CPO 555 568-2 (2024). Release date (hi-res): 15 April 2024, (CD): 29 April 2024. The double album is available from presto music, amazon.com, amazon.co.uk, and other outlets. See this album trailer. Listen to it on Spotify. Performers: Veronika Rovna (S), Tomas Vrana (pno), Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava, Alena Hron, conductor.
Recording Engineer: Jana Jelinkova
This double album presents all complete works for orchestra composed and orchestrated by Vitezslava Kapralova. CD1 presents Kaprálová’s Military Sinfonietta and Suita rustica for symphony orchestra, together with the Suite en miniature and the Prélude de Noël for chamber orchestra. The disc also features Waving Farewell for soprano and orchestra and the world premiere recording of Kaprálová’s Fanfare for brass instruments and timpani. CD2 presents Partita for strings and piano and the early Piano Concerto in D Minor. It also includes, as a bonus track and for reference, a piano suite which Kapralova later orchestrated as Suite en miniature (available on CD1). This recording has been financially assisted by the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and the Kapralova Society. Young Czech soprano Veronika Rovna studied classical voice with the prominent Czech opera singer Eva Drizgova at the Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava and the University of Ostrava Faculty of Performing Arts. In 2015 she won the Antonin Dvorak International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary. Rovna is a member of the opera ensemble of the National Moravian-Silesian Theater in Ostrava. Tomas Vrana graduated from the Janacek Conservatory in Ostrava and continued his piano studies with Ivan Klansky at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He performed with the prestigious Czech Philharmonic at the age of 20. Vrana regularly appears with the Janacek Philharmonic and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra but also performs solo recitals and chamber music. His repertoire ranges from Baroque to contemporary music. Alena Hron is an up-and-coming conductor of the younger generation. She studied conducting and composition at the Prague Conservatory and conducting at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. She is currently studying toward a Master’s degree in conducting at the Zurich University of the Arts. Hron has worked with many Czech orchestras, including PKF Prague Philharmonia, Hradec Králové Philharmonic, and Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Zlín. Her debut at the Prague Spring Festival in May 2023, in which she conducted the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, was hailed by critics as a great triumph. The Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, based in Ostrava, is one of the leading symphony orchestras in the Czech Republic. The orchestra’s adherence to long-established orchestral traditions, and its typical Bohemian sound and broad repertoire, have earned the ensemble recognition for excellence by local and international audiences and critics alike. Besides the music by Czech composers, the orchestra’s repertoire ranges from late romantic to 20th-century music, including works by Mahler, Bartok, and Shostakovich. Please note that the music recorded on this compact disc is in print. Click here for the complete discography of Kapralova's music.
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Vitezslava Kapralova (Brno, 24. 1. 1915–Montpellier, 16. 6. 1940) is one of the most remarkable composers of her generation.
Despite the brevity of her creative life, which spanned only a decade, Kapralova managed to leave behind a relatively sizeable
catalogue of many substantial works that include piano, chamber, orchestral, and vocal compositions. There’s no doubt that the cpo double album is well positioned to take its place among the most important releases of Kapralova’s music to date — certainly a desirable recording to have in one’s collection, and a must for lovers of the composer's music.
Das Orchester zeigt ein solides Niveau und musiziert inspiriert unter der Leitung der tschechischen Dirigentin.
The new album directed by Alena Hron is an accomplishment!
Besondere Erwähnung verdient das Orchesterlied Sbohem a satecek, das es mühelos mit den besten Gattungsbeiträgen Richard Strauss‘ aufnehmen kann: Veronika Rovna singt es vorzüglich...
Vitezslava Kapralova (1915–40) might have been a leading composer of the last century had she not died of typhoid fever at the age of 25. Her music almost always flows in a way that sounds utterly natural and right. The Janacek Philharmonic Ostrava play extremely well for [Hron] ... these interpretations do full justice to Kapralova’s art.
In turns tempestuous and rhapsodic, eerie and excitable, the Piano Concerto is the most substantial piece here, though there is also a lot to enjoy in the likes of the boisterous Suita Rustica and charming Prelude de Noel.
Dirigentka Hron s Janackovou filharmonii natocila Kapralova nezne, dukladne a s obrovskym pochopenim.
I would strongly recommend this CD as being of the highest quality and giving such a comprehensive study of this remarkable composer who is now emerging back into the limelight due to the excellence and variety of her oeuvre.
Tomas Vrana is CPO’s pianist and plays with admirably fleet fingers… This is a useful collection of Kapralova’s orchestral music.
Nahravka orchestralnich del Vitezslavy Kapralove v podani Janackovy filharmonie, dirigentky Aleny Hron, sopranistky Veroniky Rovne a pianisty Tomase Vrany zachycuje vsechny uvedene interprety na vrcholu svych sil.
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