Composer: Bohuslav Martinů
Performer: Dorota Szczepańska, Agnieszka Kopacka, Anna Maria Staśkiewicz
Orchestra: Sinfonia Varsovia
Conductor: Ian Hobson
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Toccata
Catalogue: TOCC0249
Release: 2016
Size: 653 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: cover
The Shadow, H. 102
01. Introduction
02. The Girl Appears
03. Girl’s Dance
04. Lento
05. Allegretto
06. Moderato
07. Ball Game
08. The Ball Falls
09. The Shadow Rises
10. Comodo
11. Tempo di menuetto
12. Trio
13. Vivace
14. Allegro
15. Allegro vivace
16. 3 Dark Figures
17. The Dancing Continues
18. The Girl Collapses Exhausted
19. The Song Is Heard Again from Afar
The generous quantity of orchestral music Martinů wrote between his late teens and early thirties is as good as unknown; some of it, indeed, has never even been performed. Toccata Classics continues Ian Hobson’s pioneering recordings of those early orchestral works with the one-act ballet Stín (‘The Shadow’) from 1916, which has its world premiere in this recording – astonishingly, in view of the quality of the music it contains. Although the action of the ballet is dark – a girl dances with her shadow in the presence of Death – Martinů’s score presents a series of remarkably buoyant and cheery dances, some of them showing the good-natured influence of Czech folk traditions, others evocative and atmospheric – and almost all of them irresistibly charming.
The score and performance materials for this recording were prepared by Michael Crump, the leading UK expert on Martinů’s music and author of Martinů and the Symphony (Toccata Press, 2010).
Ian Hobson, pianist and conductor, began his international career in 1981 when he won First Prize at the Leeds International Piano Competition. He is in increasing demand as a conductor, particularly for performances in which he doubles as a pianist. Ian Hobson appears on a number of other Toccata Classics recordings as pianist; further CDs in both capacities are under discussion.
Nowadays everyone knows (or should know) Martinů’s symphonies, as well as some of his brilliant symphonic poems such as The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca, but most of the orchestral works from his first maturity – recorded here in several volumes – remain largely ignored. With these volumes, you’ll hear how in 1915-1920, Martinů already wrote prime Martinů-esque works, in such a distinctive style – even though the orchestra can be reminiscent of Josef Suk, Debussy and Strauss, or even Rachmaninoff’s Isle of the Dead. In fact, just like Rachmaninoff’s work, the ballad Villa by the Sea (Vol. 3) is clearly evocative of a – very similar – Böcklin painting! Please note this is a discographic first (yes this can still be a thing for Martinů! As unlikely as it sounds), same for the eerie Míjející půlnoc (“Vanishing Midnight”, Vol. 3), a brilliant orchestral feat. The Shadow (Vol. 2), a ballet from 1916, at times features baroque idioms – it is indeed said that Martinů often drew inspiration from his predecessors, always with incredible musical originality. All in all, a must for the fans of a composer who, as it seems, still holds quite a few tricks up his sleeve.