Janacek: Choral Works

"By now Leos Janacek’s music is firmly established in the orchestral, chamber and, most of all, operatic repertories. ... But his gorgeously varied choral works are heard far less often, so this new release, featuring the Cappella Amsterdam under Daniel Reuss, is a valuable one. As always with Janacek the style includes both the folksy and the sophisticated, peasant dances and Schubertian elegance. The selections include a series of 6 'Moravian Choruses' that Janacek adapted from Dvorak vocal duets; 19 nursery rhymes as gleefully anthropomorphic as his opera 'The Cunning Little Vixen'; dramatic narratives; and a sober, rather abstract elegy written after the death of his 20-year-old daughter. In his setting of the Lord’s Prayer he ingeniously combines harmonium and harp: the profane and the sacred singing at once" (Zachary Woolfe, "Classical Recordings," New York Times, 1/15/12).

View catalog record here!