Janáček: Šárka. Opera in 3 Acts

This world premiere of Leoš Janáček's opera, Šárka, in CD format is the last title making complete the series of Janáček opera recordings. The young Janáček began to write his first opera in 1887; in the following year he discontinued work on it and laid the unfinished opus aside. By the time he returned to Šárka, in 1918, he was a mature and respected composer. He then made a number of changes in the vocal parts, and involved his pupil Osvald Chlubna in work on the instrumentation of Act Three. Šárka was premiered by the Brno National Theatre, in November 1925. In its final version, the opera offers a combined projection of the youthful Janáček enchanted by the 1880s Romantic music, and the sophisticatedly original Janáček widely knownf for his masterpieces, Jenůfa and Káťa Kabanová. This project brought together a brilliant team of artists: the internationally renowned Janáčkian conductor and scholar Sir Charles Mackerras; star singers Eva Urbanová and Peter Straka as Šárka and Ctirad; and the excellent Czech Philharmonic Orchestra backed by the Czech Philharmonic Choir. For this particular occasion Universal Edition Wien produced new, critically revised performing material and score. This complete CD set of Janáček's Šárka ranks at the top of Supraphon's list of exclusive titles.