Supraphon
have done some substantial justice to Martinů during
the decade leading up to the half centenary of his death.
There has been a new cycle of the symphonies (Valek) although
MusicWeb has not as yet been able to source a review copy.
The works for cello and orchestra/piano, the piano concertos
and the music for solo piano together with much of the
orchestral music has been issued by them. Other companies
including Naxos in Giorgio Koukl’s wonderful piano cycle
and Hyperion’s complete music for violin and orchestra
have done valuable work.
The
present 4 CD set reflects his complete output from before the Great War at the age of 19 in
his homeland to age 55. The
Czech Rhapsody was dedicated
to Kreisler at the end of the Second World War and was
written amid success in the USA. The box breaks new ground
for Supraphon being a stylish and durable hard card item
with a dumpy booklet and the discs each inserted in a plain
paper sleeve. It’s certainly a space saver when compared
with the company’s established approach of extravagant
multiple jewel boxes.
The
violin was Martinů’s instrument. It had been his passport
from Policka to Prague and the ranks of Talich’s Czech
Philharmonic. Bohuslav Matousek has convincing Martinů credentials
having been leader of the Stamic Quartet – who recorded
the complete Martinů string quartets (
review review)
and whose complete Martinů for violin and orchestra
has come out on Hyperion (
vol.
1;
vol.
2;
vol.
3;
vol.
4) and partially on
Supraphon.
Amongst
his first compositions is the 1909
Elegy with its
grandstanding melodrama. The 1910
Concerto has nothing to do with his masterwork of
the 1950s: the Double Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra.
It is salon-smooth and undemanding. The
Violin Sonata
in C major is made of sturdier stuff – worsted to the
1910 work’s threadbare sacking. It is impressive and rises
to considerable majesty. Count it in the same company as
the Goossens, Dunhill and Ireland sonatas of that time.
It also chimes in with the mood of Martinů’s
Czech
Rhapsody for baritone, chorus and orchestra. The
D
minor sonata carries the stigmata of Jazz and his studies
with Roussel. The
Impromptu has even greater ‘face’ – mercurial
and fading from chaffing to soliloquising, from lively
to thoughtful. The
Violin Sonata No. 1 is followed
by the
Five Short Pieces - dedicated to Martinů biographer
Miloš Šafránek – an important friend during his Parisian
sojourn. These are not the most melodically juicy of pieces.
The 1930
Ariette mixes singing melody with ragtime.
The
Violin Sonata No. 2 is a compact Stravinskian
neo-classical piece. The sweetly ingratiating
Seven
Arabesques - Rhythmic Etudes are laid out for violin
or cello. The very short 1937
Sonatina and the 1927
Impromptu veer
toward the Dvořák of the salon. The
Rhythmic Etudes H202
were written for advanced amateurs. Martinů was enamoured
of the Madrigal. The
Madrigal Stanzas are dedicated
to Albert Einstein - himself an amateur violinist. These
are fully personal pieces. The
Third Sonata – another
product of the years in the USA – is another very substantial
piece. It is tough, lyrical and nostalgic. Much the same
can be said of the last work - the
wistful
Czech Rhapsody. It sings with the aspirational
and exuberant loftiness we know from the Sinfonietta
La
Jolla and the Fourth Symphony.
This
is not the first appearance of these treasurable recordings.
They were reviewed here as two separate 2CD sets in 2003
(
review).
Rob Barnett
Bohuslav
Matoušek (violin); Petr Adamec (piano) 
