Recollection
Supraphon SU4250-2 (8 CDs)
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, New Czech Chamber Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek

 

 

 

 

CD 1

BEDRICH SMETANA (1824–1884)
My Country. A Cycle of Symphonic Poems (1872-79)
1/ I. Vyšehrad 15:04
2/ II. Vltava 12:02
3/ III. Šárka 10:03
4/ IV. From Bohemian Fields and Groves 12:27
5/ V. Tábor 12:54
6/ VI. Blaník 14:03
Recorded in the Vladislav Hall of the Prague Castle, 26–28 March 1990.

CD 2

ANTONÍN DVORÁK (1841–1904)
Symphony No. 9 in E minor 'From the New World', Op. 95
1/ I. Adagio–Allegro molto 9:35
2/ II. Largo 12:05
3/ III. Molto vivace 8:08
4/ IV. Allegro con fuoco 11:39
Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, Op. 22 29:50
5/ I Moderato 4:45
6/ II Menuetto. Allegro con moto 7:09
7/ III Scherzo. Vivace 5:37
8/ IV. Larghetto 5:56
9/ V. Finale. Allegro vivace 6:13
Recorded in Prague at the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, 4-6 September 1989 (1-4), and in the Domovina Studio, 26-27 January 1996 (5-9).

CD 3

JOSEF SUK (1874–1935)
1/ Scherzo fantastique for Orchestra, Op. 25 (1902-03) 15:35
Fairy Tale. Concert Suite from the Music to Zeyer’s Tale Radúz and Mahulena, Op. 16 (1900) 30:38
2/ I. About the faithful Love of Radúz and Mahulena and their sorrows 10:40
3/ II. The game of the swans and the peacocks. Ala polka 3:56
4/ III. Funeral music. Andante sostenuto 7:14
5/ IV. Runa´s curse and how it was broken by love. Allegro appassionato 8:40
Serenade in E flat major for String Orchestra, Op. 6 (1892)
6/ I. Andante con moto 5:56
7/ II. Allegro ma non troppo e grazioso 5:51
8/ III. Adagio 9:38
9/ IV. Allegro giocoso ma non troppo presto 7:48
Recorded in Prague at the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, 7-8 January 1980 (1), at the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, 30 December 1978 and 25 January 1979 (2-5), and in the Domovina Studio, 16-17 March 1996 (6-9).

CD 4

ZDENEK FIBICH (1850–1900)
Symphony No. 3 in E minor, Op. 53
1/ I. Allegro inquieto 10:46
2/ II. Allegro con fuoco – Adagio 7:16
3/ III. Scherzo. Vivo e grazioso – Andante con moto 7:29
4/ IV. Allegro maestoso. Allegro vivace 11:15
LEOŠ JANÁCEK (1854–1928)
Sinfonietta (1926)
5/ I. Allegretto 2:11
6/ II. Andante 5:45
7/ III. Moderato 5:03
8/ IV. Allegretto 2:44
9/ V. Andante con moto – Allegretto 6:48
Taras Bulba. Rhapsody for Orchestra based on N. V. Gogol´s novel (1915-18)
10/ I. The Death of Andrei 8:18
11/ II. The Death of Ostap 5:18
12/ III. The Prophecy and Death of Taras Bulba 8:39
Recorded in Prague in the Domovina Studio, 2930 August 1981 (1-4) and in Brno in the Stadion Studio, 22-23 December 1977 (5-12).

CD 5

BOHUSLAV MARTINU (1890–1959)
1/ Overture for Orchestra, H 345 (1953) 6:29
2/ Rhapsody for Large Orchestra, H 171 (1928) 11:45
The Parables for Large Orchestra, H 367 (1958) 21:17
3/ I. The Parable of a Sculpture. Andante pastorale 6:04
4/ II. The Parable of a Garden. Poco moderato – Allegro molto 6:55
5/ III. The Parable of a Labyrinth. Poco allegro 8:16
Estampes for Orchestra, H 369 (1958) 18:05
6/ I. Andante 5:39
7/ II. Adagio–Allegro moderato 6:57
8/ III. Poco allegro 5:28
MAURICE RAVEL (1876–1946)
Ma mere l’Oye. Five Children's Pieces (1911)
9/ Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant 1:57
10/ Petit Poucet 4:00
11/ Laideronnette, Impératrice des Pagodes 3:40
12/ Les entretiens de la Belle et de la Bête 4:28
13/ Le Jardin féerique 3:49
14/ Pavane pour une infante défunte (1899) 6:55
Recorded in Prague at the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, 9-11 September and 7 December 1987 (1-8), 15 October 1973 (9-13) and 30 August 1973 (14).

CD 6

BOHUSLAV MARTINU
Tre ricercari for Chamber Orchestra / pro komorní orchestra (1938)
1/ I. Allegro poco 4:28
2/ II. Largo 6:15
3/ III. Allegro 4:23
BÉLA BARTÓK (1881–1945)
Divertimento for String Orchestra, Sz 113 (1939)
4/ I. Allegro non troppo 8:48
5/ II. Molto adagio 10:08
6/ III. Allegro assai 7:21
Concerto for Orchestra, Sz 116 (1943)
7/ I. Introduzione. Andante non troppo 10:11
8/ II. Giuoco delle copie. Allegretto scherzando 7:08
9/ III. Elegia. Andante non troppo 7:12
10/ IV. Intermezzo interrotto. Allegretto 4:12
11/ V. Finale. Pesante. Presto 10:29
Recorded in Prague at the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, 8 April and 3 June 1989 (1-3), 16-23 October 1973 (4-6) and in the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, 7-8 February 1981 (7-11).

CD 7

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART (1756–1791)
Symphony No. 38 in D major ‘Prague’, K 504 (1786)
1/ I. Adagio–Allegro 12:37
2/ II. Andante 12:31
3/ III. Finale. Presto 7:26
FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY (1809–1847)
Symphony No. 4 in A major ‘Italian’, Op. 90 (1833)
4/ I. Allegro vivace 10:51
5/ II. Andante con moto 6:03
6/ III. Con moto moderato 6:38
7/ IV. Saltarello. Presto 5:19
Recorded in Prague in the Domovina Studio, 17-18 October 2002 (1-3) and at the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum, 28-30 April 2006 (4-7).

CD 8

ARNOLD SCHÖNBERG (1874–1951)
1/ Verklärte Nacht, Op. 4 28:14
PAVEL HAAS (1899–1944)
2/ Study for String Orchestra (1943) 8:11
GUSTAV MAHLER (1860–1911)
Symphony No. 5 in C sharp minor
3/ IV. Adagietto. Sehr langsam 9:41
Symphony No. 2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’
4/ IV. Urlicht. Sehr feierlich, aber schlicht 5:18
Recorded in the Domovina Studio, Prague, 28-29 April 1994 (1-2), 30 September 1995 (3) and 13 September 1996.

This collection from the legacy of (1946-2017) was put together during the year after the demise of this outstanding conductor. It is intended mainly as a recollection of this extraordinary musician and person.
His life can be briefly described by enumerating the greatest of his achievements
(Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, BBC Symphony Orchestra, guest conductor with the Berliner Philharmoniker, New York Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, appearances at the MET, Glyndebourne, etc.; holder of the Commander of the Order of the British Empire /CBE/ title).
The Maestro himself may have preferred asharing of memories to recordings; yet the set of twenty-three pieces taken from the almost three hundred pieces from Supraphon archives and Recorded in the years 1971 – 2016 is a wonderful illustration of Bělohlávek’s professional maturing.
They capture him as a conductor of several leading Czech orchestras, beginning with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra (the energetic performance of Janáček of 1977 appearing at a CD for the first time) and concluding by the Czech Philharmonic and Prague Philharmonia.
In the very centre of Bělohlávek’s repertoire we find compositions by Dvořák (From the New World), Smetana (My Country), Suk, Janáček and, notably, Martinů, whom he introduced to the world.
The collection is enriched by several side-steps into other areas of repertoire including Mozart, Ravel, Mahler and Bartók, which documents the amazing scope of the conductor’s focus.
Please accept our invitation to an encounter with who loved music above anything else and served it with the loyalty of a knight till the very end.
Crucial as well as unknown recordings of ; a recollection of the most prominent Czech conductor of the second half of the second half of the 20th century.