Vítězslava Kaprálová - Completed Orchestral Works (Alena Hron)

Information

Composer: Vítězslava Kaprálová

CD1

• Suite en miniature, Op. 1 (1935)
• Military sinfonietta, Op. 11 (1937)
• Suita rustica, Op. 19 (1938)
• Waving Farewell, Op. 14 (1937)
• Prélude de Noël (1939)
• Fanfare (1939)

CD2

• Partita for Piano and Strings, Op. 20 (1939)
• Piano Concerto in D Minor, Op. 7 (1935)
• Suite for Piano, Op. 1 (Original Version)

Veronika Rovná, soprano

Tomáš Vrána, piano

Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra

Alena Hron, conductor

Date: 2024

Label: CPO

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Review

A student of Novák, Martinů and Václav Talich, Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915‑40) might have been a leading composer of the last century had she not died of typhoid fever at the age of 25. This collection of her completed orchestral works shows us a young composer whose musical personality is already discernible. Pianist Rudolf Firkušný described her temperament as ‘unpredictable’, and this is true of her music as well. Yet how deftly she moves from one idea to the next. Her music almost always flows in a way that sounds utterly natural and right.

At a quarter of an hour, her Military Sinfonietta (1937) is the largest single-movement structure here, and it covers an enormous emotional range but its many seams are sewn together with remarkable economy. There’s less of a distinct Czech accent here and elsewhere than one might expect – it’s strongest in the Suita rustica (1938), based on Czech folk songs and dances, with a middle movement that pays homage to Smetana – and it’s clear she also had a strong affinity for Debussy and Bartók.

Kaprálová wrote her Piano Concerto (1935) while still a student in Brno, and it’s the kind of big, colourful, unabashedly romantic and hugely entertaining showpiece I’d be delighted to encounter in the concert hall. Tomás Vrána imbues the solo part with tremendous flair, and I prefer his interpretation to Amy I‑Lin Cheng’s more demure account on an all-Kaprálová Naxos album recorded with the University of Michigan Symphony Orchestra. That said, Kenneth Kiesler’s interpretation of the Military Sinfonietta is more vividly characterised, but that Naxos disc excludes the Suita rustica as well as the superb Partita for piano and strings (1939) – a work that’s closely related to Martinů’s Double Concerto. I also prefer Veronika Rovná’s sensitive and pitch-perfect reading of the orchestral song Waving Farewell (1937) to Nicholas Phan’s.

Kaprálová was the first woman to conduct the Czech Philharmonic, so it’s fitting that Alena Hron leads the proceedings here, as she’s the first woman to be named music director of a Czech orchestra. The Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava play extremely well for her and, my niggling comments about the Military Sinfonietta aside, these interpretations do full justice to Kaprálová’s art.

— Andrew Farach-Colton

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Vítězslava Kaprálová (24 January 1915 – 16 June 1940) was a Czech composer and conductor. She studied under prominent musicians, including Vilém Petrželka, Zdeněk Chalabala, Vítězslav Novák, Václav Talich, Bohuslav Martinů, Charles Munch and Nadia Boulanger. Despite her premature passing at the age of 25, Kaprálová left behind a remarkable and influential body of work. Her compositions, which earned the admiration of notable figures such as Rafael Kubelík and Rudolf Firkušný, encompass a wide range of genres, including art songs, solo piano pieces, concertos and orchestral works.

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Czech conductor Alena Hron was educated at the Prague Conservatory, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, the Norwegian Academy of Music, and the Zurich University of the Arts. She has been mentored by renowned conductors such as Jakub Hrůša, Vasily Petrenko and Marin Alsop. Hron has collaborated with major Czech orchestras, including the Prague Symphony and Janáček Philharmonic, with whom she recorded Kaprálová's complete orchestral works. Leading the South Czech Philharmonic since the 2024/25 season, Hron is the first woman to hold the position of Chief Conductor in the Czech Republic.

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