COMPOSERS: Lukas,Martinu,Stamitz
LABELS: Arco Diva
ALBUM TITLE: Martinu, Lukas, Stamitz
WORKS: Rhapsody-Concerto for Viola and Orchestra
PERFORMER: Jitka Hosprová ((viola); Prague CO
CATALOGUE NO: UP 0073-2 131
A mood of nostalgia and ineffable
sadness envelops Martin?’s
Rhapsody-Concerto, a work written
in the early 1950s during a period
when the composer, then living in
New York, came to realise that the
deteriorating political situation
in Czechoslovakia meant he
would never return to his beloved
homeland. Delivering an expansive
account of the solo part, violist Jitka
Hosprová certainly captures the
essence of Martin?’s writing, but
also ensures that its few sections of
animated material are projected with
a welcome degree of feistiness.
The Prague Chamber Orchestra
proves to be an admirable and
responsive accompanist, making
light work of Martin?’s metrical
intricacies and the frequent changes
of tempo and mood in the Viola
Concerto by Zden?k Luká?, a
contemporary Czech composer
whose highly accessible tonal idiom
is strongly influenced by folk music.
Frustratingly the booklet notes
offer no information as to when this
Concerto was written, but confirm
Luká? as a strongly independent
figure whose music deserves much
wider dissemination.
The one comparative
disappointment in this warmly
recorded disc is the Carl Stamitz
Concerto. True, Hosprová relishes
the opportunity to show off her
brilliant scale and arpeggio work
in the Finale, but her full-frontal
approach, with its hard-hitting
double stops and powerful vibrato,
seems ill-suited to a work that is
essentially charming and elegant in
expression. Erik Levi
