Bohuslav Martinů - Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette
Suite from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) for Large Orchestra / H 253B / arr. Zbyněk Vostřák, 1969 13:16
1. I. Poco andante 4:51
2. II. Vivo 3:58
3. III. Lento.4:22
Trois Fragments de l'Opéra Juliette (La Clé des songes) / Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) / H 253A 38:15
4. I. La scene de la foret / Scene in the Forest 20:49
5. II. La scene des souvenirs / Scene of Memories 5:43
6. III. Finale du IIIe acte / Finale of Act III 11:39
Magdalena Kožená (Juliette), Steve Davislim (Michel), Frédéric Goncalves,
Michele Lagrange, Nicolas Testé, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra,
conductor Sir Charles Mackerras
Libretto: B. Martinu after Georges Neveux's play Juliette ou la Clé des Songes
*Live recording from the work's world premieres on 11 and 12 December 2008
This is not the first case of a premiere performance of a work by Bohuslav Martinu (1890 - 1959) decades after his death. On 11 December 2008 the sold-out Rudolfi num in Prague heard for the first time a work which ranks among Martinu's most signifi cant and which the composer himself highly esteemed. Martinu originally composed the opera Juliette in Czech. However, so as to ensure appropriate publicity for the work, he wanted - already armed with a French libretto - to place extracts from the most relevant scenes on French radio. Yet Three Fragments from the Opera Juliette (The Key to Dreams) was not broadcast on the radio and had to wait some 70 years for its first performance. This was entrusted to the safe hands of that most competent of conductors Sir Charles Mackerras, who has devoted a great part of his life to discovering Czech music and promoting it on world stages.
Thanks to Martinu's dreamily beautiful music and the remarkable engagement of all the interpreters, the conductor's December leavetaking of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra was transformed into a joint triumph. After experiencing Magdalena Kožená in the role of Juliette, it is hard to imagine another star singer in her place. The Australian tenor Steve Davislim, who performed in the role of Michel, was a splendid partner to Magdalena Kožená in the lyrical and dramatic position. On this CD, Three Fragments is supplemented by the orchestral suite from the same opera, which sensitively treats the music of all three Acts and corresponds with the "dreamy logic" of the original.
(Supraphon 2009)
Property | Value |
format | CD audio |