It’s good to see that recordings of
Janáček’s choral music, not least his cycle of Nursery
Rhymes called
Říkadla, are no longer so rigidly confined
to the domestic Czech and Slovak markets. In fact not so long ago Capella
Amsterdam directed by Daniel Reuss [HMC 902097] released a disc in which
there is some duplication with this Naïve production, in which the
choir Accentus is directed by Pieter-Jelle de Boer. That said, there is some
hedging of bets in the disc under review. It would have been valuable to
have had a whole disc of the composer’s choral music - for the various
choral forces, male, female and mixed, for which he wrote. Naïve has,
however, covered its bases by including
In the Mists, one of
Janáček’s best-loved instrumental works and one which will
be in the collections, often multiply, of all lovers of the Moravian
master’s music.
In the pieces in which both choirs sing the same music -
The
Wild Duck, the
Elegy, and
The Wolf’s Trail -
it’s the Amsterdam forces that prove the more arresting and
compelling. The recording very slightly recesses the Accentus forces as
well, who are also generally quite a bit faster than their rivals in
Amsterdam. In addition Thomas Walker and Philip Mayers (for Harmonia Mundi)
receive a better balanced recording in the moving elegy the composer wrote
for his daughter Olga. Also, Walker has a more flexible and lighter voice
than Romain Champion. In matters of true idiomatic identification with the
choral music neither can truly match the old Prague Philharmonic Chorus
recordings of a number of these pieces, under their director Josef Veselka,
dating from the early 1970s.
Říkadla is performed (largely) in the version
made by Erwin Stein in 1927 for 10 singers, viola and piano, a version
sanctioned by the composer when Universal Edition published the work in both
full score and piano reduction. In this recording the Stein version is
altered through the addition of a flute; thus the instrumentation is viola
and piano with flute, piccolo and ocarina, all played by Raquele
Magalhães. It’s more often that one encounters the fuller
version for eight players performing two clarinets, piccolo-flute-ocarina,
two bassoons, percussion instruments and bass. One further confusion: in the
cast-list, eleven singers are listed, not ten - namely three sopranos, two
altos, three tenors and three basses.
In any case
Říkadla is a microcosm of the
composer’s procedures, in its rapid conjunctions, and juxtapositions,
and oppositions, in its rhythmic emphases, its colour, and so much more. You
flit from Vixen to Jenufa and much beyond as you listen to these seemingly
innocent nursery rhymes that are packed full of so much that makes
Janáček distinctive, indeed unique. The viola gives a rich inner
voicing in this performance - the composer was clear that he didn’t
want a violin, which would have been too piercing, I assume - and so the
performance can be recommended for what it is, though it can only be an
ancillary recommendation given the editorial work that has gone on. The
classic Kühn reading from the late 1950s remains vital in the
work’s discography, though the more recent 1972 Veselka reading -
Veselka, as noted above, was one of the most ardent champions of the
composer’s vocal music - no less so.
Alain Planès plays
In the Mists with sensitivity,
though I did slightly worry about his rubati in the opening
Andante.
Fortunately, however, whilst not as incisive or as idiomatic as
Firkušný in his famous recordings for RCA and DG, Planès
takes the quartet of pieces at good, forward-moving tempi. Not everyone
does.
This is a rather tricky disc to sum up. It’s been
thoughtfully compiled and has some valid things to say. The
Nursery
Songs offer a new take.
In the Mists dilutes the vocal focus. The
singing is keen but not exceptional. Where they overlap Cappella Amsterdam
is to be preferred. The total timing here is also quite short. I’d
advise a sample before acquisition.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review:
Dominy Clements
