The Tale, though linked through its title to summer, is not
without foreboding. It is imbued with a sense of the passing of old empires
and of the safety and security that went with them. In the first movement
the fields are the same sun-bleached cornfields hymned by Othmar Schoeck
in his Sommernacht and in the early tableaux of Delius's A Village
Romeo and Juliet. The sounds conjured by Pešek are sometimes
astonishingly Debussian reminding us that this orchestra has made outstanding
recordings of French repertoire under the inspired direction of Baudo, Pedrotti
and Fournet. The winds, in particular, have a recognisably Gallic timbre.
The third movement is a lovely piece linking forward, in one direction, with
the middle movement of Rodrigo's Aranjuez and with Hovhaness. There
is both a chill and an embrace among the spinneys crowning the warmed fields
- the title of the movement is In the Power of Phantoms. The fifth
and final segment rounds out the piece in serenity.
Praga can be contrasted with Delius's Paris, Vaughan
Williams' London Symphony and Elgar's Cockaigne. It wanders
a nocturnal Prague and the regal-tragic history of that city is summoned
by a memorable fanfare which I associate with Janacek's theme for Ostap in
Taras Bulba. Suk is a generous melodist (10.15) and is given to using
the solo violin and solo viola to advance the plot. The piece is long-winded
but, in its final address, gathers itself impressively around the fanfare
theme.
A generously filled and decently recorded disc though A Summer's Tale
lacks the Beechamesque give and take of Šejna's 1966 recording -
also on Supraphon.
. Rob Barnett
Czech PO/Libor
Pešek
