Bohuslav Martinů - Le Raid merveilleux; La Revue de Cuisine; On Tourne (Christopher Hogwood)

Information

Composer: Bohuslav Martinů

• Le Raid merveilleux (The Amazing Flight), mechanical ballet, H. 159
• La Revue de Cuisine (The Kitchen Revue), jazz-ballet, H. 161
• On Tourne, ballet, H. 163

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Christopher Hogwood, conductor

Date: 2004

Label: Supraphon

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Review

Christopher Hogwood really does have an affinity for Martinu’s busy, neo-Baroque music, letting it bustle and sing with unaffected charm and plenty of energy. The novelty here for many collectors will be the first complete recording of Le Revue de cuisine, the full score of which was only discovered in the 1990s. In addition to the familiar suite, there are a couple of interludes and a funeral march that taken together extend the length of the work by several minutes. Of course none of that would matter if this performance weren’t terrific, but it has all of the gusto and humor that Martinu wrote into the music, with an especially delicious romp through the Charleston. The members of the Czech Philharmonic, particularly clarinetist Tomás Kopácek, sound fabulous, and pianist Daniel Wiesner is pretty hot stuff too.

Le Raid merveilleux, subtitled “ballet mécanique”, describes the failed attempt of two French aviators to fly across the Atlantic just weeks before Lindberg succeeded from the opposite direction. The music alternates evocative machine sounds with some surprisingly sweet, lyrical passages (the final representation of the sea, for example). On tourne! (Roll the Cameras!) is a puppet ballet lasting nearly half an hour involving a diver and various sea creatures in various cartoonish adventures. The music has unflagging energy and charm, coming straight from Martinu’s bubbliest theatrical vein. Bits of it have been recorded before, but I believe this is the premiere of the complete work, and it should earn the friendship of the composer’s fans everywhere. It’s a delight, as are these performances, very vividly recorded, even if the sound is a touch reverberant at loud moments. An important and (best of all) extremely enjoyable addition to the Martinu discography. [7/9/2004]

— David Hurwitz

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Bohuslav Martinů (December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He was a violinist in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and briefly studied under Czech composer and violinist Josef Suk. Martinů was a prolific composer who wrote almost 400 pieces. Many of his works are regularly performed or recorded, among them his oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh, his six symphonies, concertos, chamber music, a flute sonata, a clarinet sonatina and many others. Martinů's notable students include Alan Hovhaness, Vítězslava Kaprálová, Jan Novák and many others.

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Christopher Hogwood (10 September 1941 – 24 September 2014) was an English conductor, harpsichordist, and musicologist known for his work in historically informed performance. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge and trained by noted musicians such as Raymond Leppard, Gustav Leonhardt and Zuzana Růžičková. In 1973 he founded the Academy of Ancient Music which became renowned for performing Baroque and Classical music on period instruments. Hogwood also explored Romantic and modern repertoire, especially neobaroque and neoclassical works by Stravinsky, Martinů, and Hindemith.

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