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Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek: music is a being come alive

How did Janacek, so profoundly rooted in his Czech homeland, produce music so universally appealing, and what was the spur to his final decade of unprecedented creative energy?

How did Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek, a committed Czech nationalist whose intensely personal response to the places, landscapes and traditions of his Moravian homeland, produce music that is not only instantly recognisable but also viscerally connects to audiences all over the world? And how, in the last decade of Jan谩膷ek's life, did a chance encounter with a woman almost 40 years his junior release a surely unparalleled burst of creative energy and a spate of late, great masterpieces?

Tom Service goes in search of Leo拧 Jan谩膷ek, composer and man, in the company of musicologist and conductor Nigel Simeone, and Relate Counsellor Simone Bose.

David Papp (producer)

Available now

30 minutes

Last on

Fri 23 Apr 2021 16:30
麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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Music Played

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Glagolitic mass

    Performer: Ale拧 B谩rta. Performer: Hibla Gerzmava. Performer: Jan Martin铆k. Performer: Stuart Neill. Performer: Veronika Hajnova. Performer: Prague Philharmonic Choir. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Ji艡铆 B臎lohl谩vek.
    • Decca.
    • 483 4080.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sinfonietta

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO0850.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sinfonietta

    Performer: London Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • LSO LIVE.
    • LSO0850.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Sedmdesat tisic [The seventy thousand] for male chorus

    Conductor: Lubom铆r M谩tl. Performer: Moravian Teachers' Choir.
    • NAXOS.
    • 8.553623.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    The Makropulos case [Vec Makropulos] - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • DECCA.
    • 475 6872.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Katya Kabanova - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Adolf Tomaschek. Performer: Dalibor Jedli膷ka. Performer: Elisabeth S枚derstr枚m. Performer: Gertrude Jahn. Performer: Heinz Dressel. Performer: Jaroslav Sou膷ek. Performer: Jitka Pavlova. Performer: Lubuse Marova. Performer: Nadezda Kniplova. Performer: Peter Dvorsk媒. Performer: Vladim铆r Krej膷铆k. Performer: Zdenek Svehla. Performer: Vienna State Opera Choir. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • Decca 421 8522.
    • Decca 421 8522.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Katya Kabanova - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Gabriela Be艌a膷kov谩. Performer: Peter Straka. Performer: Czech Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 3739-2 032.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    Quartet no. 2 (Intimate letters) for strings

    Performer: Pavel Haas Quartet.
    • SUPRAPHON.
    • SU 38772.

  • Leos Jan谩膷ek

    The Makropulos case [Vec Makropulos] - opera in 3 acts

    Performer: Elisabeth S枚derstr枚m. Performer: Vienna State Opera Choir. Performer: Vienna Philharmonic. Conductor: Charles Mackerras.
    • DECCA.
    • 475 6872.

Broadcasts

  • Sun 18 Apr 2021 17:00
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3
  • Fri 23 Apr 2021 16:30
    麻豆约拍 Radio 3

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