Composer: Leoš Janáček
Performer: Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Ingela Oien, Gary Peterson, Jon Behncke, Christopher Dudley, Oyvind Hage, Kjell Erik Husom, Hans Andreas Kjolberg
Orchestra: Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Edward Gardner
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Chandos
Catalogue: CHSA5142
Release: 2014
Size: 1.01 GB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Sinfonietta
01. I. Allegretto
02. II. Andante
03. III. Moderato
04. IV. Allegretto
05. V. Andante con moto
Capriccio for piano (left hand) & chamber ensemble, JW VII / 12 ‘Vzdor’
06. I. Allegro
07. II. Adagio
08. III. Allegretto
09. IV. Andante
The Cunning Little Vixen Suite, JW I / 9
10. I. The Forest
11. II. The Vixen at the Gamekeeper’s Farmyard – The Vixen Dreams – The Vixen Escapes
Edward Gardner conducts the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra in the opening volume in their series devoted to orchestral works by Leoš Janáček. It features three pieces that originate in Janáček’s late period, when his passionate feelings for Kamila Stösslová, thirty-seven years his junior, inspired an extraordinary flowering of his creative genius.
The Sinfonietta is one of Janáček’s most successful and popular works, famed for its opening movement, a brazen fanfare scored for a phalanx of brass with timpani. The remaining four movements, full of character, celebrate Janáček’s adopted town of Brno, blending occasional reflection with high-voltage exuberance.
Scored unusually for left-hand piano and an ensemble of brass and flute, the Capriccio is remarkable even among Janáček’s distinctive late works. Its overall effect is mercurial and capricious, in the composer’s words: ‘whimsical, all wilfulness and witticisms’. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet employs his formidable technique and interpretative flair in the solo part.
The Cunning Little Vixen, Janáček’s opera from 1923, was not universally well received at first. A number of its orchestral interludes, however, were immediately popular and after Janáček’s death in 1928 Václav Talich, a leading Czech conductor, extracted an orchestral suite, re-orchestrated by two young colleagues. Recently Sir Charles Mackerras restored Janáček’s striking original orchestration, the version recorded here.
The Vol. 1 designation in the graphics suggests that this will be the first item in a complete cycle of Leos Janácek’s orchestral works, and as such it’s quite promising. The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, from Norway, is led by its frequent guest conductor, Edward Gardner. The biggest find here is a work that might more accurately be called chamber music rather than orchestral music: the Capriccio for piano left hand, flute or piccolo, two trumpets, three trombones, and tenor tuba, JW VII/12. This work is rarely heard even on piano one-hand recitals, but its revival here by (two-handed) pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet argues for more frequent performances. The undeniably odd ensemble is exquisitely balanced, with equal doses of both Janácek’s trademark lyricism and a bit of impish humor. The slow second movement has the feel of entering an enchanted forest. The Sinfonietta, JW VI/18, of the same year and the Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen, JW 1/9, in a version by the great Janácek interpreter Charles Mackerras, are also entirely satisfying: less edgy than Czech versions, perhaps, but cleanly and idiomatically done. Listeners also benefit from the quiet, pleasant acoustic of the Grieghalle in Bergen, handled well by Chandos’ engineers. This makes one very ready to hear more in the series.