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Saturday, August 15, 2020

Zdeněk Fibich - Orchestral Works Vol. 1 (Marek Štilec)


Information

Composer: Zdeněk Fibich
  • (01) Symphony No. 1 in F major, Op. 17
  • (05) Impressions from the Countryside, Op. 54

Czech National Symphony Orchestra
Marek Štilec, conductor

Date: 2013
Label: Naxos
https://www.naxos.com/catalogue/item.asp?item_code=8.572985

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 9 / SOUND QUALITY: 8

Zdenek Fibich only lived to be fifty, but he was amazingly prolific: three symphonies plus numerous orchestral works, seven operas, the Wagnerian trilogy of melodramas Hippodamia, and countless piano pieces, including a 376 item cycle notorious for describing, among other things, his girlfriend’s body parts. It’s often said that Fibich’s music isn’t Czech-sounding because it’s not reminiscent of Dvorák, but the truth of course is just the other way around: Czech music is Dvorák-sounding, if it is anything at all. The truth is that Fibich was not a melodist on Dvorák’s level–who was?–but his music is as Czech as Czech can be, especially in his handling of the woodwinds and the bright overall sonority. Consider the “Fireside Talk” from Impressions from the Countryside, or the finale of the symphony, a vibrant piece redolent of the outdoors that could have come from nowhere else.

The principal modern competition in this repertoire comes from Neeme Järvi’s complete symphony cycle with the Detroit Symphony on Chandos. Järvi probably has the better orchestra, and although his tempos are marginally quicker he does not sound more energetic than Marek Stilec does here. The reason, as so often with Järvi, stems from his more casual approach to accent and articulation. Stilec invests the music with extra splashes of color and firmer rhythm generally, and this attention to detail grips the attention more firmly. Certainly he has the orchestra playing with enthusiasm, and the sonics, if somewhat studio-bound, are more vivid than Järvi’s relatively recessed perspective. It will be good to have a new cycle of the symphonies, but I suspect that the real value in this series will be the tone poems and other orchestral pieces. Those old Supraphons are beginning to sound their age. Definitely worth following.

-- David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/May13/FIBICH_Vol1_8572985.htm
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2013/July13/Fibich_sy1_8572985.htm
https://www.naxos.com/reviews/reviewslist.asp?catalogueid=8.572985&languageid=EN
https://www.amazon.com/Fibich-Symphony-No-Impressions-Countryside/dp/B00BGB3YUU

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Zdeněk Fibich (21 December 1850 – 15 October 1900) was a Czech composer of classical music. Fibich studied piano with Ignaz Moscheles and composition with Salomon Jadassohn and Ernst Richter. Fibich is far less known than either Dvořák or Smetana, partly because during the rise of Czech nationalism, he was living within the Habsburg Empire. Fibich's instrumental works were generally written in the vein of the German romantics. The bulk of his operas are in Czech, although many are based on non-Czech sources. In his chamber music, Fibich makes use of Bohemian folk melodies and dance rhythms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zden%C4%9Bk_Fibich

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Marek Štilec (born 1985) is a Czech conductor. He studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. Štilec has also participated in the masterclasses of Michael Tilson Thomas and Jorma Panula, among others. At the age of 17, Štilec founded the orchestra, Quattro, in which he acts as conductor and artistic leader. He collaborates with a wide range of leading orchestras and also works with many choirs. Štilec is a highly sought-after music label conductor and has recorded for Naxos and Arcodiva labels, as well as with Czech television and radio broadcasting.
https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marek_%C5%A0tilec
https://www.arcodiva.cz/en/agency/instrumental-soloists/marek-stilec/

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