Janacek: The Excursions Of Mr. Broucek (belohlavek
Label: DG Catalog: 4777387 Format: CD
Cast-Jan Vacik, Peter Straka, Roman Janal, Ivan Kusnjer, Zdenek Plech, Maria Haan, etc.
Conductor-Jiri Belohavek,
BBC Symphony Orchestra,
BBC Singers
GRAMOPHONE AWARD WINNER - OPERA RECORDING OF 2008
Janacek's Comic opera falls right in the middle of his operatic output, four operas removed from his first, Sarka, and four operas before his last, From the House of the Dead. The opera's libretto is based on the two satirical novels of the same name by Svatopluk Čech, in which the main Character, Mr. Broucek, a self-satisfied resident of Prague, has dream excursions to the moon and to the 15th century. The opera was anticipated as a one-act work, focusing on Broucek's trip to the moon, but Janacek set the time travel story, and then added a prologue and epilogue to sum up the plot.
The 2CD set is broken up by act, with act I being on disc one and act II on disc two. Separate liner notes accompany each CD. A history of Janacek's composition of the work is included in the notes, as well as a complete libretto for the opera in Czech, English, German, and French. The cast is a veritable all-star team of Czech singers and is wonderfully conducted under veteran Czech conductor Belohavek. The BBC orchestra shows it's versatility again in capturing the essence of Janacek's Wagner-esque orchastration. Great care was taken to produce this opera and re-introduce it to the operatic world.