discovered. The present recording, containing three pieces dating from between 1948 and 1951, attests to the young composer’s remarkable maturity. In the Concerto for Chamber Orchestra, Op. 3 (1948), Kalabis paid tribute to Igor Stravinsky, a great idol of his, with the concerto grosso form and instrumentation referring to Dumbarton Oaks. The impressive brief overture Youth, Op. 7 (1950), demonstrates the composer’s brilliant mastery of large symphony orchestra. The surprising dark colours in the work may reflect the difficult period of the Communist dictatorship’s ascent. The neo-folk Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, Op. 8 (1951), reveals Kalabis’s Dvořák, Bartók, Hindemith and late symphonic Martinů inspirations. Youthful dynamic energy and intimations of future weighty profundity characterise Kalabis’s early music. Three decades later, the composer recorded his early pieces, conducting the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava. The present album thus affords the opportunity to listen to their authentic performance.

Viktor Kalabis’s early gems still awaiting discovery