Dvořák A. Male Choruses / Hradec Králové Male Choir and Bonifantes, Canticorum Iubilo

Antonín Dvořák - MALE CHORUSES:

Bouquet of Czech Folk-songs, Op. 41 (B. 72) (The Betrayed Shepherd, The Czech Diogenes, The Guelder Rose, The Sweetheart's Resolve)

Choral Songs for Male Voices, B. 66 (The Ferryman, The Fiddler,Lover-Poisoner)

Five Choruses for Male Voices to Lithuanian Folk-song Texts, Op. 27 (B. 87) (Dwellers by the Sea, The Lost Lamb, The Love Promise, The Sparrow's Party, Village Gossip)

From The Bouquet of Slavonic Folk-songs, Op. 43 (B. 76) (The Maiden in the Wood, Miraculous Water, Sorrow)

The Song of a Czech, B. 73

Two Irish Songs, B. 601 (Dear Connor, The Visit)

Antonín Dvořák - MIXED CHORUSES:

Four Choruses for Mixed Voices, Op. 29 (B. 59)

(Cradle Song, Evening's Blessing, The Forsaken One, I Won't Tell)

In Nature's Realm, Op. 63 (B. 126) (Bells Ring at Dusk, Music Descended on My Soul, The Rye Field, The Silver Birch, With Dance and Song)

HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ MALE CHOIR + BONIFANTES

JAN MÍŠEK choirmaster

JIŘINA MAREŠOVÁ piano

CANTICORUM IUBILO

OLIVER DOHNÁNYI choirmaster

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) wrote all his 27 male and mixed choruses in three years (1876-8), the only exception being the cycle In Nature's Realm (1882). Among the 12 premieres you will find the cycle From The Bouquet of Slavonic Folk-songs not accompanied by piano 4 hands as usual, but 2 hands (according to the manuscript from the Musical Department of the Moravian Museum in Brno), and the male chorus The Fiddler - the theme of Dvořák's Symphonic Variations. Complete texts of the choruses with their English, French and German translations are included.

The Hradec Králové Male Choir & Bonifantes was formed in 1996. Its most prestigious award is the Gold Medal from the Choral Olympiad of Linz (2000). Its choimaster Jan Míšek (b. 1976) combines his conducting career with composing. The lady pianist Jiřina Marešová is the leader of the ensemble Ospedale della Pieta. The Canticorum iubilo started in 1971, receiving then a number of awards (Varna 1985, Neuchâtel 1989). Since 1978 it has been led by Oliver Dohnányi (b. 1955), principal conductor of the Prague National Theatre Orchestra (1993-6) and permanent guest conductor of the Bavarian State Opera in Munich (since 2001).