��The BohuslaV MarTinů FoundationThe BohuslaV MarTinů instituteThe international MarTinů CirCle
may–august 2015 / vol. XV / no.220 years of the bohuslavmartinů institute——opera juliette in frankfurt——bohuslav martinůand vítězslava kaprálová ——news & recordings ——
news
content
s
3 highlights
4 news
5 incircle news
reviews 6 dominoes and mosaiCs –
opera Juliette in FrankFurtSEVERIN KOLB
8 smetana, dvořák & martinů open smetana litomyšlPETR VEBER
10 plays oF mary: spiritually true, moderate, First-ClassPETR VEBER
12 portrait the Centenary oF vítězslavakaprálová / part 1KARLA HARTL
14 researchJuliette arányi and bohuslav martinůANNA ŠERÝCH
16 interviewtwenty years oF the bohuslav martinů institute / an interviewwith direCtor aleš březinaMARTIN FLAŠAR
18 portraita birthday tribute to aleš březinaoFFered by patriCk lambert
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IT Is NO sEcrET that Bohuslav Martinů hadfive siblings, of whom he knew only two:František and Marie. He never met his youngerbrothers, Antonín (b. 1884) and Jaroslav(b. 1886), as they died at a tender age. Hishalf-brother Karel, an extramarital child of hismother Karolina (nee Klimešová), was almost17 years older, and when Bohuslav was born hewas no longer living with the Martinů family.
According totheir sister Marie,he “trained asa typographerat the Popelkaprinting shopon the square,where he alsoused to sleep”.Later on, KarelKlimeš moved to Prague, where he settledpermanently.
The Polička Museum collection includes twophotographs of Karel Klimeš (30 August 1873 –23 November 1931). On the first, he is picturedas a child, together with his brother Františekand sister Marie. The first photo was probablytaken around 1885, at the time when theMartinůs did not yet live in the tower andBohuslav had yet to be born. The second isa portrait of Karel Klimeš at the age of 39.
Karel was the only one among the Martinůsiblings to have children: a daughter, Elsa(married name: Umlaufová), and a son, Karel.Owing in particular to their being in contactwith the family friend Marie Pražanová, bothElsa and Karel were kept abreast of the artisticcareer of their famous uncle Bohuslav.
Lucie JirgLová
peeph��le into the bohuslav martinů center in polička /10
�obituary�ivan moravec / 1930–2015Ivan Moravec strived to devote every sparesecond of his life to the piano and to his musicallove affairs – with Mozart, Beethoven, Debussy,ravel, and particularly chopin. That is why I holdhim in high esteem ever more for having sacrified,twice, a part of his closely guarded time to thename and work of Bohuslav Martinů. Firstly, whenrequested by his old friend oldřich F. Korte, hestudied and recorded three pieces from the “etudesand Polkas” piano cycle for the non-commercialBohuslav Martinů Foundation cD in 2000. Thosewho know how pru dent Ivan Moravec was whenit came to expanding his repertoire will surelyappreciate it. Three years later, in 2003, he submit -ted to an interview with me that forever capturedhis account of meeting Bohuslav Martinů in romein 1957. He depicted not only the content and topicsof their encounter, but also the overall atmospheredescribing everything from the composer's appear -
ance and fashion sense to his intonation and theextraodinarily slow tempo of his speech. In thisinterview, I believe, he re vealed a great deal notonly about Martinů, but, more importantly, abouthimself.
Aleš BřezinA
The interview with ivan Moravec can be foundin Martinů Revue no. 1, 2003, or at www.martinu.cz/en/news/201-ivan-moravec-1930---2015/
< Karel Klimeš (on the very right) with František and Marie Martinů
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20th annualBohuslav MartInů days 2015Prague, 22 november – 20 December 2015
125th Birthday of Bohuslav Martinůunder the patronage of Minister of CultureDaniel Herman
proloGues22 November 2015 / 7.30 pm> Prague castle, Spanish Hallorchestra of Prague castle Guard and PolicePetr nouzovský (cello) václav Blahunek (conductor)Memorial To Lidice, H 296Concertino for Cello and Small Orchestra, H 143Half-Time, H 142
29 November 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů HallConcert of the Winnners of Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition 2015 in the Field of piano
FestIval1 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů Hallopening Concertroman Janál (Baryton), veronika Ptáčková (Piano),czech radio children’s choir, Blanka Kulínská and Lukáš Jindřich (conductors)Sedláček QuartetKoleda from Bouquet of Flowers, H 260Chap-Book, H 214 (selection)Opening of the Springs, H 354
2 December 2015 / 5.30 pm> rudolfinum, Suk Hallharpsichord recitalSonata for Harpsichord H 368Mahan esfahani (Harpsichord)
4 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů Hallacademy chamber Soloists of Prague
MartInů FesttaGe 2015 15–29 november 2015Basel, Switzerland, www.martinu.ch
15 November / 7.00 pm> stadtcasino Basel / Music hallLondon Symphony orchestraTomáš Hanus (conductor)(Pre-concert Talk 6,15 pm, Bernhard Dittmann,Hans Huber Hall)Symphony No 2, H 295Symphony No 5, H 310
18 November / 8.00 pm> Basler Marionetten theateradditional performances: 20–22.11.+27–29.11.clair-obscur Saxophone quartet Who is the Most Powerful of the World?, H 133
22 November / 7.00 pm> stadtcasino / hans huber hallHagen Quartett(Pre-concert Talk 6.15 pm, István Hajdu)String Quartet No. 5, H 268
25 November / 8.00 pm> tabourettliMarTInŮ In TaBoUreTTLI – cello-comedyDuo calva: „cellolite“alain Schudel und Daniel Schaerer, violoncelloDominique Müller (Director)Dramaturgische Beratung: charles LewinskyTwo Pieces for two Cellos, H 377
29 November / 7.00 pm> Museum tinguelyGuillermo Klein & the Jazzcampus Big Bandfeat. Mark Turner Guillermo Klein arrangement/composer/leadMark Turner tenor sax Students of Hochschule für Musik/FHnWMartinů’s works in arrangement for Big Band
Martinů exhibitiona travelling exhibition about Martinů´s life andwork will be installed in the foyers of concertvenues. authors: Gabriele Jonté and Sybille ryser
CzeCh Centre and nonClassICal PreSenT: InspIred By MartInů21 October 2015 / 7.30 pm> The Forge, London, UKFour Songs on Czech Folk Poetry, H 282bisTwo Songs to the Texts of Negro Folk Poetry,H 232bisSpring, H 127Film en Miniature, H 148Sonata No. 3 for Violin and Piano, H 303 Lada valešová (Piano)Tereza-anna Přívratská (violin)Lucie Špičková (Soprano)Gabriel Prokofiev (DJ set)
vojtěch Spurný (conductor) robert Kružík (cello)Sinfonietta La Jolla for Piano and ChamberOrchestra, H 328Concerto No. 1 for Cello and Orchestra, H 196
5 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů Hallczech Philharmonic choir Brno Petr Fiala ( choirmaster)Czech Madrigals, H 278 (selection)Hymn to St. James, H 347
6 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> archa Theatre, PragueSouth czech Philharmonic Jan Talich (conductor)Gustav Brom orchestra vladimír valovič (conductor) Jan Simon (Piano)La Revue de cuisine, Suite from the Ballet,H 161AJazz Suite for Small Orchestra, H 172Le Jazz. Movement for Orchestra, H 168
8 December 2015> rudolfinum, Dvořák HallPrague Philharmonic choir Lukáš vasilek (choirmaster)Legend of the Smoke from Potato Tops, H 360Mount of Three Lights, H 349The Romance from the Dandelions, H 364Mikesh from the Mountains, H 375
9 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> rudolfinum, Dvořák HallSmetana Trio Piano Trio No. 3, H 332
13 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů HallSoňa Červená (recitation) Karel Košárek (Piano), a. o.Three Melodramas, H 82, 83, 84La Revue de cuisine, Jazz Ballet, H 161
14 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> rudolfinum, Dvořák HallPrague radio Symphony orchestra (SoČr),Tomáš Brauner (conductor), Martin Kasík (Piano),Daniel Wiesner and Miroslav Sekera (Piano)Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra, H 316Concerto for two Pianos and Orchestra, H 292
15 December 2015 / 7.00 pm> national Theatre, PragueSoloists, choir and orchestra of nationalMoravian-Silesian Theatre in ostrava, Jakub Klecker (conductor), Jiří nekvasil (Director)Three Wishes or Inconstancy of the Life, H 175
16 + 17 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Municipal House, Smetana Hall, PraguePrague Symphony orchestra Pietari Inkinen (conductor)Sinfonia Concertante for Oboe, Bassoon, Violin,Cello and Small Orchestra, H 322
18 December 2015 / 19.30 pm > Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů HallBenefit Concert for 20th anniversaryof the Bohuslav Martinů Instituteenrico Pieranunzi, robert Kolinsky, (Piano)Three Czech Dances for two Pianos, H 324Enrico Pieranunzi: Autour de Martinů(Improvisation)Impromptu for Two Pianos, H 359
19 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> Lichtenštejn Palace, Martinů HallMartinů voices Lukáš vasilek (conductor)Four Songs about Mary for Mixed Chorus, H 235Five Czech Madrigals for Mixed Voices, H 321
20 December 2015 / 7.30 pm> rudolfinum, Dvořák HallClosing ConcertPKF-Prague Philharmonia emmanuel villaume (conductor)Serenade for Chamber Orchestra, H 199
www.martinu.cz
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Year of Czech Music 2014
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151 _Tomáš Jamník
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152 _Jaroslav Krček
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the IMC has a new member in the person ofcomposer Jitka Koželuhová, who introducesherself thus:
…In the chamber ensemble canticorum iubiloI sang the exquisite cantatas legend from the Smokeof Potato Tops and Mikesh from the Mountains, andof course The opening of the Springs… With thesame choir I also discovered “Three Sacred Songs”for female choir with solo violin accompaniment…In 2009, the anniver sary of the composer’s death,I performed this in Stuttgart in Germany with mychoir, which I have led as choirmaster since 2002.I was a bit worried how well our czech thirds wouldgo down with a German audience weaned on thequartal-quintal harmonies of the excellent HugoDistler… but we succeeded! The reviews describedit as “heavenly beautiful”! at the time, followingseveral years of additional singing tuition, I alsodared offer a solo programme including Songs onone Page, new Chap-Book – and I even attemptedthe final scene from the opera Ariane. I wasenthused by the profun dity and modernity of the
future – in the sixth sym phony!) But what fasci -nated me the most – realising the powerful“czechness” imbued in this music! To me, BohuslavMartinů is the most genuinely czech composer ofthe twentieth century. Yes, this music springs upwholly from czech soulfulness, the czech spirit –and yet it is fully coSMoPoLITan! I know thatMartinů had a strong desire to pass on his com -poser’s experience to the next generations – I amhappy to “attend his school” at least by listening.The building of the Bohuslav Martinů Foundationand Institute in Prague allows for extensive studyof this kind…
I am very glad – and deeply honoured – that oneof my recent compositions, Hymnus V, whichI dedicated in memory of BM, has been taken upby the Martinů Quartet itself – and will beperformed at the Days of contem porary MusicFestival in Prague on 19 november this year.
JiTKA KoželuHoVá
/ MARK TODD
THe ancIenT town of Winchester in Hampshire inthe south of england, former capital of the kingdomof Wessex in King alfred’s day, has for the past eightyears held a chamber music festival in the spring.one of the threads for this year’s programme was
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imc news
martinů in an ancient capital
story in BM’s inter pretation: the monstrousMinotaur reminds us of ourselves, pushing us toovercome this part of our personality!
But my most important meeting was with thesymphonies of Bohuslav Martinů. I was very luckythat at the time when I was composing my firstsymphony for the Prague Premieres festival, I hadthe honour of being friends with oldřich F. Korte,who immersed me in Martinů’s symphonic works.Later, I listened to them in Germany – as somethingof a spiritual respite – as a sacrament… with grow -ing amazement about the compositional masteryand inherent message of this music. (For example,that it is possible to create a whole symphonicmove ment from one short motive, as is the case ofthe opening movement of Symphony no. 3. or thestrength and hope emanating from the fourth!In the fifth that feeling of intimate pain in the semi -tone steps – with a wondrously colourful orchestra– purified by a humility that leads to a kind of choralprayer in the coda… and that strength of vision –mayhap for the whole of humanity and the far
ful atmosphere for the festival. The programme alsocontained Mozart’s String Quartet in G major K 387.
The same evening, in the Winchester Discoverycentre, Matthew Truscott and Philip Higham werethe performers in another Martinů work from laterin the 1920s, the Duo for violin and cello – the pro -gramme continued with Janáček’s concertino andDvořák’s Quintet with Double-Bass. again theaudience appreciated the work’s ingenuity and highspirits – the reviewer described the rendition of theMartinů as ‘a formidable performance, culminatingin breathtaking cadenzas for each player’.
The only disappointment for some of the audi -ence was that no recordings of the Martinů piecescould be bought at the cD stall as the performersat the festival had not made recordings of theseworks. The warm reception the Martinů worksreceived should encourage the organisers toinclude further works in future years from laterperiods in the composer’s career.
a photo of the players in rehearsal for the quar -tet performance can be found on the clarinetist‘sTwitter page at: www.twitter.com/robertplane
czech music, including works by Dvořák andJanáček but what the Hampshire chronicle’sreviewer Bruce edwards described as ‘an unusualopening’ to the festival was Martinů’s Quartet forclarinet, Horn, cello and Side-Drum from 1924. Theperformers included one of the festival’s organisers,Kate Gould, on the cello, with robert Plane, clarinet,Sue Dent, horn and Joe richards, drum. The inven -tiveness and fun of the work drew great applausefrom the capacity audience in St Lawrence’s churchin the early afternoon of 30 april and set a wonder -
international martinů CircleGeNeral iNfOrMatiON
Members receive the illustratedMartinů Revue published three timesa year plus a special limited edition cDcontaining world premieres, historicperformances and archival recordingsfrom the annual Martinů Festival notobtainable commercially.
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This year, Bohuslav Martinů Instituteis celebrating the 20th anniversaryof its opening. More info — pp. 16–18.
[Dear MeMbers,�IF yOU ArE NEAr PArIs in January 2016, do not miss two exciting concerts withconductor and IMc president Jakub Hrůša:
8 January 2016 > Hall of the French radio, ParisOrchestre Philharmonique de radio-FranceAlbert roussel: Suite No. 2 de Bacchus et ArianeBohuslav Martinů: La Bagarre, H 155Bohuslav Martinů: Double concerto, H 271Albert roussel: Symphony No. 3
15 January 2016 > Hall of the French radio, ParisOrchestre Philharmonique de radio-FranceJosef suk: ScherzoBohuslav Martinů: cello concerto No. 1, H 196Bohuslav Martinů: Symphony No. 6, H 343Igor stravinsky: Scherzo
[�2015 subsCriPtioN PayMeNts ��We Would requesT members to forward their 2015 subscription pay-ments through their usual channels. A list of our international contacts:> For Great Britain:
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Members from other countries please pay via:– IMc paypal account at: www.martinu.cz, section International Martinů Circle,
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web page – section).pleAse Add Your NAMe WheN You pAY viA BANK TrANsFer, so We CANideNTiFY Your pAYMeNT.Members who pay their subscriptions via the dvořák society should continueto do so. Those wishing to pay in czech currency or by cash should contact us at [email protected] �
martInůrevue22015 | 5
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E PR
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MartiNů revue (formerly BohuslavMartinů newsletter) is published by theInternational Martinů circle in collabo ra -tion with the Bohuslav Martinů Institutein Prague with the financial supportof the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation.published with the financial supportof the Ministry of Culture of Czechrepublic, code no. MKCrX006z32y
editors zoja Seyčková & lucie Harasim,Bohuslav Martinů instituteJustin Krawitz (english language editor)
Publisher’s OfficeInternational Martinů Circle, o.s.iČ: 22688846Bořanovická 14, 182 00 Praha 8-Kobylisy,Czech Republice-mail: [email protected]
translation Hilda Hearne
Photographs The Bohuslav Martinů Foundation’sand institute’s archive, collections of theBohuslav Martinů Center in Polička
Graphic Design David Cígler
Printing BOOM TISK, spol. s r.o.
The Martinů Revue is published three times a year in Prague.
CoverJuanita lascarro in opera Juliette, The Keyto Dreams, H 253, opera Frankfurt, 2015
Issn 1803-8514MK Čr e 18911
www.martinu.cz
d
The Bohuslav MarTinů CenTer in Polička offers an interesting, inter -actively conceived exhibition on the com -poser’s life and work. The modern display ofBohuslav Martinů’s life and work is locatedin the historical building of the formercouncil school, which Martinů attendedas a child. Consequently, the project alsocomprises a reproduction of Martinů’sclassroom, complete with period paintingand furniture. The centre also containsan audio-visual hall and study room.
Bohuslav Martinů Center Tylova 114, 572 01 Polička tel.: +420 461 723 857 www.cbmpolicka.cz
Magdalena Kožená,IMC Patron
Jakub Hrůša,President of IMC
incirclenews
b��
[�CD DbM 2013 ��THE ANNUAL cD will be published soon, con-taining a historical recording of Lilian Fuchs.We kindly ask members who have not paidtheir sub scription to do via their usual chan-nels. The cD will be sent together with thesummer issue.
We hope you are having a great year and asalways, keep us updated with your news,events, and suggestions!
from the press /„Juliette“ von Bohuslav Martinů an der operFrankfurt: Welt ohne Gedächtnis / “Juliette”in opera Frankfurt: a World Without MemoryWolf Dieter Peter„Kultur heute“, Deutschlandfunk, 22. 6. 2015www.deutschlandfunk.de
The author begins by summarising the opera’s plotand its surrealistic atmosphere. He follows thecombination of period scientific knowledge andartistic movements in the work (Freud and dreamanalysis, Surrealism, matters of natural science…).Martinů’s music contains extended harmonies, butit remains tonal. The reviewer heard echoes ofd’Indy, Debussy, Poulenc, and Janáček in the music,which was all taken into account by the opern- undMuseums orchester headed by conductor Sebastian
Weigle. Juanita Lascarro was a seductive Juliette,Kurt Streit’s voice in the role of Michel was“brilliantly daring”. Director Florentine Klepperconceived his role as that of a contemporary manlooking for life’s happiness. The author greatlyappreciates the fluent and suggestive transforma -tions of the stage set.
aus der versenkung / From time's oblivionKlaus KalchschmidDie deutsche Buehnewww.die-deutsche-buehne.de
The author starts by reflecting the history of thework’s stagings. He then describes the opera's plotact by act. In Martinů’s music he finds echoes ofStravinsky’s rite of Spring, the cor anglais soloseems “Tristanesque” to him, at times he isreminded of Bartók’s Bluebeard’s castle. The set
(scenographer Boris Kudlička) is stylised into the1950s. The review is useful also for its detaileddescription of the scenography. Kurt Streit’s(Michel’s) singing is lyrical, at times dramatic.Juanita Lascarro (Juliette) has a sparkling soprano,her character is as seductive as it is cold. Thereviewer also gives great praise of the orchestraconducted by Sebastian Weigle.
auf ewig mein traum / Forever My dreamopernnetzwww.opernnetz.de
Director Florentine Klepper approached the stagingas a blending of realistic sceneries, which createa surrealistic atmosphere on the border betweendream and reality. The orchestra headed by con -ductor Sebastian Weigle was able to sensitivelydifferentiate between various moods – comic, tragic,
review
second act. Kurt streit splendidly masters the roleof Michel, who is the centre of the action for theentire opera, as does Juanita Lascarro, a Juliettewith vigour and sensuality – sup ported by the im -pressively insightful direction of sebastian Weigle.
In the beginning of act two, the tropical forest– literally being released from his niche existence– is moved to the foreground and tips over thedomino constructions of the Little Arab. Themysterious blue illumination removes the sterileambience of the first act and abducts Michel ina dream world in which the love story between
together by their sterile and lonesome atmo -sphere and appear to stem from EdwardHopper‘s fantasy. The colourfully dressed choirand the background actors contribute to themenacing mood by carrying out weird actions –often synchronously – which bereave them oftheir humaneness. The sequence of Michel’sencounters in the mysterious dream worldevolves in front of this backdrop. The stagedesign team accompanies the reunion scene ofMichel and Juliette with TV flickering and whitenoise and anticipates the fatal gunshot of the
Michel lepic, a parisian bookseller, returns toa small city to find a woman, Juliette, whomhe saw there three years earlier. With thisscene, an opera evolves that Martinů himselfadmitted “doesn’t really have a plot” –an observation of which Norbert Abels,chief dramatic adviser of the Frankfurtopera, reminds us.
The rather loosely connected dramaturgy of“Juliette’s” scenes, influenced by Auguststrindberg’s “station drama”, puts the maincharacter Michel in manifold situations andencounters. clearly cut scenes are strungtogether like the dominoes which appear in theFrankfurt production in a symbolic way over andover again from the very beginning. The LittleArab plays with dominoes in the opening scene.chains of associations like those dominoes builda subtle net between the scenes. The stagedirection team draws inspiration from Martinů’smusic which they perceive as made of stylisti -cally contrasting “dominoes”.
contrasts and disparate elements of thelibretto are not flattened out in this productionbut collide in a dreamlike manner. The singledesign of the first act is fractured into differentcompartments: a cantina in log cabin style,a living room with wallpaper from the sixties,a tiny office, a waiting room with a flickering TVand, in the back, a tropical forest behind a show -case, like in a zoo. Those mosaics are held
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dominoes and
Juanita Lascarro (Juliette) and Kurt Streit (Michel)
him and Juliette unfolds. In the moment of theerotic culmination a flock of humming birdsbuzz over the forest. yet the idyll dissolvesquickly, Juliette feels alienated from Michel andwants to leave him. suddenly, in the ensuingfight Michel’s gun is fired again and the rain -forest disappears behind a gigantic metallicwall, a net curtain, the scenery for Michel’s trial.
The final act, which at first seems to easilyexplain the two previous acts, is situated inthe prosaically equipped central Office of theDream Administration. Dreamers, one afteranother, enter the office and disappear behind
the purple curtain, the door to the world ofdreams. Dominoes fall out of one of the suit -cases which the hotel boy carelessly puts downand Michel starts playing with them. He invol -untarily triggers the domino effect as he findsout that every man appears to have a Juliettein his dreams. The main question for the stag -ing team - whether there is a line separatingdream and reality – is answered most ad -mirably, since it is left ambiguous. The world ofdreams is linked to the office in different mutu -ally exclusive ways, paradox like the visualillusions by M. c. Escher. The first time the
curtain opens up for the spectator, Michel ismirrored by a doppelganger. After wards, theroom behind the curtain presents itself haunt -ingly empty with dreamers meandering likezombies. There is no escape from the world ofdreams in this production: As soon as Michelvanishes in the room behind the curtain, hisdoppelganger enters the office through themain entrance.
SeveriN KoLB
Bohuslav Martinů: Juliette, The Key to Dreams, H 253oper FrankfurtMusic preparation: Sebastian Weigle, Stage direction:Florentine Klepper, Sets: Boris Kudlička, Costumes:adriane Westerbarkey, lighting design: JanHartmann, Chorus master: Markus ehmann,Dramaturgy: norbert abelspremiered on 21 June 2015
grotesque… Kurt Streit as Michel was convincingand his voice was forceful. The director’s conceptof blending dreams and reality was supported byBoris Kudlička’s ever-changing scenography. JuanitaLascarro played Juliette like a fiery, dark-hairedcarmen. The end of the article contains informationabout B. Martinů’s life and the circumstances of thework’s genesis.
auch Ihre träume überwacht das zentralbüro / your dreams are alsoMonitored by Central officeeleonore BüningFrankfurter allgemeine Zeitung, 23. 6. 2015
The author writes of the work as of the triumphantpremiere of an almost forgotten opera. She startsby mentioning the circumstances of the work’sgenesis. Then he summarises the opera’s plot. In
Juliette’s musical leitmotiv she finds similaritieswith Debussy’s Mélisanda. The reviewer comparesthe opera’s surrealistic plot to carroll’s alice inWonderland. of the singers, she mentions BeauGibson, Boris Grappe, Marta Herman, MariaPantiukhova, Michael Mccown. Juanita Lascarro(Juliette) has a darkly rich soprano, and it seemsthat she was fated for the role of Juliette. KurtStreit’s voice is strong and radiant. conductorSebastian Weigle guides the orchestra and choirto an unambiguous musical triumph. DirectorFlorentine Klepper and her production team thustook a big step towards rediscovering twentieth-century music.
die erinnerung verliert sich im Übersinnlichen/ Memories lost in the supernaturalAxel zibulski
Frankfurter neue Presse, 23. 6. 2015 www.fnp.de
This is the first-ever performance of the opera inFrankfurt. The work was staged in its new Germantrans lation [by Dietfried Bernet and aleš Březina].The article devotes much time to describing theset (Boris Kudlička), which follows the director’sartistic vision (direction by Florentine Klepper) andallows for a fluid transformation of scenery, justas the atmosphere changes fluently and dreamand reality blend in one surrealistic impression.according to the reviewer, the vocal part of theprotagonist Michel is an extremely difficult tenorrole, which Kurt Streit has mastered brilliantly.
More reviews can be found on www.martinu.czThe live recording of the opera will be released
on the oehms Classics label.
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mosaics
Kurt Streit (Michel) and Nina Tarandek (a Little Arabian)
Kurt Streit (Michel)
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review
acoustics duly enhanced the impression – drierthan in a concert hall, all the drapery notwith -stand ing, still to a certain degree open-air, notso much reverberating, yet nothing fading, andmaking it possible for the individual instrumentgroups, as well as the splendidly interplayingorchestra, to be clearly distinguished. The kind ofacoustics that does not stun by mass of sound, inwhich the music is beautifully discernible. Owingalso to these favourable conditions, a number oftraits and details that make Martinů’s musicso attrac tive could come out to the full – theoscillation between Neo-classicism and impres -sions, between folksy tones (voiced by the solooboe, for instance) and modern fantasies, flowingbetween these poles, lyrical rises, syncopated
score, edited by sharon Andrea choa. But whatis im por tant is how the czech Philharmonic per -formed the piece that evening. stating thattheir account was intriguing and immaculateonly partly conveys the impression they made.Jiří Bělohlávek conducted from memory, as hehas performed Martinů’s Fourth frequently andknows it inside-out. It would seem that severalfactors coincided in the context of this concert,with the result being a truly remarkable sonicform. The genius setting, the atmosphere of theevening, the fresh, pleasant weather, the posi -tive state of mind, creative well-being, securityof per form ance… All of them together con -tributed to the resulting mature, well-balanced,lucid and emotionally engaging form. And the
/ PETR VEBER
THE 57th EDITION of the smetana Litomyšlfestival was launched by the czech Philhar -monic Orchestra, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek.On a pleasant evening (11 June 2015) theyplayed before more than a thousand peopleat the auditorium in the chateau courtyard,presenting czech music in a perfectly unpre -tentious manner.
During the first half of the concert, greatattention was drawn by the young pianistJan Bartoš, who acquitted himself admirablyin Dvořák’s notoriously difficult Piano concerto,which he delivered with a healthy ease andclearly defined approach. (…)
At the very beginning of the evening, Bartošhad dazzled in another piece for piano and
orchestra, the seldom heard smetana sketchMacbeth and the Witches, as arranged years agoby Jarmil Burghauser and then performed byradoslav Kvapil. (…)
The highpoint of the concert, though, wasBohuslav Martinů’s Symphony No. 4, composedin the UsA in 1945. The work was included inthe programme in connection with the anniver -sary of the end of World War II. A certain rolewas also played by the fact that just beforethe start of the festival the Bohuslav MartinůInstitute had presented to the public the firsttwo volumes of the complete Edition of thecomposer’s works, a project scheduled tobe rolled out over the next half century, withone of the volumes containing the symphony’s
8 | martInůrevue22015
smetana, dvořák & martinů
The Litomyšl Castle
positivity devoid of any flashiness, tempochanges, expressive intensity of the slowmovement… The concert audience witnessedextraordinarily inspired moments, giving riseto the ideal account of the sym phony, whichserves to confirm its place among the classics.
Never mind that, although part of an operafestival, the concert did not feature vocalmusic. smetana Litomyšl can, and does, tran -scend the defined framework. The festivalshould – and for the past few years actuallyhas – offered more than just opera to itsaudiences, with the programmes made up ofa wider spectrum of classical music: in additionto operas, opera concerts, oratorios and variousvocal projects, they also include symphonic andchamber pieces, older and more contemporarymusic, cross-over, as well as film music. Lastbut not least, a festival has to have someprestige. The czech Philharmonic is able tosupply prestige in spades, and by its presenceand, most significantly, brilliant performanceat the opening evening, it duly provided it. �
www.casopisharmonie.cz/kritiky/smetana-dvorak-a-martinu-v-uvodu-smetanovy-litomysle.html
martInůrevue22015 | 9
(…) THE VEry FIrsT cONcErT turned out very well. The czech Philharmonic Orchestra gavea splendid performance, excelling particularly in its second half, which featured BohuslavMartinů’s Symphony No. 4. A joyous work connected with the aspirations at the end of WorldWar II, it was extremely befitting for this year’s anniversary. (…)
Prior to the concert, a large group of honorary guests got together to launch the first twovolumes of the Bohuslav Martinů complete Edition. On this occasion, the fanfare from The epicof gilgamesh was played in several versions, opening the festival in a truly festive manner.Martinů was born in the nearby town of Polička, yet the famous Litomyšl native Zdeněk Nejedlýdid not rate him excessively highly. Therefore, alongside the performance of the Fourth, it couldbe deemed a symbolic debt repayment on the part of Litomyšl itself. (…)
JinDřiCH BáleK’S DiARy (87) www.operaplus.cz
open smetana litomyšl
y Prof. Jiří Hlaváč, Chairman of the Board of Bohuslav Martinů Foundation
< Jiří Bělohlávek<From the left:LeonhardScheuch, BarbaraScheuch-Vötterle,from Bärenreiter --Verlag, Ministerof Culture of theCzech RepublicDaniel Herman,Jiří Bělohlávek
photos: františek renza,smetana litomyšlarchive
review
tion and runs away from the convent for severalyears, but is rescued by the Virgin Mary herself,is preceded by a pastoral scene, the folk carolThe Nativity. Not once does Jiří Heřman slip intocheap mysticism, ecclesiasticism or images ofnaïve, vulgar piety. His interpretation rendersspiritual verity, not disguising the purely christiananchoring of the subject, but retaining a con tem -porary artistic insight. This consti tutes a moder -ate and pleasantly abstract approach: art makingsense in itself, not striving at any cost to com mu -nicate a great extra-musical message. Although,naturally, it does impart the message concerningsin, penitence and forgiveness… After all, this is incompliance with that which the composer himselfstated on various occasions: he was attractedto folk music and people’s theatre, yet moreintrigued by the works’ variegated and specificdramatic potential than their religiosity.
Far more markedly than in other opera produc -tions, the choreography is closely connected withthe stage direction, working together to achievethe project’s particular visual impact. Heřmandoes not seek to depict the story in a realisticmanner, affording instead great scope to thedancers, in accordance with the conciseness ofthe composer. And he also leads the singers alongthe same line. Together with the choreographerJan Kodet (and the set and lighting designersPavel svoboda and Daniel Tesař), Heřman suc -ceeds in rendering a sufficient degree of sug ges -
with the Devil yet ultimately awakens to her sinand is redeemed, is preceded by a shorter andmore sculpturesque morality play about TheWise and the Foolish virgins, based on the biblicalparable. The large one-acter Sister Pascaline,a dreamy story of a nun who yields to tempta -
/ PETR VEBER
Jiří Heřman’s staging of Bohuslav Martinů’sopera Plays of Mary, H 236, a few years agoin Prague is largely forgotten. His new Brnoproduction, though related to the earlierPrague adaptation, is novel and more profound,better, reaching the ideal. Its premiere onFriday 27 March 2007 at the Janáček Theatrewas a momentous event.
While watching the performance, it is evidentthat the stage director Jiří Heřman really knowswhat he wants to say and, indeed, that he paysvery close attention to the music. similarperfection is achieved by the conductor JakubKlecker, who with great imagination, dynamismand certainty renders the wide variety of stylesand expression, embodied by Martinů in variousways in the score of the opera’s four independ -ent parts. The music ranges from simple formu -la tion in the spirit of nursery rhymes (similarlyto the ballet Špalíček or, twenty years later, thecantata The opening of the Springs), through thearchaic forcibility of medieval theatre (similarlyto the Legend of Saint Dorothy) and quasi-folkpoeticism and balladism (as in The Spectre’sBride and the cantata Bouquet of Flowers), tomodern dramatic fantasy, which may be remi -niscent of the world of the contempora neousopera Juliette, or even the much later oratorioThe epic of gilgamesh. In terms of music, Playsof Mary is an extremely variegated, contrast-filled, richly complex work, with the result trulyreflecting the intent. The orchestra playedsplendidly at the premiere, both when deliveringthe simple, straightforward passages and thesonically complex areas, with all the attendantgradations, explosions and twists. A positiveimpact on the performance was definitely madeby the conductor in not trying to attain falseneo-classicist moderation. In the interest ofachieving the broad spectrum of characterscalled for by the work – ranging from harshnessto basic poignancy – he instead explores thefull range of tempos and vehemence possible.
Plays of Mary is made up of two pairs ofdramatic formations – the mysterious prologueand the larger, more epic story. The colourfulmiracle of Mariken of Nimègue, who consorts
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plays of mary: spiritually
Pavla Vykopalová as Pascaline
Mariken of Nimègue – 2nd Act
tion, implementing the means necessary tocreate an extremely compelling atmosphere. Hispenmanship, with the attendant elements ofeeriness and mystique, is evident, yet it wonder -fully couples and blends with the earthiness offolk theatre. Great imagination is demonstratedin the dramatic crowd scenes in both the olderand newer versions of the “grand” opera, andeven in the more static scenes of the prologues,Heřman just as masterfully maintains a senseof motion, without unnecessarily adding “action”.The scenes merge smoothly into one another,with the four parts of Plays of Mary distin -
guished and linking up together too. The high -lighted role of the narrator, “Principál” (TheLeader of the Play), is also conceived ina thoroughly choreographic fashion. Thecharacter guides us, either silently or withwords, throughout the evening, and brilliantlyrealised by the actor Daniel Bambas.
In addition to rich, technically accomplishedvoices and excellent declamation, Pavla Vykopa -lová as Pascaline and Alžběta Poláčková asMariken also portray their characters withaccurate, easy-going and convincing acting. Theother soloists at the premiere gave exquisiteperformances too, particularly the superlativesvatopluk sem as the Devil. Plays of Maryrequires extensive choruses, both for the actionon the stage and the hymnal songs employingchoristers on the balconies. separately andas a whole, the Janáček Opera chorus, theMasaryk University choir and the children’schoir Brno dazzled during the first night and,the complexity of some of the passagesnotwithstanding, the conductor had constantcontrol of the entire theatre space, maintainingperfect ensemble and building beautiful musicalarchitecture. The new Brno production tookover from the Prague staging the sets andcostumes, whereas other elements are new.
Prague hosted Plays of Mary at the NationalTheatre. The Janáček Theatre has a greatadvantage over the National Theatre when itcomes to this non-romantic yet monumentalwork: a much larger and airier space, both onthe stage and in the auditorium. A full soundemanates from the orchestra pit in Brno, whilethe choirs singing on the circles largely enhancethe performance’s impact. Plays of Mary itself,all the more in this specific account, suits theJanáček Theatre splendidly – and not justbecause 80 years ago Brno hosted the opera’sworld premiere. �
Bohuslav Martinů: Plays of Mary, H 236Libretto: vítězslav nezval, Henri Ghéon (translatedinto czech by vilém Závada) and the composer,based on Julius Zeyer’s work and folk poetry.Musical preparation: Jakub Klecker, stage direction:Jiří Heřman, set design: Pavel Svoboda, costumes:alexandra Grusková, choreography: Jan Kodet,lighting design: Daniel Tesař, chorus master:Josef Pančík. 27 March 2015, Janáček theatre, Brno,premiere.
www.mestohudby.cz/publicistika/kritika/hry-o-marii-duchovne-opravdove-umerene-prvotridni
martInůrevue22015 | 11
true, moderate, first-class
y The Wise and the Foolish Virgins – 1st Act
Alžběta Poláčková as Mariken
phot
os: m
arek
olb
rzym
ek
portrai
t
ing with Vilém steinman and Zdeněk chalabala;the latter was one of the finest Brno conduc torsand dramaturgs. Kaprálová wrote a good numberof compositions during her “Brno period”: one ofthe earliest was a piano suite that she laterorches trated under the title Suite en miniature andassigned it her first opus number. Other note -worthy compositions that followed include TwoPieces for violin and Piano, op. 3, song cycles Dvěpísně, op. 4 (Two songs) and Jiskry z popele, op. 5(sparks from Ashes), and the remarkable songLeden (January) for higher voice and flute, twoviolins, violoncello and piano, set to words ofVítězslav Nezval, another great czech poet. Thefinest among her compositions from the Brnoperiod are, how ever, the two-movement SonataAppassionata, op. 6 and the Piano concerto inD Minor, op. 7, with which Kaprálová graduatedfrom the Brno conservatory both as composerand conductor. Her graduation concert receivedhighly favourable reviews not only in the regionalnewspapers but also in major dailies. Among themwas the German Prager Tagblatt whose reviewer
Kaprálová’s first mentor in instrumentation.)Kaprál was an outstanding teacher who neverstopped educating himself throughout his life;he perfected his skills at composition underVítězslav Novák (who in due time was also tobecome the teacher of choice for his daughter)and his piano technique with Adolf Mikeš inPrague and Alfred cortot in Paris. Throughoutthe 1920s, Kaprál also devoted much of his timeto piano perfomance: together with his friendLudvík Kundera, they promoted four-handrepertoire and also performed in concert asa two-piano team. In addition to his performingcareer, Kaprál worked as a music editor andcritic, as a lecturer at Brno’s Masaryk University,and since 1936 as a tenured teacher at theBrno conservatory, where he taught com -position.
Music was therefore a natural part of Kaprá -lová’s life since childhood. It was primarily hermother’s influence, however, that led to Kaprá -lová’s lifelong passion for art song. Kaprálová’scontribution to the genre has indeed beensignificant: her songs in general and opuses 10,12, and 14 in particular represent one of the latehighpoints of czech art song.3 The song wasthe most favoured genre for Kaprálová – in it,she combined her passion for the singing voicewith her love of poetry. Kaprálová had excellentjudgment when it came to poetry: she not onlyhad a penchant for high quality poems (one ofher favorite poets was Jaroslav seifert who atthe end of his life won Nobel prize for literature)but she also wrote good poetry herself (her firstsong cycle from 1930 and the orchestral songSmutný večer (sad Evening) from 1936 arebelieved to be set to her own texts).
Both parents were very supportive of Kaprá -lová’s interest in music but had rather practicalplans for her: she was to take over her father’sprivate music school, which was even named inher honor. Kaprálová had her own plans, how -ever; her mind was already set on compositionand conducting, and it was this double majorprogram that she chose for her studies at theBrno conservatory. It is worth noting that shewas the very first female student to graduatefrom the demanding program in the history ofthis respected institution.
At the Brno conservatory, Kaprálová studiedcomposition with Vilém Petrželka and conduct -
/ KARLA HARTL
This year marks the 100th anniversary of thebirth of Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915–1940),an important representative of inter-war Czechmusic. Despite her untimely passing at the ageof 25, she was an exceptionally gifted com -poser, whose œuvre has withstood the test oftime with admirable ease, proving its relevancefor new generations of musicians and musiclisteners. For Bohuslav Martinů was Kaprálováone of the most important women in his life.
Kaprálová was regarded as one of the mostpromising composers of her generation by theforemost czech musicologist Vladimír Helfert,who wrote about her in his seminal study onczech modern music, Česká moderní hudba,published in 1936.1 Today, there is no doubt thatKaprálová fulfilled that promise hand somely.Even though her career was cut so short,Kaprálová’s legacy is not a mere torso; hercatalog includes a respectable number of forty-five compositions, among them remark ableworks in all genres of music literature: piano,chamber, orchestral, and vocal music.
The cultured environment of Kaprálová’sfamily and its circle of friends – among whomwere some of the finest musicians and scholarsof the new czechoslovak republic2 – played animportant role in the creative development ofyoung Vítězslava. she also benefitted from themusical offerings of her native Brno, which inmany respects measured up to those of thecountry’s capital, Prague. Kaprálová’s talentwas recognized relatively early and nurtured byher musician parents. Her mother Vítězslava,(born Viktorie Uhlířová, 1890–1973), wasa certified voice teacher who studied with MarieKollarová in Brno and Kristina Morfová at theNational Theater in Prague. Kaprálová’s father,Václav Kaprál (1889–1947), studied compositionwith Leoš Janáček and piano performance withMarie Kuhlová and Klotilda schäferová in Brno.In 1911, he founded his own private musicschool in Brno, which grew in reputation andcontinued to attract generations of aspiringpianists throughout the twenties and thirties.(It is worth noting that one of the faculty, theczech composer Theodor schaefer, was
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the centenary of vítězslava
Kaprálová in London, 1938, where she performedher music at the ISCM Festival.
expressed his disappointment over the con ser -vatory’s decision to present only the first move -ment of Kaprálová’s piano concerto which at -tested to an extraordinary talent: “It is regret- table that the presenters allowed only the firstmovement of the work to be per formed, thougheven this small sample demon strates a musicalgift of astonishing temperament.”4
In the fall of 1935, Kaprálová was acceptedinto the Master school of the Prague conser -vatory where she continued her double majorstudies, this time with the best teachers shecould find in her own country: composition withDvořák’s pupil, Vítězslav Novák, and con ductingwith Václav Talich, a chief conductor of czechPhilharmonic and Prague’s National Theater.(It is worth noting that in the academic year of1935/36, when Kaprálová began her studies atthe Prague conservatory, Talich’s master classwas opened to only eight first-year students;even more competitive was Novák’s class withjust five students.5 The Master school and themusical life of the coun try’s capital provideda stimulating environment for Kaprálová, inwhich her natural talent, coupled with herstrong work ethic, continued to thrive. By joiningthe society for contem po rary music Přítomnost(The Presence) and as a regular participantof silvestr Hippmann’s musical “Tuesdays” ofUmělecká beseda (Artistic forum), she wasexposed to contemporary music, both czechand international. The two societies later alsobecame important platforms for premieringKaprálová’s new works.
During her studies at the Prague conser va -tory, Kaprálová composed some of her bestknown music, such as the song cycle Navždy,op. 12 (For Ever) and the art song Sbohema šáteček, op. 14 (Waving Farewell) that shelater orchestrated in consultation with Bohu -slav Martinů in Paris. Other creations ofKaprálová’s “Prague period” include her remark -able string Quartet, op. 8 and her most popularwork for piano solo, Dubnová preludia, op. 13(April Preludes), dedicated to rudolf Firkušnýwho brought attention to its qualities by hismasterly performance several years later inParis. But one composition in particular broughther the most public attention – MilitarySinfonietta, op. 11, Kaprálová’s graduation work,which was premiered by the czech Philharmonic
under the baton of the composer on Novem -ber 26, 1937 at Lucerna hall in Prague. It waswith the Sinfonietta that Kaprálová achievednot only wider recognition at home, but alsoabroad when it was performed at the openingnight of the 16th season of the IscM Festival inLondon on June 17, 1938. The British premiereof the Sinfonietta, in which Kaprálová conductedthe excellent BBc Orchestra, was transmittedacross the ocean to the United states whereit was broadcast by cBs. According to thereviewer of Time magazine, Kaprálová not onlyfared well at the international competition atthe festival but she also became the star of theopening concert, and so “to composer Kapra -lova, who conducted her own lusty, sprawlingcomposition, went the afternoon’s biggesthand.”6 Among all the reviews mentioning herperformance, Kaprálová would have cherishedthat of her colleague, Havergal Brian, who in hisfestival report for Musical opinion wrote: “Thefirst work played and broadcast at the recentfestival, a Military Sinfonietta by Miss VitezslavaKapralova of czechoslovakia, proved an amazingpiece of orchestral writing; it was also of logicaland well balanced design.”7 But it is unlikelythat she ever read it.
Kaprálová travelled to the IscM festival inLondon from Paris where she had lived sinceOctober of the previous year. she arrived inParis on a one-year French Government scholar -ship to advance her music education at theÉcole Normale de musique, initially hoping tocontinue her double major studies: conductingwith charles Munch and composition withNadia Boulanger. However, her knowledge ofFrench was not good enough to study withBoulanger; and so she decided to enrol just inthe conducting class, because with Munch shecould also communicate in German. she alsoaccepted an offer of private consultations withBohuslav Martinů, who was by then establishedin France and well respected both in Paris andhis native czechoslovakia. �
To be continued.
Karla Hartl is founder and chair of the KaprálováSociety and co-editor of the Kaprálová SocietyJournal and The Kaprálová Companion, the firstenglish monograph on the composer, published in2011 by Lexington Books. Her new book, Dopisydomů (Letters Home), an edited, complete collectionof Kaprálová’s correspondence with her parents,will be published this fall in Prague.
martInůrevue22015 | 13
kaprálová / part 1< With Bohuslav Martinů, the Křička brothersand other friends in Tři Studně. 19 July 1938. Standing, back row, from the left: an unknown manwith šotek (Kaprálová’s dog), next to him Martinů.Standing, front row, from the left: zdena Ducho sla -vová, Vítězslava Kaprálová (the child in front ofher is zdeněk Duchoslav, son of zdena Ducho sla -vová), next to Kaprálová, wearing a hat, standsAnna Křičková (wife of the poet Petr Křička), nextto her the Křička brothers – the poet Petr Křičkaand the composer Jaroslav Křička. Sitting in front:two unknown women, in the middle an unknownman.
photo: oldřich duchoslav. © the kapralova society
1 vladimír Helfert, Česká moderní hudba. Studie o české hudební tvořivosti (Praha: editio Supraphon, 1970), 303.a reprint of the first edition published in 1936 by Index, olomouc.
2 czechoslovakia became an independent democratic republic on october 28, 1918.3 Jindřiška Bártová, “Kaprálová in the context of czech Music.” In The Kaprálová Companion, ed. Karla Hartl and
erik entwistle (Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2011), 13–25.4 “Konzerte”, a review signed by initials W.H., Prager Tagblatt, June 20, 1935, 6. The original reads: „es is zu
bedauern, das die veranstalter nur den ersten Satz des Werkes aufführen liessen, doch auch diese kleine Probezeigt eine erstaunlich temperamentvolle musikalische Begabung.“
5 Výroční zpráva Pražské konservatoře za školní rok 1935/36 [annual report of the Prague conservatory for theacademic year 1935/1936] (Praha: Pražská konservatoř, 1936), 64.
6 “International egg rolling.” Time, June 27, 1938. available onlinehttp://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,759885,00.html
7 Havergal Brian, “The nature of Modern Music. contemporary Music Festival,” Musical opinion (July 1938): 858.
resear
ch
Melantrich, 11 November 1937), but also smetanamagazine, which relayed the infor mation fromthe Prager Tagblatt: “…in return for the WienerPhilharmoniker’s guest appear ance in Prague, theczechoslovak pianist Miss Juliette Arányi will go tovienna to play with the Philharmoniker, conductedby Knappertsbusch, a piano concerto by theczechoslovak composer Boh. Martinů.” The journalcomments on the news in a dishonest manner,clearly reflecting the growing pre-war anti-semitism. All these proposals and con sid erationsfinally bore fruit, with the composer and thepianist coming to an agreement – “…Mr. Selighas replied to me that he was very pleased bymy willingness to write something for his wife…”Martinů confided in a letter to Miloš Šafránek(27 December 1937). The com poser created theconcertino in the spring of 1938, and during hisvisit home at the end of July 1938 he popped in atthe seligs in Prague – to collect his fee as well –“on Saturday i came round to see Mrs. Aranyi,
was acclaimed in Prague as a highly eruditeartist.
During my work on a monograph on thecomposer sláva Vorlová (1894-1973), I cameacross new facts relating to her friendship withArányi. Extremely valuable in this respect wasthe discovery of the Ultraphon revue, whichonly existed in 1933 and represented the artistswhose works the company recorded. In a highlyintriguing and exhaustive article, Hugo Uggèpresented Juliette Arányi in the revue. slávaVorlová held regular jour-fixes in her villa inBarrandov, Prague, at which she provideda creative milieu for musical sessions. The mostfrequent performers at these evenings were thehome Barrandov Quartet: the banker Antonínseeman (first violin), Karel sušický and Jiří andEugen Podubecký (viola and cello), and theOndříček Quartet, and they were often attendedby the composers Jaroslav Řídký and AloisHába, as well as Juliette Arányi, who alwaysdelivered entire concertos at Barrandov andwas very fond indeed of the cordial atmosphere.she gave her first performance at the villa inMay 1934.
The Barrandov friends would visit culturalevents together. One such was the premiere ofBohuslav Martinů’s opera Juliette, H 253, at theNational Theatre in Prague on 16 March 1938,after which they discussed at length OtaHoráková’s splendid performance and VáclavTalich’s fabulous conducting of the engrossingwork. For some time before the opera’s openingnight, Martinů had considered writing a con -certo for Juliette Arányi, as documented by hisletters to Karel Šebánek, Miloš Šafránek, hisfamily in Polička, and Václav Talich. First throughKarel Šebánek, then on her own, Juliette Arányistrove to receive Martinů’s approval to play hisPiano Concerto No. 2, H 237, suggesting thatshe would perform it with Hans Knapperts -busch in Munich and London, and with BrunoWalter in Vienna. The exclusive right to playPiano concerto No. 2 was possessed by thepianist Germain Leroux, with whom JulietteArányi eventually spoke, yet she did not ulti -mately get to play the piece. Bearing witnessto Arányi’s intention to perform Martinů’s musicwith the Wiener Philharmoniker is not onlythe composer’s correspondence (Martinů –
/ ANNA ŠERÝCH
Juliette Arányi – a woman of great socialgrace and a superlative pianist – was clearlyconnected with Bohuslav Martinů’s work,as she commissioned a concerto from him,which the composer gladly wrote:Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, H 269.
The name of Juliette Arányi can be found inczech music dictionaries, in Pazdírek’s (1937),as well as in the 1963 czechoslovak MusicDictionary. It is featured in two historiographysections: in studies on the Holocaust and themusic in the Terezín ghetto, and in the literatureon Bohuslav Martinů. Although the twosections are ample, the facts about JulietteArányi are very scant.
The first biography of the remarkable artistwas drawn up by Agata schindler, a slovakmusicologist living in Dresden, who has devotedherself extensively to the subject of theHolocaust. In her study on Juliette Arányi,published in the music magazine Hudobný život(2007), she mentions the concerts the youngpianist gave in Bratislava and refers to herconcerts in the Terezín ghetto. In line withthe registry in Breznóbánya (today Brezno,slovakia), schindler corrected the artist’s dateof birth, which was previously stated as 1912,specifying it as being 19 December 1906.When Arányi’s parents became aware of theextraor dinary talent of their daughter, theyreduced her age and presented her as a childprodigy. she studied the piano in Bratislavawith the then renowned, versatile musician andcomposer Alexander Albrecht and the pianistJoseph Groer, and subsequently in Vienna withseverin Eisenberger, a famous virtuoso, whoalso gave concerts in Bohemia. Under the nameBaba Aranyi, she was mentioned as a musicalfigure in Bratislava back in 1925. Preservedperiod reviews laud her 1927 performanceof Beethoven’s concerto in c minor under thebaton of Oskar Nedbal. After marrying thebanker Alexandr selig, Juliette Arányi movedto Prague. Her husband’s financial situationallowed her to study further in Hannover withthe famed pedagogue Karl Leimer, who providedher with excellent memory training. Arányi
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juliette arányi a
Juliette Arányi and Alois Hába, Prague 1939photo: terezín memorial, fapt a8560
we were rehearsing the concerto, she likes it verymuch, and they convinced me to stay with themon Sunday too, we went swimming at Barrandov.i had a great time with them and they expectedme to stay for longer. But i could not prolong itagain, so i left on Monday morning…” (a letter tohis parents, dated 4 August 1938). A few dayslater, Martinů wrote to Václav Talich, informinghim of what he and Mrs. Arányi had discussedand asking him to premiere the concertino inPrague with the czech Philharmonic Orchestraunder his baton, which would make him happy(a letter to Talich, dated 10 August 1938).
An entirely unique document pertaining tothe concertino’s genesis is deposited at thesláva Vorlová archive in Náchod. It is a copyof the settlement of a dispute between “anunnamed libellous person” and Juliette Arányi,slandered with regard to “talking of someMartinů concerto, which she claims has beendedicated to her, yet such a concerto does notin fact exist…” The evidence materials for thepianist’s defence included a photocopy of thetitle and final pages of the score: “Pour / JulietteArányi / concertino / Bohuslav Martinů”, attested
by a notary, and a transcript of Alois Hába’sletter, dated 24 November 1938, in which herecommends that this Martinů work, dedicatedto the pianist, be performed by someone.Hába’s commendatory opinion is an appositedescription of Arányi’s artistry: “indisputablythe best young pianist in czecho slovakia…”and is written under the heading of the czecho -slovak section of the International societyfor contemporary Music, of which Arányi wasa member. Who was the letter intended for?The addressee’s name is blacked out in thetranscript, yet I am of the opinion that it wass. A. Koussevitzky. The Library of congress,Washington Dc, contains a letter of the samedate, in which Arányi offers to the conductor toperform the third piano concerto, written forher by Bohuslav Martinů, to which she holds theperformance rights in all coun tries. Enclosedis a copy of a highly laudatory review of herconcert in London on 5 March 1938, featuringMozart’s music, published in The DailyTelegraph.
The Prague dispute regarding the concertinoerupted in 1940 (the notarial certificate dates
from 7 March 1940) and it isreasonable to assume that itwas a manifes tation of theongoing campaign wagedagainst the Jews.
As we know, Arányi did notpremiere the work. she and herhusband, however, continued tovisit the Vorels at Barrandov evenduring the war, as she found therean oasis of freedom at the timewhen she already had to wear theyellow star…
Events were gathering pace.On 25 May 1942, sláva Vorlovánoted down: “Juliette came over”,two days after “the assassinationof Heydrich”. Vorlová’s final noteconcerning her friend reads: “BeforeSts. Peter and Paul Day in 1942, Juliettephoned that she was being sent toTerezín. Hába asked for fifteen thousandcrowns for her. it has been secretlyagreed that she will come over to playfor the last time on 29 July. She had
given her child to some acquain tance to save it,but then she had to take it back.” Back in 1939,Alois Hába had arranged a concert for Arányi inthe UsA, but she did not want to travel withouther husband. Owing to Hába, sláva Vorlovácould send packages of clothes to Terezín forJuliette and her little daughter.
The Prague database of Holocaust victimsstates the date of transportation of JulietteArányi, her husband Alexandr selig and daughterNiccole (born in 1940) to Terezín as 2 July 1942.Following two years in the Terezín camp, wherethe pianist cheered her co-prisoners with herconcerts, and her husband worked in thebakery, thus making some money, they wererelocated to Auschwitz. Alexandr selig wastransported on 28 september, Juliette and theirdaughter followed on 6 October 1944. Theregistry of the Jewish community states6 April 1945 as the day when they died.
The concertino written for Juliette Arányiwas premiered on 30 March 1947 by LízaFuchsová at the radio studio in Bratislava. �
martInůrevue22015 | 15
and bohuslav martinů
intervie
w
I don’t have the feeling of having fallen shortwhatsoever. This is connected particularly withhow the view of Bohuslav Martinů has changedover the past 20 years outside the czech repub -lic. Two decades ago, his operas were scarcelyperformed abroad, and if they were it was alwaysa labour of love – that is, when someone becamefond of Martinů’s music, they had to find an operahouse that would accept the choice. Evena director as famous as David Pountney, when hewanted to stage Juliette, had to approach OperaNorth in Leeds in co-produc tion with Opera Zuidin Maastricht, since no large house wanted topresent it at the time. since then, the opera hasbeen staged at the festival in Bregenz, twice atthe Paris Opera, in London, Geneva and Bremen.This year alone, Juliette was or will be performedaround the world − in February it was staged inZurich by Andreas Homoki with the Zurich Operamusic director and the MET principal conductorFabio Luisi, in June Juliette was presented at theFrankfurt Opera. At the end of April and the begin -ning of May 2016 it is scheduled to be given itsfirst performance at the staatsoper in Berlin, con -ducted by Daniel Barenboim, with rolando Villazonsinging Michel and Magdalena Kožená portrayingJuliette. The greek Passion was staged in Bregenzand Bremen, in the next season it will be per -formed in Essen and Graz… The complete criticaledition and Martinů Studies comprising librettosand other Martinů texts are thus being publishedat a time of rising demand. Our goal is to make allthe relevant source material accessi ble to those
decades. The most significant thing is that thisyear we published the first two volumes of theBohuslav Martinů complete Edition, which backin 1994 I deemed my specific objective andwhich was the main reason why I left switzer -land for Prague. Even then, my ambition wasgreater than to create a centre where peoplecould telephone asking for advice or find scores.The publication of the first two volumes of thecritical edition is a dream come true. Anotherthing that makes me happy is my excellent team.According to the initial conception, I was to havebeen here on my own. This would have been inline with the original idea of the study centre,but would have been insufficient for a scholarlyinstitution. Over the course of time, as ourresearch tasks have expanded, our ranks havegrown to the current number of seven scholars.In practice, this means 10 employees, of whomseven are musicologists. When I started out,there were a number of areas in which I wasnot overly experienced, but today we functionentirely professionally. I am de lighted that wehave succeeded in estab lish ing a musicologicalseries, titled Martinů studien / Martinů studies,the first three volumes of which have been pub -lished by Peter Lang Verlag Bern. We are nowpreparing the fourth volume, which will containannotated critical editions of the libret tos to allBohuslav Martinů’s stage works. I am delightedtoo by the numerous editions of the MartinůFestival, whose pro grammes I have pre paredand which have helped to showcase Mar tinů’slesser-known works. And, of course, I am alsopleased by the fact that, after years of rent ingspaces in Kinských square at Újezd, Prague 1,the Bohu slav Martinů Foundation has movedto Kobylisy, Prague 8, into a spacious, easily ac -cessible house. I think that after 20 years wehave become a fully professional institution, sim -ilar to those that stood as our models at the timeof our establishment – the Hindemith In sti tutein Frankfurt, the carl Orff Institute in Munichand the Kurt Weil Foun dation in New york.
What do you perceive as great shortcomingsover the past two decades? What is await -ing the institute, and what would you liketo accomplish?
/ MARTIN FLAŠAR
The Bohuslav Martinů Institute is celebratingthe 20th anniversary of its opening. This yearalso saw the publication of the first twovolumes of the Bohuslav Martinů CompleteEdition, an ambitious project within which twovolumes are planned to be released annuallyover the next 50 years. Another anniversary,a 50th birthday, is being celebrated by one ofthe initiators and implementers of this seminalproject, the Director of the Bohuslav MartinůInstitute, musicologist, musician and composerAleš Březina, whom we have interviewed.
This year we are celebrating the 125thanniversary of Martinů’s birth and yourinstitute is commemorating 20 years of itsexistence…To be more precise, we are celebrating 21 yearsof existence and 20 years since the opening.The Institute was founded in 1994 upon thesug gestion of Viktor Kalabis, who at the timewas the chairman of the Board of Directorsof the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, but I re -quested that I be allowed to work behind closeddoors for a year. I considered how bad it wouldbe to announce a gala opening and welcomethe guests amid bare walls. so I spent a yearput ting together the basic library, the basicdisco graphy, the equipment necessary for a re -search institution and the source material. Onlythen could the Institute be opened. This finallycame about, under the name study centre ofthe Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, in December1995, almost two years after I had beguncreating the institution. Later on, we changedthe name and disaffiliated, primarily with theaim not to be solely dependent on the Foun da -tion, as well as to be able to apply for grants.
With regard to the anniversary, one istempted – even though it sounds likea cliché – to look back and take stock.Which results of your work over the past fewyears and decades have made you happy?I feel the greatest joy when I look back at thepast few years, since they bear the fruit of allthe work that has been done over the two
16 | martInůrevue22015
twenty years of the bohuslav man interview with director aleš březina
Library of the Bohuslav Martinů Institute
who cannot speak czech. I definitely want tocontinue to organise international musicologicalconferences – so far we have held six, two ofthem in Bregenz and one within the 2009Prague spring festival. My aim is to com pletethe critical edition within 50 years.
Which genres of Martinů music have beenin greatest demand of late? The stageworks, symphonies, concertos…In general, the greatest demand has been forhis chamber works, as they are the easiest toexplore and perform. When it comes to themore complex compositions, I would pointto the symphonic pieces, of which completerecord ings are available – not least Bělohlávek’sset of symphonies, which received a Gramo -phone Award in 2012. Of late, there has beengrowing interest in the economically mostdemanding Martinů works – the operas. Theseinclude such grand feature-length titles as Thegreek Passion and Juliette, even though the one-acters have been performed most frequently.The comedy on the Bridge, for instance, has beenon virtually all the time. Interest has also beenrising in Alexandre bis, while the Tears of the Knifehas often been performed by schools. And,finally, the works most exacting to produce,such as the Three Wishes, have recently beenthe subject of interest too.
let us now focus on the Martinů completeedition. A highly ambitious project indeed…yes, some 106 volumes, two volumes annually,the first being published this year.
if i am not mistaken, the edition’s planstarts with the operas and ends with thechamber works and addenda… We strive rather to publish the edition evenly,with consideration to the situation as regardssources and negotiations on sub-licences. Thefirst volume is the epic of gilgamesh, the secondSymphony No. 4, followed by the Field Mass andThe Spectre’s Bride. The fourth features chamberworks for six to nine instruments, the fifthvolume contains the cantatas to Bureš’s texts,the sixth encompasses Piano concertos Nos. 4
and 5. The fact that Martinů entrusted hisworks to about two dozen publishers and thecomplete edition is being issued by a single one,Bärenreiter, presumes that the originalpublisher has given its consent. Owing to thenegotiations being lengthy and complicated, wehave given preference to the volumes for whichthe co-operation with the publisher would besmooth. For the time being, this applies toBoosey & Hawkes and Universal Edition, so,together with the pieces from Bärenreiter, itconcerns several dozen scores. But soon we willhave to intensify negotiations with otherGerman, French and American publishers.
how difficult are Martinů’s music auto -graphs to read? Janáček’s manuscripts,for instance, are not easy to decipher andthey also contain a lot of crossings-out.Martinů wrote in very small letters…Up until the early 1950s, his handwriting wasvery neat, containing very few crossings-out,but that is often misleading. Only when con tin -uously working on several volumes concurrentlydid we create a sort of catalogue of all the pos -sible inaccuracies of his music notation. Owingto his being an autodidact – he only studied theviolin, and composition privately, with Josef sukand Albert roussel – Martinů built up certainbad habits. It took us a long time to draw upthe catalogue of the typical traits of his scores,that is, to detect what this or that symbolcould have meant and what was wrong in hisnotations. serving as an example is his specificnotation of tremolo, in the case of which heoften did not distinguish between three or fourcross strokes, since it meant the same to him.He also frequently overdrew or, vice versa, didnot finalise ligatures or crescendos. Moreover,characteristic of Martinů were inconsistencies(sometimes just seemingly) when writing agogicmarkings. In some cases he stops using stac -
cato markings when he considers their continu -ation self-evident; at other times he suddenlyceases marking them on the fold of the page.Martinů always composed first in his mind. sub -se quently he created a complete sketch, inwhich the piece was drawn up in the form ofa sort of piano reduction with a variable numberof staves, which he then transferred into a scorethat he kept modifying and revising. conse -quently, the number of crossings-out in hisscores is minimal, and so his catalogue containsfew other radically different versions of com -positions. Nevertheless, by the middle of the1950s his handwriting had begun to dete ri oraterapidly. His constant composing resulted inwriter’s cramp, with his handwriting gettingincreasingly shaky. When writing his late scores,Martinů’s hand was shaking so much that hehad trouble remaining within the given system,and so we are glad to have available periodprints of some of his works. This problem isparticularly palpable in, for instance, the Bureš-based cantatas, in the case of which we oftentackle situations in the notation that are sowide of the mark that we can safely assumethat what’s there is not what Martinů actuallymeant.
You yourself are now a renowned composerof film scores and operas. do you find inspi -ration in Martinů’s work or could he, in somesense, be an obstacle to you as a composer? I have the advantage that Martinů is a worldso distant that it is virtually impossible torelate to it directly. It would certainly be ananachronism.
Thank you for the interview.
Reprinted from musical magazine opus Musicum, no. 2, 2015,
with their kind permission, shortened.
martInůrevue22015 | 17
artinů institute
Team of the Bohuslav Martinů Institute celebrating the first two volumes of Complete Edition of BM Works
portrai
t
did not materialise, but it was recently given innew York, together with his further chamber opera‘Toufar’ (2013). aleš worked on the librettos,compiled from period documents, with the directorJiří nekvasil. He had earlier collaborated with himon two important film documentaries made forczech Tv: ‘out of exile’ (1998) and ‘Martinů andamerica’ (2000).
as one might expect, aleš regards Martinů as“one of the great musical geniuses”; he also admireshim as “one of the few composers who found anexact balance of comprehensibility and modernity”.This is a quality also to be found in aleš’s owncompositions and, last year, I had the wonderfulexperience of hearing the new version of his life-affirming ‘requiem’ for soloists, children’s choirand an orchestra of period instruments. It wasperformed in the beautiful surroundings of thechurch Porta coeli in Předklášteří near Tišnov,famous for its carved portal, as part of the annualfestival ‘concentus Moraviae’, of which aleš is oneof the programme directors - yet a further area ofaleš’s activity. all this in addition to the colossalMartinů revisited project that he masterminded!Timed to coincide with the composer’s doubleanniversary in 2009-10, it successfully broughtabout a positive critical re-assessment of Martinů’smusic through performances world-wide.
I have before me an article about Paul Sacherwritten by aleš at the start of his career andpublished in Hudební rozhledy (1992, no. 9,pp. 372–375). It is entitled ‘Fenomén Sacher’ (TheSacher Phenomenon). I feel that I should really haveentitled this tribute to aleš ‘Fenomén Březina’!That article is a reminder of his skill and profes -sionalism in writing erudite, precisely documentedtexts that are at the same time readable. I person -ally value his editorial expertise, both hisdecisiveness and incisiveness. I recall one episodeback in 2002, when I wrote a review of the film‘victims and murderers’, for which aleš madea selection of Martinů’s music for the sound track.I headed it ‘Martinů in the cinema’, or some suchrather obvious title. aleš would not let me leave theInstitute until I had thought up something morestriking. as if he had all the time in the world, alešsat with me over a cup of coffee while we siftedthrough alternative titles. I eventually came up with‘Bats in the Belfry’, which was apt, since the filmconcerned the imaginary curator of a Martinůmuseum situated in the church tower of Polička,who was slowly going crazy.
aleš has reached a stage in life when he canallow himself to look back on past successes witha degree of satisfaction, conscious that manyfurther challenges and achievements still lie ahead.In addition to offering him birthday greetings, I amsure that all Martinů enthusiasts will wish himmuch happiness and success in the future, as wellas the contentment of witnessing the fulfilmentof his most ambitious project: the completion ofthe Bohuslav Martinů complete edition worksby the year 2059, the centenary of the composer’sdeath. �
aFTer a QUarTer of century, I cannot recallexactly when and where I first met aleš, but thathardly matters since he is the kind of person onefeels one has known all one’s life, and who invari -ably greets one with a bear hug! I do know thatwe each presented papers (on different days)at the International Musicological conference on‘Bohuslav Martinů and his works’, held during thePrague Spring Festival in the composer’s centenaryyear 1990. aleš belongs to that admirable genera -tion of talented young czechs who lived throughand emerged from the ‘velvet revolution’ deter -minedly untainted by the old thinking with itsxenophobia, narrow-mindedness and hypocrisy, itsenvy and resentment of the good fortune of others.
It was due to exceptional determination on aleš’spart that in 1989 he succeeded in gaining a scholar -ship to study in Switzerland by knocking on thedoor of the Swiss embassy and impressing thecultural attaché in the course of a two hour inter -view. There in Basel, he studied musicology andworked on his dissertation on Martinů, in adittionto cataloguing Martinů’s legacy in the Paul SacherFoundation. But aleš has never conformed to theimage of the dry, intellectual musicologist; he wasalso a trained musician with broad interests.Having sung in an elite children’s choir in Sušice(in western Bohemia) and having studied violinsince the age of six, he attended the conservatoirein Pilsen. There he played both in the ‘Song andDance ensemble of the Škoda Works’ and in a blue-grass band. He also started to compose and, at theage of 20, moved to the czech capital to study musi -cology at charles University: “Prague was for mea miracle. I at once found myself in a group of veryinteresting people, most of them remain my bestfriends to this day. Musicology became just one ofmy interests. My most important experiences camefrom the Prague cultural world. It was a beau tifulperiod when I learned a lot of important things, forinstance to think about the world”. aleš playedfor more than three years in the group ‘relaxace’,which was influenced by Indian and new age music,and he worked in the theatre. He also came intocontact with young filmmakers and began his highlysuccessful career as a composer of film music. Hisfirst collaboration with the director Jan Hřebejkwas arranging and recording the final song for hisgraduation work: ‘everything you wanted to knowabout sex, but were afraid to ex pe rience’ (1988),which was awarded top marks by the Film Faculty(FaMU). Better known Hřebejk collabo rations are‘Divided We Fall’ (2000) and ‘Kawasaki´s rose’(2009). While still in his early twenties, aleš beganto think about his future career; he wanted to learnforeign languages and broaden his hori zons, whichis why he felt so fortunate to have secured hisstipendiary to study in Switzerland. after therevolution, he managed to extend his stay in orderto work on his dissertation on Martinů’s Doubleconcerto, and during the early 1990’s he lived there,while remaining in close contact with Prague.
With the new possibilities that were opening upin the reinvigorated czech republic it was a natural
18 | martInůrevue22015
a birthday tribute to aleš březinaoffered by patrick lambert
step for aleš, not yet 30, to accept the post ofdirector of the Bohuslav Martinů Study centrein Prague, offered to him by viktor Kalabis, thanthe chairman of the Bohuslav Martinů FoundationPrague. It was renamed Institute in 1999, and for20 years already it is dedicated to “scholarly andpromotional activities relating to the life and œuvreof Martinů”. He immediately enlisted his consid er -able organisational skills, developing contactsabroad, delegating, persuading and inspiring peoplethrough the sheer force of his warm and sincerepersonality and his deeply held belief in theuniversal value and fascination of Martinů’s music.very soon the annual Bohuslav Martinů Festivalwas established and the first of the annual promo -tional cDs appeared, containing live recordingsfrom the 1996 Festival. an International MartinůSociety, later circle, was founded, together witha regular newsletter, known today as the Martinůrevue.
a landmark in aleš’s musicological career wasundoubtedly his painstaking reconstruction of thefirst version of The Greek Passion, which requiredenormous perseverance and detective work. Itspremiere production given at the Bregenz summerfestival in 1999 and at covent Garden the followingyear was an unimaginable triumph, placing Mar -tinů’s name at the forefront of the public’s con -sciousness. aleš’s first great success as a composerin his own right was the chamber opera ‘Zítra sebude aneb Hra na proces’ (Tomorrow, There WillBe…, or Play on Trial), concerning the political showtrial of Milada Horáková, which was produced bythe Prague national Theatre and premiered at theDivadlo Kolowrat in 2008. I was fortunate to catcha performance in Pilsen and it made a profoundimpression on me with its universal message. It wasa great shame the planned London performance
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MARTIN SONGS ON NAXOS
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“Some excellent songs here, in radiant performances” – BBC Music Magazine
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Martinu°: Seven songs on Japanese poetry
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NipponariBohuslav Martinů
1890–1959
© 2015 SCHOTT MUSIC Panton GmbH, Mainz
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Guitar
MARTINŮNipponariSedm písní na japonskou poeziipro ženský hlas a klavírSieben Lieder auf japanische Poesiefür Frauenstimme und KlavierSeven song settings of Japanese poetryfor female voice and piano
H 68 a
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