SUPRAPHON AUTUMN CLASSICAL RELEASES

Supraphon meticulously prepares its classical music edition plans well in advance. Proceeding in such a manner is not only required by its foreign distributors, which are now based in 24 countries, but also necessitated by the demands pertaining to the implementation of the projects within this genre. “Yet when compiling edition plans, we must also flexibly react to a variety of unpredictable events and challenges,” said Matouš Vlčinský, Supraphon’s chief classical music producer, who specified the titles scheduled to be released this autumn: “During the course of the autumn, Supraphon has a number of intriguing new recordings in store for classical music lovers. Noteworthy is the album of Viktor Kalabis’s sonatas, in which the composer to a certain degree responded to the dramatic events in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The recording has been made by superlative Czech musicians, headed by the pianist Ivo Kahánek. Another remarkable title is the recording of Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, as performed by the bass Jan Martiník, accompanied by the pianist David Mareček. The feted Czech mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková has prepared a Christmas album in collaboration with Jaroslav Krček and Musica Bohemica, while the phenomenal horn player Radek Baborák and his ensemble have completed their second recording, dedicated to Mozart discoveries. The veritable highlight of Supraphon’s autumn production will be Jiří Bělohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic’s ac­count of Bohuslav Martinů’s works. The album will contain the composer’s Symphony No. 1 and the opera-pastoral What Men Live By, which will be released on CD for the very first time. Supraphon has also duly taken into account the recent boom in interest in vinyl records. The fans of their sound can look forward to the celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet’s inter­nationally acclaimed and awarded albums with Antonín Dvořák’s music, as well as the legendary recording of Bedřich Smetana’s My Country, made by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Rafael Kubelík.”

Supraphon will launch its autumn classical music production on 21 September with the release of the Sonatas for Cello, Clarinet, Violin and Piano composed by Viktor Kalabis, one of the most distinguished Czech 20th-century music figures. The album, made up of his three sonatas, is the fruit of collaboration between the superb pianist Ivo Kahánek and other renowned Czech performers: the cellist Tomáš Jamník, the clarinettist Anna Paulová and the violinist Jan Fišer.
Furthermore, on 21 September Supraphon will release on CD and in digital formats a compelling recording of Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise, featuring the bass Jan Martiník, an extraordinary singer, possessing a great, colourful voice and inhering an immense sensitivity for expressing the intimacy of songs. He has proved his calibre by having attained success at international competitions (a finalist of Placido Domingo’s Operalia in 2007, the winner of the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition in the Song category in 2009), as well as by having performed to great acclaim on major opera stages (a soloist of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, and other prestigious engagements). Following his Supraphon debut (Martinů’s The Epic of Gilgamesh), Martiník has recorded his take on Winterreise, splendidly accompanied on the piano by David Mareček.
At the beginning of October, the Supraphon menu will include one of the first harbingers of the forthcoming Christmas holidays. This year, the globally popular mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková will give her fans a special present – a Christmas album, aptly titled Nativitas. The listeners will undoubtedly savour her performance of Bohemian and Moravian carols, the tender poetics of Christmas songs from 17th-century Czech Baroque hymnbooks, as well as inventively selected carols of European nations. Infallible is Dagmar Pecková’s taste when it comes to choosing musicians. Jaroslav Krček has augmented the magic of the songs both as the conductor of Musica Bohemica and the creator of their arrangements. The album is also adorned by the voices of the acclaimed Gentlemen Singers.
Just before they leave in October for a tour of Japan, the horn player and conductor Radek Baborák and his Baborák Ensemble will release a double Mozart album, containing the magnificent Sinfonia concertante and horn concertos. Radek Baborák has adapted the sinfonia’s “unused” movement for completing the missing parts of the unfinished horn concerto. In this manner, he has created two “new horn concertos” from the preserved fragments. Splendidly fitting in the context of rediscovery is the fabulous Sinfonia concertante for four wind instruments and orchestra, K 297b. The disc features Baborák’s arran­gement for the original configuration scored by Mozart himself. The double album will be released on 15 October on CD, and it will also be available on Spotify and other digital music services.
The release of the album of Bohuslav Martinů’s chamber opera What Men Live By, as performed by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek, and distinguished soloists, represents both the apex and culmination of Bělohlávek’s ex­quisite Martinů discography. The opera-pastoral’s premiere recording was made at its three concert performances in December 2014. The album, which also contains a recording of Symphony No. 1, has been supported by the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation in Prague. It will go on sale on 19 October.
This autumn, Supraphon will undoubtedly delight those revelling in the new vinyl boom. In late October, the label will release two titles from the discography of the Pavel Haas Quartet, currently the most internationally lauded chamber ensemble: Antonín Dvořák’s Quintets and String Quartets, both of them winners of the Gramophone Award, the world’s most prestigious classical music accolade. Another musical treat to be released on vinyl is the legendary recording of Bedřich Smetana’s My Country, made in 1990 by Rafael Kubelík conducting the Czech Philharmonic.