BaL 8.06.19 - Janácek: Glagolitic Mass

[mikealdren]

Did Rattle get a mention, I didn't hear it. These short, short lists are becoming a problem

[Mal]

Did Rattle get a mention, I didn't hear it. These short, short lists are becoming a problem

Nope, despite being top choice in Gramophone, Penguin and Rough guides!

[DracoM]

Thx EA and Mal for doing most efficiently and helpfully the job RR should have done.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Thx EA and Mal for doing most efficiently and helpfully the job RR should have done.

And to Bryn, too.

[Pulcinella]

And to Bryn, too.

Seconded! Lots of good pointers along the way.

[pastoralguy]

Seconded! Lots of good pointers along the way.

[Mal]

Interesting she still chose the Ancerl...

The Belohlávek is too smooth, groomed and manicured - the composer wanted a sense of strain,...

I'm glad the reviewer had the courage to stick with the old favourite, which really hasn't been bettered,...

Having now listened to the opening three minutes of both on youtube, I can see what you're saying. Here's another review that criticises the "too smooth" approach:

https://www.ft.com/content/9f59301e-c0a9-11e8-95b1-d36dfef1b89a

"Bělohlávek’s own contributions are more mixed. He brings a hallowed sense of mystery to some parts of the Glagolitic Mass, but little of the wild restlessness that energises the music under conductors such as Charles Mackerras and Simon Rattle. The Fiddler’s Child casts a ghostly atmosphere, but the savagery of Taras Bulba and the blazing affirmation of the Sinfonietta, the latter recorded only a few months before Bělohlávek died, are underplayed."

Given that I was blown away by Ancerl's Taras Bulba on Spotify, I think I will purchase Ancerl's BAL winning CD in the first instance... "a hallowed sense of mystery" and a sweet soprano are not enough (!)... Instead of all two-fer chat, they should have played more of Ancerl to get across the excitement!

[Petrushka]

I bought the Belohlavek when it came out and was distinctly underwhelmed by it. There is indeed 'little of the wild restlessness that energises the music' and it's no more than an also-ran for me at best.

The wild restlessness, the energy and sheer excitement are all there in the Frantisek Jilek recording I mention in my #10. Surprised there aren't more who've discovered this one.

[richardfinegold]

You won't regret it!
I wonder if the Ancerl Gold edition is any different (remastered?) from the Crystal Collection incarnation I have (11 0609 2, copyright 1988).
https://www.discogs.com/Janáček-Czec...elease/7685478

I wondered that to. I don't have the Ancerl Gold version, but had burned an earlier CD incarnation to an iTunes hard drive that I just dusted off to find this recording, and that I am listening to currently. It is stil a wild and wooly kind of work that I haven't fully absorbed but nice to know that I have the "winner" and will give a few more outings to.

[jayne lee wilson]

I don't have earlier issues to compare, but on the Ancerl Gold CD, a quick check of some of the fiercer moments revealed, as I'd remembered, a very good top-to-bottom balance (no problem with lower strings here at least, which are gutty, full and powerful - that classic Czech sound...) Excellent clarity and dynamic range, in fact a surprisingly modern-sounding remaster given the age of the source.
Stage depth/layering is less well-defined but there's still good ambience and atmosphere and vocals are not grating or too close. The c/w Taras Bulba (1961) is scarcely less fine. I'd be surprised if anyone finds this album wanting.

Musically it is a stone-cold classic. Wild and free, but never out of control. So fully expressed. The orchestra sound wonderful - glorious in every department.

I love the Czech Phil of that era and bought several of the Ancerl Gold issues as they appeared (including Brahms 2, Dvorak 6 etc) and apart from some minor cavils about the 1950s Martinu, have rarely had any disappointments - the remastering always sounded good to me. Golden strings indeed!

[ardcarp]

One of my favourite works. Sadly I've not had time to catch up on BAL and I've only skimmed the posts on here so far. But has anyone mentioned that it's got a stinker of an organ solo...in the sense of being fiendish to play. Look forward to i-player when I've got an hour to spare.

[cloughie]

Untimely? 71 isn't a bad innings. If I make the classical three score and ten I'll be happy... if I'm anything... Gramophone on the CD:

"These recordings, made with his beloved Czech Philharmonic in Prague’s Rudolfinum, date from October 2013 to February 2017, just three months before he died."

Doesn't say exactly when the Glagolitic Mass was recorded

It’s all relative - as I approach 72 and hope for many years beyond then 71 to me is untimely!

[Bryn]

It’s all relative - as I approach 72 and hope for many years beyond then 71 to me is untimely!

Quite agree. I turned 71 in April and expect to go on at least a couple more decades.

[rauschwerk]

...a stinker of an organ solo...in the sense of being fiendish to play.

I was fortunate to have sung this with Christoph von Dohnanyi and the LSO in 1967. Simon Preston was at the organ. I never saw feet move like it before or since!

[edashtav]

Quite agree. I turned 71 in April and expect to go on at least a couple more decades.

According to my researches, the Glagolitic Mass was first heard in the provinces at the Leeds Festival in October 1953, a mere 65 years ago. It was sung by 170 voices of the Bradford Festival Choral Society who had practised it tirelessly for 6 months. It had been programmed at the behest of Lord Harewood who arranged for Julius Patzak to sing the tenor solos. Benjamin Britten was in the audience and Maurice Miles was the rather daunted conductor (a time there was when I knew Maurice's brother, Philip, who was a brilliant Bournemouth organist made erratic by drink). Here's the Yorkshire Post's veteran critic, Ernest Bradbury, introducing the work:

"Last night's concert of the Leeds Musical Festival had a more varied programme than on previous evenings and it ended with another modern work of extreme difficulty for the performers. This was again a work fit for a Festival, one which, in a sense, we were privileged to hear, for it has involved much rehearsal time and had called for much special preparation, so that we can hardly expect to encounter it frequently. Whatever we may think after single performance, Janacek its composer writes music of a fairly simple and direct utterance. His work reflects his native Moravia: every bar is shot through with peasant rhythms and influenced by native folk-song. Janacek is a nationalist, not less than Dvorak or Smetana, and we must come to terms with him, first forgetting our English ears."

If anyone knows of, or sang in, an earlier performance outside London, tell us, please.