Vydavatelstvi LOTOS, Ke Stirce 52/1837, 182 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 777 563 952 • E-mail: lotos@mfkh.cz
Vydavatelstvi LOTOS, Ke Stirce 52/1837, 182 00 Praha 8, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 777 563 952 • E-mail: lotos@mfkh.cz
| Emil Viklicky: HOMAGE TO JOSIP PLECNIK |
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| LETTERS TO PLECNIK (AFTER THE TEXTS OF LETTERS BY ALICE MASARYKOVÁ) (1 - 5) |
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| 1 | VIALE | 3:23 |
| 2 | EQUINOX | 3:17 |
| 3 | DAWN OF DEC. 24, 1925 | 4:00 |
| 4 | GIFT (QUI S´EXCUSE S´ACCUSE) | 3:20 |
| 5 | MY DEAR, KIND MASTER | 5:43 |
| 6 | TAUROMAQUÍA - TRIO FOR OBOE, VIOLIN AND PIANO | 9:08 |
| 7 | TRISTANA FOR VIOLIN AND MARIMBA | 9:15 |
| 8 | RONDEAU, S´IL VOUS PLAÎT Trio for flute, cello and piano |
8:00 |
| 9 | ADAEMUS for English horn solo | 5:56 |
| Three Male Choruses to the texts of Eva Petrová Chorus-master: Lubomír Mátl (10 - 12) |
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| 10 | AKROSTIC | 2:28 |
| 11 | O MONDAINE INCONSTANCE! | 4:59 |
| 12 | PANATHENAJSKÝ PRŮVOD | 2:33 |
| Total time: | 62:55 | |
| A distinctive place in the compositional output of Emil Viklický is occupied by his series of Homages. For Homage to Miró, first released on record in 1987, he chose an unusual combination of two quartets: one in the classical string format, and the other, a jazz outfit. On the album´s tracks he gave musical expression to his then recent personal experience of enchantment by the great painter´s work and his native Catalonia, as well as by the architectural genius of Antoni Gaudí. While, therefore, in that earlier project Viklický already drew some of his inspiration from great architecture (in a motive relating to Barcelona´s Güell Park), his admiration for another original master-builder found reflection in two compositions. Coupled together under the common title of Homage to Josip Plečnik, these are two autonomous pieces of vocal music. Josio Plečnik, a towering figure among this century´s architects, was for a number of years linked with the Czech context, as profesor at Prague´s School of Applied Art (between 1911 and 1921) and from the 1920s as the official architect of Prague Castle. Slovenian by birth, recipient of international education and a man of the world as regarded his outlook, he introduced into the architectural designs which were then being implemented on the Prague Castle grounds a good many innovative elements. In compliance with the wishes of the first President of the Czechoslovak Republic, Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the streamlining operation was to be inspired by a Slavic spirit. Plečnik´s Southern Slavic background harked bak to a past rooted in ancient Mediterranean cultures, a heritage which impelled his invention to original solutions that were both daring and thoroughly thought-out (incidentally, it was at the same time that Leoš Janáček´s musical invention found inspiration for his Glagolitic Mass in the Old Slavonic text). Plečnik´s personal friendship with Masaryk and his family eventually led to his falling in love with the President´s daughter Alice, which is documented by an extensive body of correspondence covering many years. The emotional intensity and intellectual depth of her letters, which have survived, made a deep impression on composer Viklický. He set excerpts from the correspondence in a five-part composition for mezzo-soprano with the accompaniment of eight instruments. The vocal part is tonal, simple and clear by design, its expressive vocabulary occasionally finding an outlet in speech. The instrumental accompaniment takes up more space than is the norm: it opens each of the parts, most often by exposition of a respective solo instrument, subsequently to develop the refrain, and in the final section, after the plaintive "why, don´t you know I am ever so far away", to supply a long rhythmic passage in which the various instruments take turns. After the sung entreaty, "do listen to the voice of Prague", the accompaniment goes on to cite Smetana´s My Country, its tones dying down into silence. The eight instruments, in an impressive combination of sonic and interpretive patterns, involving for instance multiphonics of the flute, join in an elaborate musical structure which enhances the text´s emotional appeal. The subtlety and subjectiveness of Letters to Plečnik are contrasted with the solemn tone of the fourvoice Three Male Choruses. The first of these is an Acrostic spelling Plečnik´s name. The second, titled O mondaine inconstance!, corresponds in terms of its complex texture with the content of its verbal message, a commented translation of the text by the French Renaissance poet Joachim du Bellay. In this time, du Bellay immersed himself in meditation over the ruins of ancient Rome, heaving a sigh at the world´s fickleness. And yet, time has not destroyed everything: Rome continues to attact an unending stream of travellers; and for his part, Josip Plečnik, who knew and studied antique architecture, in fact managed in his own way to revive it under new forms. Distinct motives are emloyed here to set the introductory and final verses aparts from the actual translation. Recurring throughout the composition is the melancholy refrain: O mondaine inconstance! The third chorus, Panathenaean March, remains faithful to antique subject matter: it is composed on a poem - an apostrophe to the Greek sculptor Phidias - conforming to the metre of the classic strophe. The chorus, markedly rhythmed, features a refrain - Pulchra res est homo, si homo est - whose triple repetition lets the beauty of the singing voices resound in its full glory. Interposed here between the two vocal components of Homage to Plečnik are instrumental pieces. In the trio entitled Tauromaquía, Emil Viklický once again drew inspiration from art - this time Goya´s famed cycle of prints dealing with bullfighting - to make ample use of fiery Spanish musical forms. The highly emotional Tristana for violin and marimba was awarded a prize in the 1994 edition of the international contemporary music competition in Boston. The trio bearing the insouciant title of Rondeau, s´il vous plaît, featuring the combination of flute, cello and piano, develops the rondo form with the use of a modified folk tune. In the English horn solo of Adaemus, Viklický strated from a constant series in spiral form, enabling the interpreter to display a whole range of instrumental refinements. Eva Petrová Magdalena Kozená (mezzo-soprano) Magdalena Kozená was born in Brno, studied at the Brno Conservatoire and continued her studies with Eva Blahová at the College of Performing Arts of Bratislava, graduating in 1995. She was awarded several major prizes in both the Czech Republic and internationally (culminating in the 6th International Mozart Competition in Salzburg in 1995). In 1996/97 she was a member of the Vienna Volksoper and in 1998 she sang Paride in Gluck's "Paride ed Elena" in her debut at the Drottningholm Festival. Her operatic engagements have included several noteable debuts. Recent engagements include Idamantes at the Glyndebourne and Salzburg Festivals (under Rattle), Cherubino for both the Bavarian State Opera and the Metropolitan Opera (under Levine) and Dorabella under Rattle (Salzburg Easter Festival and in Berlin). In 2003 she was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. Emil Viklický (piano) Was born Nov 23,1948 in Olomouc, www.viklicky.com 1971 University of Palacky, Olomouc, graduated as mathemetican in 1971 1976 Prize for jazz improvization at competition in Lyon, France 1976 First prize in jazz composition competition in Monaco (for Green Satin) 1978 Supraphon prize (for LP In Olomouc Town; V Holomoci meste) 1994 Prize for Tristana at contemporary music competition in Boston, USA 1996 - special prize for electroacoustic music, Prague (for Paradise Park) 2000 First prize in international competition "New opera for Prague" with "Faidra - Phaedra" - premiere Sept.20, 2000 2002 "Der Ackermann und der Tod" , opera, concert premiere June 16, 2002 Berlin, Unten den Linden. Stage premiere Jan.21, 2003, State Opera Prague. 2003 "Macha´s Diary" - chamber opera for National Theater Prague, premiere May 1st, 2003. 2004 "The Mystery of Man", melodrama for Wynton Marsalis Concert Bigband and 2 narators / Vanessa Redgrave and Richard Gere/ on the texts of Vaclav Havel. Premiere Lincoln Center of Jazz, New York, Oct.28, 2004. |
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