THE BOHUSLAVMARTINŮ FOUNDATION THE BOHUSLAVMARTINŮ INSTITUTE THE INTERNATIONALMARTINŮCIRCLE MR martinů days 2019 january—april 2020 / vol.XX / no.1 martinů’s own texts robert kolinsky martinů’s relationship to czechoslovakia 5th benefit concert revue com petition contents From 29 November to 1 December 2019, the “Each year, our public is introduced to artists who 24th Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition launch their career with this competition, rapidly 2 competition took place in the Martinů Hall of Liechtenstein becoming prominent figures in our music scene,” Palace in Prague. This year the competition says Jiří Hlaváč, Director of the Bohuslav Martinů highlights was open to participants in the categories of Foundation, who chairs the competition’s panel 3 piano and chamber ensemble without piano. of judges. The judges for the individual disciplines As the winner of the piano category, the jury are traditionally chosen from among eminent 4 review selected Matouš Zukal, who was also awarded musicians and music pedagogues. For the piano thomas svatos: the title of Best Participant; in the chamber category, it is Ivo Kahánek; the contest for martinů’s subliminal states ensemble category they chose the Duo chamber ensembles without piano is overseen by PATRICK LAMBERT Bohémo, which consists of Matouš Pěruška, the cellist Michal Kaňka. The Bohuslav Martinů violin, and Kristina Vocetková, cello. The Competition has been bringing young talents into awards ceremony and laureates’ concert took the limelight since 1996. The successful laureates 5 imc news place in the Martinů Hall on Sunday 1 Dec em - of previous years include the likes of Roman ber 2019 as part of the Bohuslav Martinů Days. Patočka, Václav Petr, Ivo Kahánek, Tomáš Jamník, The event was recorded by Czech Radio. Olga Šroubková, or Anna Paulová. ❚ 6 review martinů days 2019 Matouš Zukal Duo Bohémo PATRICK LAMBERT 8 texts 1938–1945 (part 2) BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ 12 interview robert kolinsky: martinů fascinates me more and more each day PETR VEBER photo vilém žák Quasi Duo 14 texts bohuslav martinů’s ambivalent PIANO relationship to czechoslovakia 1st Prize: Matouš Zukal 2nd Prize: Eliška Tkadlčíková (part 1) 3rd Prize: Adam Závodský, ALEŠ BŘEZINA Melanie Šohajová Award for the Best Interpretation news of a Work by Bohuslav Martinů: 18 Matouš Zukal new sources found in 2019 Jaroslav and Zorka Zich Award: MARTIN LEDVINKA, MAREK PECHAČ Matouš Zukal 19 review CHAMBER ENSEMBLE WITHOUT PIANO 5th benefit concert and 1st Prize: Duo Bohémo 2nd Prize: Quasi Duo, Krása Quartet the pavel haas quartet 3rd Prize: Slavic Trio ANNA ŠERÝCH Award for the Best Interpretation of a Work by Bohuslav Martinů: Duo Bohémo Přemysl Pražák Award: Duo Bohémo Award for Best Participant in the 2019 Bohuslav Martinů Foundation Competition, awarded across both disciplines: Matouš Zukal Viktor Kalabis and Zuzana Růžičková Award for both disciplines: Krása Quartet 2 | martinůrevue12020 highlights prague spring festival 25 May 2020 / 8.00 pm > Smetana Hall, Municipal House, Prague BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ La Bagarre / H 155 Michael Kupfer-Radecky (Fotis) BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ Peter Oundjian (Conductor) Frank Schneiders (Captain) The Greek Passion / H 372 I Prague Symphony Orchestra Daniel Eggert (Archon) > Coburg, Germany Niedersächsisches Staatsorchester Hannover, 11 April 2020 / 7.30 pm / PREMIERE 29 May 2020 / 8.00 pm Chor der Staatsoper Hannover > More information: Additional performances: > Dvořák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague www.staatstheater-hannover.de 17, 19, 22, 24, 26 and 29 April, BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ 5, 14 and 21 May 2020 Toccata e Due Canzoni / H 311 Tibor Torell (Director) PKF – Prague Philharmonia Roland Kluttig (Conductor) Jiří Rožeň (Conductor) Nicola Reichert (Set and Costume Design) Susanne Reinhardt (Lighting Design) Dorothee Harpain (Dramaturgy) operas BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ Milen Bozhkov (Manolios) The Greek Passion / H 372 II Olga Shurshina (Katerina) Peter Aisher (Yannakos) > Janáček Theatre, Brno, CZ BOHUSLAV MARTINŮ Dirk Mestmacher (Panait) 9 April 2020 7.00 pm The Greek Passion / H 372 I / Michael Lion (Grigoris) > Opernhaus Hannover, Germany Additional performances: Bartosz Araszkiewicz (Fotis) 13, 18, 19, 23 and 24 April Marvin Zobel (Captain) 21 March 2020 / 7.30 pm Jiří Heřman (Director) Chor des Landestheaters Coburg / PREMIERE Tomáš Netopil (Conductor) Extrachor des Landestheaters Coburg Additional performances: Dragan Stojčevski (Set Design) Kinderchor des Landestheaters Coburg 25 and 28 March, Alexandra Grusková (Costume Design) Philharmonisches Orchester Landestheater 2, 4, 13, 16, 21 and 26 April 2020 Patricie Částková (Dramaturgy) Coburg Barbora Horáková (Director) > More information: > More information: Valtteri Rauhalammi, Cameron Burns www.ndbrno.cz www.landestheater-coburg.de (Conductors) Susanne Gschwender (Set Designer) Eva-Maria van Acker (Costume Designer) Susanne Reinhardt (Lighting Designer) Martin Mutschler (Dramaturgy) Magnus Vigilius (Manolios) Barno Ismatullaeva (Katerina) Rupert Charlesworth (Yannakos) Uwe Gottswinter (Panait) ERRATA from the last issue, page 4: Alexandra Boucher was born in 1929. Tassos Apostolou (Grigoris) The composition Czech Riddles, H 277bis, was a gift on the occasion of her First Holy Communion on 25 May 1939. martinůrevue12020 | 3 thomas svatos: martinů’s subliminal states review composer to “establish his unique philosophical view” and seek a new direction in music that demanded “a strict suppression of romanticism and subjectivism, and a return to absolute musical values”. […] It is certainly among the merits of the volume that it includes a translation of the complete text of this most revealing personal document [Martinů’s autobiography, 1941] for the very first time. In my view, many of the ideas to be found in the American Diaries are already well and more coherently expressed here. […] It is Svatos’ central premise that had Martinů’s aesthetic ideas been more widely known during the composer’s lifetime, especially / PATRICK LAMBERT in America, he would have enjoyed a higher standing in academic circles. […] An additional Thomas D. Svatos, Martinů’s subliminal states: bonus, under the heading “Part three: Docu - a study of the composer’s writing and reception, mentation and further reading”, brings three with a translation of his American Diaries appendices: a list of the composer’s source (Rochester, NY: University of Rochester Press, reading; a dubious report on him from May 2018). 1955 by the communist cultural politician […] It is a thoroughly researched, scholarly, Miroslav Barvík (quite a discovery), and a close closely argued and well written book that examination of the inauthentic correspondence commands the reader’s attention. […] Martinů’s supposedly written by Martinů, Vitka [Vítězslava writings, especially those from the American Kaprálová] and her father Václav Kaprál to be period, have been the focus of Svatos’s atten - found at the end of Jiří Mucha’s documentary tion since the late 1990s, and over the years he novel Podivné lásky, published in 1988. […] has undertaken research into source material In terms of presentation this handsome volume in the Czech Republic. His PhD dissertation is a thing of beauty, sturdily bound, clearly (2001) was on this subject, and he has pub - printed on top-quality paper. The text has been lished several articles and papers on the topic very well proofread. […] In his Preface Svatos […] Svatos is keen to point out “flaws” in Šafrá - states that “no prior knowledge of the composer nek’s edition [Šafránek, Miloš (ed.), Bohuslav is necessary”, but in my view readers would Martinů: Domov, hudba a svět (Homeland, music need to have a deep interest in Martinů’s music and the world), Prague 1966], especially with beforehand in order to tackle this challenging regard to the diaries which are “rife with omis - and thought-provoking tome, especially with sions, faulty transcriptions, curious substitutions regard to some of the speculative and esoteric of words and other irregularities”. But we should philosophical ideas expressed in the American remember that Šafránek was a personal friend Diaries, which are mentally quite exhausting to of the composer’s and would have been aware Inevitably, meanings can sometimes become unravel. […] Nevertheless I would recommend of his ideas about music at first hand and later distorted or lost in translation, which always this study to those who wish to expand their through their correspondence. […] I cannot involves an element of interpretation. […] knowledge about one of the most fascinating help feeling that Svatos’s original claim of In his preface Svatos states that his book is personalities of twentieth-century music. […] “creating a primary source translation” does not not a biography, but the nine chapters com - sit well with his decision to make it “more prising ‘Part one: A chronicle of a composer’ are Originally written for reader-friendly” for the purposes of this book – replete with illuminating biographical detail. Dvořák Society Journal, No.1/2020 one that “irons out” Martinů’s “idiosyncratic And this is most welcome, since he is very well language textures” and strives “to transmit his informed about Martinů’s cultural and political core meaning as clearly as possible” – in pref er - environment, both in Prague and Paris, and also ence to undertaking a “critical edition”. about the fierce polemics which spurred on the 4 | martinůrevue12020 MR MARTINŮ REVUE (formerly Bohuslav b Martinů Newsletter) is published by the ]d International Martinů Circle in