CD The Excursions of Mr. Brouček

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Janáček's The Excursions of Mr. Brouček - after a hundred years still relevant on a new CD.

In April 1920, after twelve years of dedicated effort, Janáček witnessed the premiere of his opera, The Excursions of Mr. Brouček, at the National Theatre in Prague—his only premiere at this prestigious venue. A century later, in April 2020, the soloists, chorus, and orchestra of the same theatre revisited "Brouček" with a performance at the Rudolfinum in Prague. This new studio recording, only the third in the Supraphon catalogue following those by Neumann and Jílka, was made possible in part due to the closure of theatres and concert halls during the recent pandemic.

The composer dedicated the opera to T. G. Masaryk, the first president of early Czechoslovakia. Instead of celebrating the newly acquired freedom and state sovereignty, instead of St. Wenceslas, Charles IV or any other of the great figures of Czech history, the main hero of Janáček's "national opera" is the down-to-earth narrow-minded, coward, hypocrite, liar, boor and drunkard, Mr. Brouček. Apart from good food and beer, he loves a simple view of the world, is extremely suspicious of everything foreign and different, and hates artists and intellectuals. In first part, A Trip to the Moon, his blunt narrow-mindedness is confronted with the aesthetic and intellectual exuberance of the moon dwellers, while in the second part, A Trip to the 15th Century, his unshakable egotism, spinelessness and deceitfulness are contrasted with the ideals of the uncompromising Hussite fighters "for the truth of God". In the words of the composer himself - "Our pettiness is embodied in the Beetle; made for the stage."

Even after a hundred years, this image of the "ordinary Czech man" is still relevant and worth recalling. Especially when the main character is portrayed by a singer of Jaroslav Březina's quality in the company of other leading Czech singers and under the direction of the experienced opera conductor Jaroslav Kyzlinek. The spatial and colourful sound of the Rudolfinum's Dvořák Hall also plays an important role in the new recording. With the release of this recording, the National Theatre commemorates, among other things, the 170th birthday of Leoš Janáček, the most world-famous of Czech opera composers.

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 CD 2 pcs

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) – Výlety páně Broučkovy. Opera o dvou dílech (Výlet pana Broučka do Měsíce, Výlet pana Broučka do XV. století). Libreto: Leoš Janáček, František Serafínský Procházka, Viktor Dyk a František Gellner. Nastudování podle nové kritické edice Jiřího Zahrádky (Universal Edition).

Jaroslav Březina, Aleš Briscein, František Zahradníček, Alžběta Poláčková, Jiří Sulženko, Jiří Brückler, Roman Janál, Martin Šrejma, Josef Moravec, Doubravka Součková, Stanislava Jirků. Sbor a orchestr Národního divadla v Praze, sbormistr Pavel Vaněk, dirigent Jaroslav Kyzlink