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Martinu: Short Operas
BOHUSLAV MARTINU
01.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène I
4:24
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Solo: Maria Riccarda Wesseling Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
02.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène II
3:10
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Solo: Maria Riccarda Wesseling Soloist
Solo: Adam Palka Soloist
Solo: Staatsorchester Stuttgart Soloist
03.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène III
3:48
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
04.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène IV
0:39
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Solo: Adam Palka Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
05.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène V
3:41
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Solo: Maria Riccarda Wesseling Soloist
Solo: Adam Palka Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
06.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène VI
2:16
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
07.
Les larmes du couteau, H. 169, Scène VII
6:57
Solo: Elena Tsallagova Soloist
Solo: Maria Riccarda Wesseling Soloist
Solo: Adam Palka Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
08.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene I
5:54
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Steven Ebel Soloist
Solo: Andrew Lieflander Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
09.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene II
7:41
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Andrew Bogard Soloist
Solo: Steven Ebel Soloist
Solo: Andrew Lieflander Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
10.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene III
4:41
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Björn Bürger Soloist
Solo: Andrew Bogard Soloist
Solo: Steven Ebel Soloist
Solo: Andrew Lieflander Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
11.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene IV
4:05
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Stine Marie Fischer Soloist
Solo: Björn Bürger Soloist
Solo: Andrew Bogard Soloist
Solo: Steven Ebel Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
12.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene V
13:10
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Stine Marie Fischer Soloist
Solo: Björn Bürger Soloist
Solo: Andrew Bogard Soloist
Solo: Michael Smallwood Soloist
Solo: Steven Ebel Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
13.
Comedy on the Bridge, H. 247, Scene VI
3:53
Solo: Esther Dierkes Soloist
Solo: Stine Marie Fischer Soloist
Solo: Björn Bürger Soloist
Solo: Andrew Bogard Soloist
Solo: Michael Smallwood Soloist
Solo: Paul McCann Soloist
Orchestra: Staatsorchester Stuttgart
Conductor: Cornelius Meister
Notes
Martinu is a musical chameleon. On the one hand, there’s an unmistakable from to his output, on the other hand, he would adopt and adapt just about any style that happened to be en vogue or to his liking. These two one-act operas, presented on record for the first time in their respective versions, are a case in point. There’s that cracking little shocker that is Knife Tears (in its original French version), in which Martinu set an absurdist libretto to the sounds of Le Jazz Hot, Stravinsky, and anything in between. This is juxtaposed with the English version of his Comedy on the Bridge (the one that helped this work to brief fame), which is wildly different (if anything more in the style of Hanns Eisler), despite being separated by a mere seven years.
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Reviews
"... I was glad to get to know both operas, and recommend them highly ..."
Ralph Locke - American Record Guide - May/June 2023
“… I was glad to get to know both operas, and recommend them highly to anybody intrigued by the possibilities of making opera new without falling into the trap of making it “grand…”
Ralph P Locke – the Arts Fuse – 8 July 2023
“… The music … sheds a fascinating light on one of the less well-known aspects of the composer’s exceptionally diverse output.”
Gavin Dixon – Fanfare – March/April 2023
“Martinu’s one-act operas heard in persuasive, lively performances”
Jonathan Woolf – Musicwebinternational.com – 23 January 2023
“… The ensemble cast here sounds fresh and committed, enunciating clearly while Meister finds both the bite and the tenderness in Martinü’s lilting melodies and toytown march tunes. A little gem”.
Richard Bratby – Gramophone magazine – January 2023
Performance **** Recording ****
“… the score [The Tears of the Knife] is terrific fun … The band throws itself into the proceedings with gusto and Cornelius Meister’s direction, aided by a vivid, well-balanced recording, is always convincing… it [The Comedy on the Bridge] works well on disc … the Staatsoper Stuttgart pace the comedy effectively with a strong cast; Esther Dierkes’s hapless Josephine caught on the bridge between enemy lines, is a delight and Andrew Bogard is splendid as the amorous Brewer.”
Jan Smaczny – BBC Music magazine – January 2023
“… Cornelius Meister conducts both pieces buoyantly and with a good sense of their character. The singers sing and play impeccably.” *****
Norbert Tischer – Pizzicato.lu – 16 November 2022
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