From the archives
Andrew Mcgregor finds some surprising repertoire ËILOOV¯ LQ D QHZ VHW RI OLYH UHFRUGLQJV E\ .DUHO $QËHUO
Collectors of Karel Ancˇerl and Czech Philharmonic recordings who thought they’d peaked with Supraphon’s Ancˇerl Gold Edition are going to have to recalibrate. From the archives of Czech Radio comes Karel Ancˇerl Live Recordings (Supraphon SU 4308-2; 15 CDS), mostly unreleased concert broadcasts from 1949-68, adding significantly to Ancˇerl’s discography with the orchestra. So why begin the set with one of the few things that doesn’t: Smetana’s Má vlast? Because it’s a splendid document of Ancˇerl’s 1968 appearance at the Prague Spring Festival, and Josef Suk’s Ripening from that same Prague Spring is a major plus, both in decent stereo.
Almost all else is mono, and I’m going to pass over some of the standard fare – Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Strauss – because of the Czech repertoire that follows: Dvoˇrák’s Seventh and Eighth Symphonies in gripping performances and slightly gritty sound, and his Biblical Songs with imposing bass Ladislav Mráz; then Suk’s tragic ‘Asrael’ Symphony in 1967, a special work for Ancˇerl, and a puzzling gap in his studio discography
– at last we have it with the Czech Phil. The recordings of 20th-century Czechs fill major gaps: Josef Foerster’s ‘Easter Eve’ Symphony No. 4, the only time Ancˇerl conducted it, celebrating the composer’s centenary in 1959. Ancˇerl was an evangelist for Víteˇslav Novák, whose ‘Autumn’ Symphony – this is the only available recording – is a post-mahlerian soundscape with chorus. Ancˇerl gave early performances of two neo-classical symphonies by fellow-student I a Krejcˇí – also the only recordings. Miloslav Kabelácˇ was a close friend and contemporary of Ancˇerl, who championed him worldwide and premiered his Fifth Symphony – a dark canvas where Suk meets Shostakovich.
And who has heard Ancˇerl’s Debussy and Ravel (an excellent Rapsodie espagnole), or his Elgar and Vaughan Williams? Your appreciation of this great conductor will be the better for it.