# Leos Janacek ! Insights & Recommendations?



## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Leos Janacek was off my radar untill I recently "discovered" him through a few of the Favorites Games; I first heard his solo piano pieces In the Mists & On an Overgrown Path ~ loved these! Then, the SQ Kreutzer Sonata .... wow! And now I am completely charmed by the cello & piano piece Pohadka (Fairy Tale) ~ which I just found this morning on YouTube & listened to 3 times straight in a row . 
So ... What should I hear next; what is he known for? And, what are your favorite & recommended recordings?


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Sinfonietta conducted by Mackerras

He's also known for his operas, the Cunning Little Vixen, Jenufa, and From The House Of The Dead.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

In addition to the Mackerras recordings on Decca, look for the Ancerl recordings on Supraphon. Glagolitic Mass, etc.

As far as the quartets, there's a great recording on Chandos that also includes the Szymanowski quartets.


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## Triplets (Sep 4, 2014)

Try to find Quartet recordings by the Janacek or Smetena Quartets. The music is heavily influenced by the rhythm of Czech Speech, and native speakers have an advantage here. The quirky Violin Sonata is a real favorite of mine.
Starthrower made some good recommendations, particularly the Mackerras Sinfonietta. One of my great Concert experiences was hearing the Chicago SO a few years ago in the Sinfonietta. They blew the roof off!


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

*Glagolitic Mass!!!*

Janácek is one of my favorite Czech composers (along with Dvorák, Martinu, Suk, Smetana, and V. Novák). His style is unmistakably unique, immediately noticeable. As other members have mentioned, you should definitely try the Glagolitic Mass (what an authentic piece of music, absolutely ravishing), Sinfonietta, Violin concerto _Pilgrimage of a Soul_ (it's short but really astounding), _Rikadla_ (Nursery Rhymes) (a delicious work for soloists, chorus and instruments, highly original and ultra-recommended), the impossibly amazing String quartets (both quartets are brutal, but I slightly prefer the No. 2 _Intimate Letters_, what a piece!), the sunny Lachian Dances, On an overgrown path (a series of piano pieces with a melancholic atmosphere, very profound), Ballade of Blanik, The Fiddler's Child and The Eternal Gospel. I don't know his operas, but I do know they must be incredible as well.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

How I could forget Taras Bulba! Please, add it to your list


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

MusicSybarite said:


> How I could forget Taras Bulba! Please, add it to your list


I'm getting the idea that you _really_ like Janacek!!!  
Do you have any favorite recordings of these pieces? 
Thanks!


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Re the Glagolitic Mass, the version performed for decades is actually a slightly modified and simplified version done for the premier in 1928, the year after Janacek originally composed it. The changes involved both orchestration and meter done to make it easier for the performers. Also there is evidence that it was shortened in that the closing Intrada had been intended to also be played at the start thereby making a 9 movement work instead of the 8 that were played for so many years. During the last 25+ years there have been a couple of 'original' scores prepared based on the original manuscripts. The Mackerras/Royal Danish recording is from the Wingfield version and the Netopil/Prague Radio is the Zahrádka version. I haven't heard the latter but would definitely recommend making sure to hear it one of them, i.e. much closer to the way that Janacek originally intended.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

While there are many very good recordings of Taras Bulba, there is one that I particularly enjoy which comes from a live Proms concert with Gennady Rozhdestvensky and the BBC Symphony.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

The Cunning Little Vixen, Jenufa, and From The House Of The Dead , have to be in your collection. 
The are conducted best by: Sir Charles Mackerras.


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## science (Oct 14, 2010)

There is a nice old 2-CD set by DG with Firkusny playing some of Janacek's piano works. One of my favorites. Makes me wish for a rainy day so I can look out a window at some stone with moss growing on it....


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

I like the Glagolic Mass, The Eternal Mass, Taras Bulba and his piano works are worth exploring





I was born in the same region as Janáček (South Moravia). His music was much influenced by the folk music here


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

My favorite opera from him is "Káťa Kabanová". This is a youtube with a beautiful production by Robert Carsen, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek, with Karita Mattila and that can be found in Bluray:


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## Jacck (Dec 24, 2017)

documentary about Janáček, if you are interested


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

To put it in simple terms, I'd recommend pretty much anything from the last fifteen or so years of his life - I think Janáček's Indian summer was one of the absolute delights of early 20th century music.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

The operas Jenufa, Katya Kabanova, and Vec Makropulos all belong with the above recommendations, along with the wind sextet Mladi (Youth).


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Indeed, Janacek's last few years undoubtedly produced his best works. Perhaps a word of quiet thanks to Kamila would not be inappropriate?
Best place to start has to the the Sinfonietta, then the Glagolitic Mass, the two quartets the piano pieces, some of the weirdly instrumented chamber pieces, Taras Bulba, The pretty, Dvorakian early orchestral pieces, an intensely intense song cycle. There's a huge amount of top quality and completely inimitable music.

As a very useful insight into how he worked, it is well worth checking out his choruses, and his folk song settings. For the latter, the series Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs, is illuminating. And lovely, btw!

Oh and there are the operas. The last four are among the finest operas of the 20th century.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Indeed, Janacek's last few years undoubtedly produced his best works. Perhaps a word of quiet thanks to Kamila would not be inappropriate?
Best place to start has to the the Sinfonietta, then the Glagolitic Mass, the two quartets the piano pieces, some of the weirdly instrumented chamber pieces, Taras Bulba, The pretty, Dvorakian early orchestral pieces, an intensely intense song cycle. There's a huge amount of top quality and completely inimitable music.

As a very useful insight into how he worked, it is well worth checking out his choruses, and his folk song settings. For the latter, the series Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs, is illuminating. And lovely, btw!

Oh and there are the operas. The last four are among the finest operas of the 20th century.


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

laurie said:


> I'm getting the idea that you _really_ like Janacek!!!
> Do you have any favorite recordings of these pieces?
> Thanks!


Sure, I like his music so much!!

I can suggest these recordings that I remember the most:

Glagolitic Mass: There is a recording on YouTube, which is the most satistying I've heard recently. The soloists are fluent, the climaxes are glorious with no rush, with an effective pacing. This is the video (the complete playlist appears when opening the link):






Other renditions: Chailly with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Decca), Dutoit with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal (Decca), Ancerl with the Czech P.O. (Supraphon), Mackerras with the Brno P.O. (Supraphon).

Taras Bulba, Sinfonietta: Mackerras with the Wiener Philharmoniker (Decca), Ancerl with the Czech P.O. (Supraphon)

Rikadla: London Sinfonietta Chorus, London Sinfonietta, David Atherton (from the Decca's Janacek Box Set 5 CD)

String quartets: Takacs Quartet (Hyperion), Quatuor Diotima (alpha)

The Eternal Gospel: Pinkas, Prague S.O. & Choir (Supraphon)

Ballad of Blanik, The Fiddler's Child: Volkov, BBC Scottish S.O. (Hyperion)

Violin concerto: Suk, Neumann, Czech P.O. (Supraphon)


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## Michael Diemer (Nov 12, 2017)

An interesting nugget: The progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer did a pretty cool rendition of Sinfonietta, at least the first movement. I believe they also did a version of Pictures At An exhibition. Emerson's keyboard skills were amazing. I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert in the seventies. I have never been so high, and I never even smoked anything.


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

Trying to post something here...


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## MusicSybarite (Aug 17, 2017)

laurie said:


> I'm getting the idea that you _really_ like Janacek!!!
> Do you have any favorite recordings of these pieces?
> Thanks!


Sure! I like his music so much because it's so original, fresh, unique.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

To the above operas, add Vec Makropulos. And the wind sextet Mladi (Youth).


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Don't forget the opera Vec Makropulos, and the wind sextet "Mladi" (Youth).


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)




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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)




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## Polyphemus (Nov 2, 2011)

The String Quartets are must.


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

Besides the excellent suggestions so far, if you are a fan of art songs, Janáček composed a highly original, rhapsodic and erotic song narrative titled _The Diary of One Who Disappeared_. There's an excellent recording of it by Ian Bostridge and Thomas Adès.










Bostridge also did this neat documentary that probes the background of it's composition.


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## WildThing (Feb 21, 2017)

:wave: :clap::trp:


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

Michael Diemer said:


> An interesting nugget: The progressive rock band Emerson, Lake and Palmer did a pretty cool rendition of Sinfonietta, at least the first movement. I believe they also did a version of Pictures At An exhibition. Emerson's keyboard skills were amazing. I had the pleasure of seeing them in concert in the seventies.* I have never been so high, and I never even smoked anything*.


At a ELP show in the 70's? It was probably a contact high ... :lol:


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

Sorry about the parallel posts above. For some reason they diden't want to be posted.


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## JLi (Jan 31, 2018)

When I first discovered Janacek, it was through On an Overgrown Path. Then I tried In the Mists and the Piano Sonata 1. X. 1905, his other piano works. Then there was orchestral works like Taras Bulba and the Sinfonietta. I don't really like his operas though.

In addition, if you like Janacek, you'll also love Bohuslav Martinu (another Czech composer) and Georges Enescu (a Romanian composer). Their styles are similar to Janacek's.


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## laurie (Jan 12, 2017)

So much interesting music to check out ... thanks everyone, for all the suggestions (& enthusiasm!) :tiphat:



science said:


> There is a nice old 2-CD set by DG with Firkusny playing some of Janacek's piano works. One of my favorites. *Makes me wish for a rainy day so I can look out a window at some stone with moss growing on it....*



I definitely need to find this one ... we have plenty of rainy days & mossy stones around here!


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## Musselshell58 (Jan 1, 2021)

Thomas Ades recorded On an overgrown path, In the Mist and the 1905 Sonata in 2020...and I find his work as deeply satisfying as any Czech pianist.


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## Guest (Oct 18, 2021)

I would add the Concertino and Cappricio to the list of must-hear pieces from Janacek. Both are "concertos" for piano and small ensemble.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

During the second half of the 20th c, there were at least three Janacek "revivals -- each with a little more staying power. Now he's pretty much in the standard repertoire.

MacKerras was instrumental in bringing him to the UK (he was a student of I think, Vaclav Talich). His first recording of the Sinfonietta,, done by a London pickup band (probably late at night) and issued on the "Golden Guinea Series" is great fun for being absolutely harrowing. The players had probably never seen it before, the brass were hanging on by a thread, and somehow it fit the music perfectly!


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## CnC Bartok (Jun 5, 2017)

MarkW said:


> During the second half of the 20th c, there were at least three Janacek "revivals -- each with a little more staying power. Now he's pretty much in the standard repertoire.
> 
> MacKerras was instrumental in bringing him to the UK (he was a student of I think, Vaclav Talich). His first recording of the Sinfonietta,, done by a London pickup band (probably late at night) and issued on the "Golden Guinea Series" is great fun for being absolutely harrowing. The players had probably never seen it before, the brass were hanging on by a thread, and somehow it fit the music perfectly!


Is that the Pro Arte Orchestra recording of the Sinfonietta? It's fabulous!

And yes, Mackerras studied with Talich.


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## MarkW (Feb 16, 2015)

CnC Bartok said:


> Is that the Pro Arte Orchestra recording of the Sinfonietta? It's fabulous!
> 
> And yes, Mackerras studied with Talich.


Yes, that's the one. I really have no idea whether or not the "Pro Arte Orchestra" is or was ever a real ensemble.


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## SanAntone (May 10, 2020)

Anyone mention the operas? _Cunning Little Vixen_, _Jenufa_? He wrote something like 8 or more.


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## Mandryka (Feb 22, 2013)

There used to be a wonderful cartoon version of The Cunning Little Vixen. This

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424016/

Janacek was a cult opera composer in London in the 1980s and 1990s, helped by the vigorous advocacy of Charles Mackerras, you couldn't get away from his operas. One of my teachers at the time was a great fan, he wrote an important essay on an idea in The Makropoulos Case

https://www3.nd.edu/~pweithma/Readings/Williams/Williams on Immortality.pdf


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## dko22 (Jun 22, 2021)

Janáček has been for many a year my favourite composer. I've heard all nine operas live (including "The Beginning of a Romance" which has never been staged outside his native land) and there's no doubt they are his most important works. The _Cunning Little Vixen _ is certainly the biggest single influence on my own compositions. Please do NOT buy Mackerras as an only choice here -- although he has done an enormous amount for Czech music, he is far from invariably the best interpreter and here he is much too abrasive and perfunctory. Both Neumann versions for instance are safer choices. Mackerras' _Katja Kabanova_ on the other hand remains very fine. _Jenůfa_ has for me the most moving coda in all music

Outside opera, the piano _Overgrown Path_ is perhaps my favourite work, though often performed badly by non Czechs. Firkušny and Kvapil are in different ways safe choices. The _Glagolitic Mass_ is one of the most extraordinarily invigorating of all choral works -- at least when performed properly like with Ančerl (Rattle's version is insipid). Another particular favourite is the little wind sextet _Mládi_.

That's just for starters.....


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

I started with the Sinfonietta, which certainly grabs your attention on the first note. But what really grabbed my attention musically were the two quartets. I also like the Mackerras conducted operas. (There was a box set with four; I hunted the internet and the New York Public Library for librettos in English. Most recently, I picked up the Firkursny twofer.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

SanAntone said:


> Anyone mention the operas? _Cunning Little Vixen_, _Jenufa_? He wrote something like 8 or more.


I mentioned them a few years ago on the first page. The Decca 9 disc box is a great little set. Includes one disc of orchestral works.


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