シンフォニエッタ、タラス・ブーリバ、ほか　マッケラス＆チェコ・フィル

Sir Charles is not only the finest conductor Australia has ever produced he is revered in Prague, Brno and around the world as the finest conductor of Czech music today. While the orchestra is simply not as good as it was in the 50s and 60s due largely to the fact that Karel Ancerl was at the helm, they do know how to play Czech music and have a particular sound and colour in their tone as well as a unique way with the rhythms of their own music. Sir Charles last made recordings of the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba with the Vienna Philharmonic (Decca) and while beautifully played with weight and tonal splendour it just wasn’t the sound that Janacek conceived. In these, probably Mackerras’ last recordings of this composer, he achieves exactly the right hard-edged sound (timpani with hard sticks) and rhythmic clarity that has marked his conducting of this composer for so long and if you have heard him conduct Janacek in the theatre you will know what I mean. No other composer sounds like this. Janacek replaced the Jenufa Overture with a descriptive, short prelude with a xylophone rhythm evoking the turning of the mill-wheel in centre stage. This piece can now be heard as a dramatic tone poem in its own right. As in all of these works Mackerras has restored Janacek’s original markings and instructions after years of publishing errors and in some cases editors softening and romanticising the original orchestration to fit there own concept of the music. The Sarka Overture is a rarity, an early romantic opera which Mackerras has now recorded complete. It’s good to have this included. Schluck and Jau is incidental music to a play by Hauptmann and was unfinished as the composer died so it is mature, late Janacek and very atmospheric and original with triumphant horns passages and complex rhythms. A real find. The interludes that follow the Katya Kabanova Overture are restored by Mackerras in his performances of the opera and have been left out in the past. If these performances of the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba do not displace Ancerl, recently restored on a Gold Edition series, they offer slightly better sound in spread and depth but certainly not as much clarity. The old Czech Philharmonic had a raw power and thrust that today’s orchestra doesn’t have but these are essential modern recordings of these works under the master himself and certainly have the edge on Jiri Belohlavec’s very well recorded and excellent Chandos recordings that I have long admired. An absolute must-have for fans of this composer and conductor.