Josef Suk - Prague; A Summers Tale (Jiří Bělohlávek)

Information

Composer: Josef Suk

1. Pohádka léta (A Summers Tale), symphonic poem, Op. 29: I. Voices of Life and Consolation
2. Pohádka léta (A Summers Tale), symphonic poem, Op. 29: II. Midday
3. Pohádka léta (A Summers Tale), symphonic poem, Op. 29: III. Intermezzo Blind Musicians
4. Pohádka léta (A Summers Tale), symphonic poem, Op. 29: IV. In the Power of Phantoms
5. Pohádka léta (A Summers Tale), symphonic poem, Op. 29: V. Night
6. Prague, symphonic poem, Op. 26: I. Andante maestoso
7. Prague, symphonic poem, Op. 26: II. Allegro
8. Prague, symphonic poem, Op. 26: III. Adagio
9. Prague, symphonic poem, Op. 26: IV. Animato

BBC Symphony Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor

Date: 2012
Label: Chandos
https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/CHAN%205109

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Review

Latest in BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Suk series

Regarding British performances of music from beyond these shores, Jiří Bělohlávek is to Czech repertoire what John Wilson is to Broadway: both have imported unprecedented levels of musical authenticity, in Bělohlávek’s case climaxing in his superb live Martinů symphony cycle (also for Chandos) and this fine coupling of works by Josef Suk. The added advantage here is the exceptional acoustic of the Watford Colosseum, potentially a godsend but only when a crack production team knows how to exploit its strongest qualities.

Both scores convey the essence of Suk’s orchestral style, his wide range of musical moods, the subtlety of his palette, his expert use of solo instruments (woodwinds especially), his distinctive harmonic language and his ability to chart powerful climaxes without resorting to bombast. In lesser hands the close of Praga can sound like a filmic recollection of Má vlast’s finale but not here, where the cumulative impact of the piece (complete with thundering organ) is immense. Praga does indeed call on the famous Hussite theme that Smetana ruggedly manipulates in ‘Tábor’ and the effect achieved by Suk is similarly humbling. Bělohlávek’s performance presents a more integrated tone-canvas than does Libor Pešek with the Czech Philharmonic for Supraphon, where the brass are more strident, though the Czech woodwinds are inimitably individual.

Pešek’s coupling, like Bělohlávek’s, is the sizeable, at times Scriabinesque A Summer’s Tale, a slightly later piece that calls on those same qualities of interpretation – sensitive balancing, an appreciation of textual variety, a keen appreciation of shifting perspectives and an ear for musical line. As with Praga, this richly scored and often exciting early-20th-century score is infused with local flavouring, at times disquieting (startling premonitions of Shostakovich’s Eleventh Symphony at 2'52" into the second movement, ‘Midday’), and Bělohlávek holds the tension in both pieces from the first bar to the last. Wonderful!

-- Rob Cowan, Gramophone

More reviews:
BBC Music Magazine  PERFORMANCE: ***** / RECORDING: *****
http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/z9gw
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2012/Oct12/Suk_Summer_CHSA5109.htm
http://classicalsource.com/db_control/db_cd_review.php?id=10449
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/aug/30/suk-summers-tale-prague-belohlavek
http://audaud.com/2012/12/josef-suk-a-summers-tale-prague-bbc-sym-orch-jiri-belohlavek-chandos/

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Josef Suk (4 January 1874 – 29 May 1935) was a Czech composer and violinist. Known as one of Dvořák's favorite pupils, Suk became very close to his mentor and later married Dvořák's daughter, Otilie. Suk was the grandfather of famed Czech violinist Josef Suk (1929-2011). Suk's musical style started off with a very heavy emphasis on what he experienced during his time with Dvořák, though this Czech-style influence eventually slowly became more German and Austrian in style. Suk, alongside Vitezslav Novak and Ostrčil, is considered one of the leading composers in Czech Modernism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Suk_(composer)

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Jiří Bělohlávek (24 February 1946 – 31 May 2017) is a Czech conductor. He was a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and later studied conducting, for two years, with Sergiu Celibidache. He was chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic (1990–92, 2012–17), the BBC Symphony Orchestra (2006-2012) and the founder of the Prague Philharmonia. Bělohlávek gained international renown and repute for his performances of the works of Czech composers and has made recordings for the Supraphon, Chandos, Harmonia Mundi, Warner Classics and Deutsche Grammophon.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ji%C5%99%C3%AD_B%C4%9Blohl%C3%A1vek

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