Smetana: Ma Vlast and The Bartered Bride

The Bottom Line Although Smetana's life ended in tragedy, his music became the foundation of Czech musical tradition. This European album highlights his best works. 

Bedrich Smetana, along with Antonin Dvorak, is a composer who helped put what's now known as the Czech Republic on the classical music map; before the world heard his comic opera The Bartered Bride in 1866, this small Slavic country (part of the Austrio-Hungarian Empire) was considered to be a musical backwater. Like Peter Tschaikovsky and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in Russia and Richard Wagner in Germany, Smetana's music was, first and foremost, a reflection of his fierce nationalism; his use of such traditional Czech dances as the polca, furiant, and dumka in his works give his compositions a distinctive regional flavor. This earned him the reputation of being the founder of Czech musical tradition, and his most nationalistic piece, the tone cycle known as Ma Vlast (My Fatherland) is one of the best known orchestral works in the classical music repertoire.

Born in 1824 in the town of Leitomaschi, Smetana started his musical career as a composer of piano works, and he was so good that Franz Lizst found him an editor. Later, Smetana traveled to Sweden and worked as both a pianist and orchestra conductor in that Scandinavian nation. He returned to Prague in 1861 and became heavily involved in the creation of classical music that was, in the tradition of Wagner in Germany, fiercely and unabashedly Czech in nature. As his musical accomplishments grew, Smetana was invited to become the royal court's theatrical music director in 1866.

Sadly, Smetana was dogged by tragedy. Like Beethoven, he started losing his hearing. As his illness progressed inexorably, he spent most of his money seeking a cure for his deafness, but even the finest medical minds of the 19th Century were unable to help him. He not only lost his hearing, but he was plagued by a painful buzzing that often left him in agony. It is sadly ironic that some of his finest works, including My Fatherland and his well-known String Quartets, were written when he could no longer hear even the simplest of notes. Worn out by illness, Smetana died in Prague in 1884.

CD 1: The Bartered Bride, String Quartet No. 1 in E minor

The first of two CDs in the 2-disc The Bartered Bride/My Fatherland Vienna Masters Series by Germany's Pilz record label features the overture and three dances from Smetana's comic opera, The Bartered Bride (Die Verkaufte Braut, in German). The opera's plot revolves around Marenka and Jenik's frustrated attempts to marry over the objections of Marenka's father, Krusina, who would rather arrange a socially-upward liaison between Marenka and Vasek, the son of a wealthy landowner named Micha. This being a comedy, there are many little contrivances worthy of a 1960s sitcom, such as accidental meetings, brilliant evasive maneuvers by Marenka (seems that Vasek isn't exactly a rocket scientist), and, of course, skeletons in Micha's family closet that of course will lead to a happy resolution in the end.



Here, the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague performs a suite of music from The Bartered Bridewhich consists of the lively Overture (track 1), which vividly sets up the opera's comedic flavorings. The comic flavor of the opera's incidental music is further enhanced by the nationalistic airs of such Czech dance styles as the Polca (track 2) and the lively and fierce furiant (track 3). The wacky orchestration and almost Looney Tunes-like Entry of the Comedians (track 4) end the suite on a high note that is marked by bright brass passages and lush work by the string section.

The next work on CD 1 is the piano piece known as Memory of Plzen (track 5), performed brilliantly and evocatively by pianist J. Bulva. Although it's a brief composition (only lasting two minutes and 33 seconds), it is full of emotion and wistfulness.

The Overture from Libusa (track 6) is an impressive orchestral piece that showcases a big symphonic sound that will, to 21st Century audiences, sound almost like a John Williams score for a film. With a running time of 8:40, it is marvelously melodramatic and full of brassy passages.

Finally, we have the autobiographical "From My Life" or String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, which has four movements; the Allegro vivo, allegro moderato, largo sustenuto, and the vivace (tracks 7-10).

Interestingly, in the article about Smetana in wikipedia.com, we are told that " the final movement is punctuated by a piercing high E in the first violin which, Smetana explained, represents the devastating effects of his tinnitus. He may also be hinting at this personal misfortune with the piccolo scoring in final movement is punctuated by a piercing high E in the first violin which, Smetana explained, represents the devastating effects of his tinnitus. He may also be hinting at this personal misfortune with the piccolo scoring in Má vlast."

It is Má vlast (My Fatherland), the six symphonic poem cycle about Smetana's homeland, that is the sole focus of the 71:51 CD that rounds out the 2-disc set. Performed here once again by the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague under the direction of conductor Libor Pesek, Má vlast consists of the following tone poems:

The Moldau (track 1), which may be the best-known of the six; it describes the river Moldau from its headstream to its passage to Prague.

Vysherad or The High Castle (track 2), about the famous castle in Prague where Czech kings had their royal courts.

Sarka (track 3), which is the tale of a young Slavic knight and a warrior-princess.

From Czech Fields and Forests (track 4), which describes scenes in the Czech countryside, including bits about a hunting party and peasants working in the fields.

Tabor (track 5) is a tale from the long-ago Hussite Wars (1420-1434).

Blanik (track 6) relates, in musical terms, a Czech legend about six knights that (in a motif that runs through European mythology a la Barbarossa) are asleep under a mountain, waiting for a dark time to come to the homeland, during which they will awake and come to the nation's aid.

I really enjoy this 2-CD set; I particularly like Maestro Pesek's steady and brilliant conducting and the sound of the Czech National Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague; it's not as bold and striking as say, the London Symphony Orchestra, but it is a fine ensemble nonetheless. The performance is very good and can effortlessly switch moods from the laughter-inducing melodies of The Bartered Bride to the stirring patriotic themes of Sarka, Blanik, and the famous The Moldau.




© 2012 Alex Diaz-Granados.  All Rights Reserved

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