Landor
Records state on their website that their aims are to unearth
new talent and enrich the recorded repertoire. True to their
word this release marks the debut for Landor of talented Czech
pianist Libor Novacek, the winner of the Landor Competition
in September 2005.
Leoš
Janáček’s Sonata 1.X.1905 was written between
1905 and 1906 and its music portrays the composer’s reaction
to the dramatic force of Czech patriotism. Janáček was
an active Slav and a strong supporter of an independent Czech
language. In 1905 Brno’s Czech minority petitioned for a Czech
University. At a protest rally arranged by Brno Germans the
army and police were called out to suppress a counter-demonstration
in which a young supporter was fatally wounded.
The
Sonata was originally cast in three movements. However
Janáček was unhappy with the score and burned the third
movement; believed to be a funeral march, on the day of the
premičre. The emotional opening movement is titled ‘Presentiment’
where outbursts of passion and fear are abruptly alternated
with calm, song-like motifs. In the second movement ‘The
Death’ is a harrowing and sombre adagio. Soloist
Libor Novacek offers a riveting account of this unsettling
Janáček score with a marvellous interpretation that is
frequently breathtaking.
Composed between 1910 and 1912 Debussy’s Preludes,
Book II are almost neo-classical in their use of a Baroque
idiom. The Preludes are unique in their depiction of
colour and nuance, using an economy of means and tonal brilliance
found in the best impressionistic paintings. Libor Novacek
has selected six of the twelve Preludes from Book
II for inclusion. He explains in his booklet notes how
he played the ‘The Children’s Corner’ as a child
and his love for Debussy has grown ever since. The soloist’s
admiration for Debussy certainly shows through in his playing
with an interpretation that blends finesse with colourful
expression.
Originally intended as a musical tribute to the harpsichord
music of François Couperin-le-Grand the celebrated score Le
Tombeau de Couperin was Ravel’s final work for solo piano. Composed between
1914 and 1917 Ravel was to dedicate this set of six pieces
in honour of friends that had died in the Great War. Ravel
was further affected by the death of his mother at this time
yet there is no trace of pity or melancholy under the surface
of the music. Le
Tombeau de Couperin is
essentially a neo-classical work and it is
heard here with all the necessary seventeenth century economy
and transparency. In the Fugue, Forlane and
Menuet Novacek
convincingly communicates a sense of serenity in the spirit
of a by-gone age.
Bohuslav
Martinů composed his Three Czech Dances in 1926
during his stay in Paris. The Czech composer had gone to France
in 1923 to study with Albert Roussel in order to gain experience
from the French impressionists, such as Ravel and Debussy
and from the so-called ‘Paris Six’. Martinů was keen
to leave behind the deeply nationalistic tradition that so
influenced Smetana and Dvořák. The Three Czech Dances
are an interesting metamorphosis of a traditional Czech
dance called the ‘Matenik’ that became popular, rapidly spreading
out from its peasant roots in Eastern Bohemia to other regions
and social classes. In the first piece the ‘Obrocak’ the soloist
is highly assured amid the technical demands of the unusual
and unexpected accents and humorous alternating polyrhythmic
motifs. The soloist is an authoritative and vigorous interpreter of the ‘Dupak’, distinctive for its loud thuds that represent
the stamping of the dancers. Novacek is equally impressive
with the contrasting dynamics of the final piece in the set,
the ‘Polka’.
The
team of Jeremy Hayes and Tony Faulkner have provided a most
agreeable and especially well balanced sound quality. The
booklet notes written by Novacek are interesting and informative.
The
assured playing from Libor Novacek makes riveting listening.
I look forward to hearing more recitals from him.
Michael Cookson
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