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In the middle of the 19th century, nationalism became a consciously accepted element in music. Smetana was essentially the first truly Czech (or, perhaps more accurately, Bohemian) composer, to be followed by the likes of Dvorak, Janacek, Suk, and others. This box set is a bit of a grab bag of Smetana's works, ranging from his most popular orchestral and operatic works through to pretty much obscure chamber repertoire.
One of his most popular works, Ma Vlast (My Fatherland), receives a particularly outstanding performance. The 1950 performance of Dalibor, with Beno Blachut in the title role, is first-rate. There are also good performances of The Bartered Bride (in dated sound), several of Smetana's symphonic poems, and both of his string quartets.
Since there is presently no list of the contents of this box here on Amazon, I will risk lengthening this review unnecessarily by giving a list of contents by disk, along with some comments on disks 1 and 10 (these being the works I am most familiar with).
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Disk 1:
Ma Vlast (My Fatherland) by the Czech Philharmonic, Vaclav Talich conducting -- recorded 1941.
The Talich name is a very significant one in the annals of Czech music. As chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic from 1919 until 1941 (excluding a brief period in the 1930s), Vaclav Talich was personally responsible for establishing the Czech Philharmonic as a world-class orchestra. Thorough, insightful, and energetic, he was, by all accounts, an inspiring and systematic man on the podium, able to mould the orchestra into a single entity, capable of describing precisely his conception of any piece. He gave the premieres of several significant Czech works of the 20th century -- perhaps most significantly of all, Suk's symphonic poem "Ripening", which was premiered only two days after the establishment of Czechoslovakia as an independent state.
In 1941, under rising pressure from the Germans now occupying his homeland, he resigned his position with the orchestra. This disk is therefore one of the most important documents we have of Talich's legacy, containing as it does possibly the last recording he made with his orchestra while it was still truly his. The sound is surprisingly good; the performance is about as good as you could ever hope it to be. I would buy the box for this alone.
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Disk 2 & 3:
The Bartered Bride -- complete recording in Czech -- by the Choir and Orchestra of the Prague National Opera, Otakar Ostrcil conducting -- recorded 1933; in dated sound.
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Disk 4 & 5:
Dalibor -- complete recording in Czech -- by the Choir and Orchestra of the Prague National Opera, Jaroslav Krombholc conducting -- recorded 1950. The title role is sung by Beno Blachut, one of the best tenors to come out of Czechoslovakia. He is excellent here; the sound is reasonable, not great.
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Disk 6:
Triumphal Symphony in E by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Josef Hrncir conducting -- recorded 1980.
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Hakan Jarl, symphonic poem by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague, Alois Klima conducting -- recorded 1975.
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Disk 7:
This disk contains the following orchestral works performed by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra of Prague under various batons.
Richard III, symphonic poem (Vaclav Smetacek conducting, 1974)
Wallenstein's Camp, symphonic poem, Op.14 (Frantisek Vajnar, 1984)
Shakespeare Festival March (Petr Vronsky, 1999)
March of the National Guard (Josef Hrncir, 1983)
March of the Prague Students' Legion (Petr Vronsky, 1999)
Overture in D (Josef Hrncir, 1973)
Festive Overture in C (Jaroslav Krombholc, 1974)
Prague Carnival (Rudolf Vasata, 1976)
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Disk 8:
First, a collection (8, with one repeated) of works for solo piano: mostly polkas with a capriccio thrown in, performed by 7(!!) distinct pianists -- most recordings are from the past decade or so, but there are a couple dating from 1969 and 1973.
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Next we have the 3rd movement of the Triumphal Symphony performed by the Student Orchestra of the Pardubice Conservatory from 1994.
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Composition in G minor -- an interesting piece which appears to be written for 2 pianos, though 4 pianists are listed. (If anyone can enlighten me on what is really going on here, please do!) Recorded in 1998.
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the Bettina polka -- once performed by piano alone, once performed by the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hrncir.
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Disk 9:
more solo piano works: a bunch of excerpts form Bohemian Dances I and II, performed by either Karel Kosarek, Veronika Bohmova or Ivan Moravec -- Moravec's recordings date from 1974, the rest from 2000.
NOTE: there is some overlap in the pieces performed in the takes from 1974 and those from 2000.
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Piano Trio in G minor by Daniel Kallmunzer (piano), Pavla Francu (violin), and Simon Kanka (cello) -- recorded 2000.
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Disk 10:
Duo for piano and violin by Lucie Noveska (violin) and Petr Novak (piano) -- recorded 1997.
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String quartet #1 in E minor by the Talich Quartet -- recording date not specified.
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String quartet #2 in D minor by the Panocha Quartet -- recorded 1975. (There is a typo in the credits for this piece, the quartet is given as the "Panoch Quartet".)
The three pieces on this disk date from late in Smetana's career. The duo is excellent....
The two string quartets of Smetana have received several outstanding recordings over the years -- the most commonly mentioned is perhaps the Smetana Quartet. They are closely followed by the Talich Quartet and the Panocha Quartet. Here we get one each of the recordings by the original Talich Quartet (I think! While there is no recording date, I don't believe the current incarnation of the Talich Quartet has ever recorded either of the string quartets) and the Panocha Quartet. Both are truly excellent recordings, well worth the cost of the entire box.
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To summarise, this box set of Smetana works is a real steal. The sound quality is, on the whole, reasonable, though not first-class. This might warrant the deduction of a star, but the quality of the performances more than compensates for the sound. There are some significant recordings here -- the Ma Vlast in particular -- as well as some truly excellent performances, such as Ma Vlast, Dalibor, and the string quartets. The rest is reasonable, at the very least, and I am personally very happy with this box. I think you will be too. (Phew! Apologies for the long review!)
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