8.572695

Leoš JANÁČEK (1854-1928)
Taras Bulba • Lachian Dances
Moravian Dances
Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra • Antoni Wit

Leoš Janáček was an authority on his native folk-music, and the Lachian and Moravian Dances preserve and celebrate culture and traditions which were vanishing even in his own lifetime. Based on Gogol’s historical novel, Janáček’s inspired orchestral rhapsody on Taras Bulba depicts three moving and dramatic episodes in the violent life of the Cossack leader, climaxing in his stirring and triumphant prophecy of liberation. This release follows Antoni Wit’s acclaimed Warsaw recording of Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and Sinfonietta (8.572639).

8.572986

Tony BANKS (b 1950)
SIX Pieces for Orchestra
Charlie Siem, violin*
Martin Robertson, alto saxophone^†
The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra
Paul Englishby

Repertoire
Siren^† • Still Waters • Blade* • Wild Pilgrimage
The Oracle • City of Gold

Tony Banks, founder member of rock band Genesis, has already written a much admired orchestral work called Seven (8.557466), which was praised for its ‘genuine melodic gift’ (Gramophone).

8.557466

His new work consists of six songs without words which may evoke in the listener ideas of seduction, journey, hero, quest, decision and goal. Two of the pieces feature solo instruments – alto saxophone on Siren and violin on Blade – played here by elite soloists, which mesh into Banks’s orchestral tapestry with bewitching effect. The remaining pieces reveal his outstanding lyrical gifts and total command of musical narrative.

8.572779

Mieczysław WEINBERG (1919-1996)
Symphony No 6, Op 79*
Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes,
Op 47, No 1
Glinka Choral College Boys’ Choir*
St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra
Vladimir Lande

Weinberg is increasingly recognised as one of the outstanding composers of the second half of the twentieth century. His Rhapsody on Moldavian Themes is a concise medley of tunes that embrace folk influence, both melancholic and high spirited, culminating in a joyous and unstoppable dance. Scored for a very large orchestra and a children’s choir, Symphony No. 6 is a work of huge expression, anguished and dynamic, encompassing lament, circus gallops, burlesque, and a cataclysmic and heartrending slow movement. Weinberg’s friend, Shostakovich, was so impressed that he used it as teaching material in his own classes.

8.572472

Olivier MESSIAEN (1908-1992)
Visions de l’Amen
Claude DEBUSSY (1862-1918)
En blanc et noir
Ralph van Raat, piano I
Håkon Austbø, piano II

Both the works on this recording were written during wartime. Debussy’s 1915 En blanc et noir, composed during a late creative burst, is his musical response to the horrors of World War I. Messiaen’s revolutionary Visions de l’Amen from 1943, written to be performed by the composer and his teenage pupil, Yvonne Loriod, is a profound religious meditation whose emotional intensity is overwhelming. The role of the two pianos is clearly divided. Melodic and expressive elements are confined to the second piano, Messiaen’s part, whereas all that is percussion, brilliance and rhythmic development is heard in the first piano, Loriod’s part.