The composer

Born in 1854 in Moravia, Janácˇek studied in Prague, Leipzig and Vienna before forging his career in Brno, where he was director of the organ school. He didn’t begin composing in earnest until the 1880s and, even then, took a while to enjoy any sort of acclaim – his opera Jenu˚fa, today considered one of his finest works, met with a lukewarm reception at its premiere in 1904. The last years of his life, however, brought both romance and a flurry of late masterpieces, including his Sinfonietta, the Intimate Letters string quartet and the opera The Cunning Little Vixen.