Search - Leos Janacek, Jaroslav Vogel, Prague National Theatre Orchestra :: Janacek: Jenufa

A Superb Performance, But Get The Supraphon

Jeffrey Lipscomb | Sacramento, CA United States | 05/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am in basic agreement with the excellent review here by Czech opera maven Sean Coxen, except for his modified rapture regarding Stepanka Jelinkova's Jenufa. I don't hear the "slavic squall" that he describes. What I do hear is flat-out gorgeous singing by the finest of ALL recorded Jenufas. And I certainly share Coxen's enthusiasm for Beno Blachut, a Bjoerling-like tenor who was the pride of Czechoslovakia.



But I would like to add that, having owned the original LP set for decades, this Opera d'Oro transfer does no credit at all to the fine mono sound that Supraphon achieved back in 1953. I recently acquired Supraphon's own CD transfer (SU 3331-2 602), and it is virtually identical to my LPs (without the pops & crackles that my worn LP surfaces now generate). And with it you get a full Czech-English libretto and a separate commentary booklet. This Opera d'Oro set (with no libretto) retails for about $12, whereas the Supraphon is $24. However, if you check Amazon's alternate vendors under "new & used," as of this writing there are brand-new Supraphon sets out there for around $16 or less.



So for that small price differential, the Supraphon issue gives you VASTLY better sound AND a full libretto.



Suggestion: don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to getting the most out of this Janacek masterpiece. This is by FAR the finest performance recorded of the composer's most accessible work.



Perhaps this recording's biggest asset is its conductor Jaroslav Vogel (1894-1970), who studied under Novak at the Prague Conservatory and later under d'Indy in Paris. He was, to my taste, one of Czechoslovakia's four greatest conductors, along with Vaclav Talich, Karel Sejna, and Karel Ancerl. Vogel also authored the first serious monograph on Janacek in 1958. Nearly all of his great recordings are currently out of print - hopefully Supraphon will re-release them in the not too distant future. My introduction to this conductor was his beautifully lyrical account, with the Czech Philharmonic, of the Good Friday Music from Wagner's Parsifal on an old Parliament LP (I think I still prefer it even to Knappertsbusch's). Most of Vogel's recordings were of Czech music: excerpts from Dvorak's "Rusalka" and "The Jacobin," Janacek's "From the House of the Dead" and "The Makropoulos Affair." In 1978 the Heritage Rediffusion LP label in England issued Vogel's complete recording of "The Bartered Bride" (I still kick myself that I didn't purchase a copy when it was available).



Other noteworthy Vogel recordings include the overtures to Dvorak's "Armida" and "Dimitrij," Hindemith's "Symphonic Metamorphoses on Themes of Weber," and Richard Strauss's Oboe Concerto with Hantak (all with the Brno State Philharmonic). To my knowledge, none of these LPs have received CD transfers. However, there is an Ultraphone CD of Novak's "De Profundis," the "South Bohemian Suite," and "Lady Godiva" that was recently available at Amazon. I have all these performances on LPs except the Hindemith, and they are all magnificent. The Strauss is arguably the work's greatest recording ever. So let's hope that Supraphon gets into a re-issue frenzy, starting with that elusive "Bartered Bride."



Recommended, but only in Supraphon's own release."

A powerful, crude, visceral reading

Santa Fe Listener | Santa Fe, NM USA | 07/13/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Compared to this classic Supraphon performance of Jenufa from 1953, every subsequent one has sounded pale and polite. Eery singer here adopts a loud, visceral style that is quite wrenching. The quality of the voices is fine, especially the two tenors singing Luca and Steva. They are loud and tireless, similar in style to Soviet tenors of the era. Everyone stands close to the mike and tries to be as hair-raising as possible, which is also true of Vogel's fiery conducting.



I am pointing out these qualities to temper anyone's expectations from the two rave reviews posted here. If you think of Jenufa as a lurid peasant opera, a harrowing ordeal from beginning to end, look no further. But to me Janacek also provided psychological depth, subtlety, and contrast. Those qualities have been almost entirely erased, whereas we hear them displayed beautifully in recordings from Mackerras (Decca) and Queler (Bis). I find the most recent Jenufa, the live performance with Karita Matilla under Bernard Haitink, too lacking in visceral excitment. It's at the opposite pole form this hell-for-leather version. So there's a wide choice in this great opera, form ild to wild."