Leoš Janáček - Opera Suites Vol. 2 (Peter Breiner)

Information

Composer: Leoš Janáček

• Káťa Kabanová
• The Makropulos Affair

New Zealand Symphony Orchestra

Peter Breiner, conductor & arranger

Date: 2009

Label: Naxos

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Review

This second installment in Peter Breiner’s series of suites from Janácek operas is more successful than the first. It’s particularly exciting to hear the music from Kát’a Kabanova, the composer’s most voluptuous (and saddest) opera. Breiner basically follows the course of the action in his five-movement suite, and after a fairly stiff performance of the overture his conducting steadily improves, as (it seems) does the confidence of the orchestra. The long last movement, all from the third act, is very skillfully put together, and the storm music comprising the first few minutes packs the sonic and emotional wallop that it must. Fans of the opera will really enjoy this.

José Serebrier has already made a suite from The Makropulos Case at the behest of Universal Edition, and he recorded it pretty stunningly for Reference Recordings. Breiner’s six-movement arrangement is quite different. His decision to frame the piece with the opera’s final scene is both smart and effective, though he should have used more of Marty’s final monologue when he brings back the same music at the end. He also adapts more material from Act 2 than does Serebrier, and Breiner’s willingness to organize the music more freely results in a very satisfying half-hour, much more lyrical and tuneful than you might have thought possible. A very enjoyable disc, overall.

— David Hurwitz

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Leoš Janáček (3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, one of the most important exponents of musical nationalism of the 20th century. He studied at the Prague, Leipzig, and Vienna conservatories. His earlier works was influenced by contemporaries such as Dvořák, but later he began to incorporate his studies of national folk music and language to create a highly original synthesis. Janáček's later works, which are his most celebrated, include operas Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, two string quartets, and other chamber works.

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Peter Breiner (born 3 July 1957) is a Slovak conductor, pianist, composer, arranger and writer. A graduate of the Košice Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, he has led orchestras in Europe, Asia, North America and New Zealand. Known for Baroque-style adaptations of pop and holiday music, his albums like Beatles Go Baroque and Christmas Goes Baroque are major successes. Breiner's arrangements of national anthems were used at the Olympics, while his Janáček suites made the Chicago Tribune's top ten list in 2009. His music is also featured in films, ballets, and concert broadcasts.

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