Czech Chamber Music = JOSEF FOERSTER; VITEZSLAV NOVAK; JANACEK; FIBICH – Kinsky Trio Prague – Praga Digitals

Czech Chamber Music = JOSEF FOERSTER: Piano Trio No. 2 in B-flat, Op. 38; VITEZSLAV NOVAK: Piano Trio No. 2, Op. 27, “Quasi una Ballata”; LEOS JANACEK: A Tale; ZDENEK FIBICH: Piano Trio in f – Kinsky Trio Prague – Praga Digitals multichannel SACD 250 80, 71:26 [Distr. by Harmonia mundi] ****:
This engaging album brings together four Czech composers of whom three are heard only sporadically. All are representative of the emerging Bohemian Nationalist School so ably spawned by Smetana and Dvorak. Though these other composers, with the exception of Janacek, cannot begin to approach their importance, they still contributed much, as the pieces on this album will testify.
Foerster (1859-1951) was a staunch Christian who found himself increasingly at odds with the socialist regime that took hold later. Both of his piano trios are dedicated to loved ones, this second one to his beloved sister Marie. It is not a mournful work but instead concentrates on the peace he felt later following her death, and the memories of her life emblazoned in B-flat major. Novak (1870-1949) was Professor of Composition at the Prague Conservatory and followed the example Dvorak had set in terms of reinvigorating the tone poem. But he also spent much effort on chamber music.
Fibich (1850-1900) led a short life that was nevertheless a productive one. Particularly important is his collection of 376 piano pieces called Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences. His F-minor Trio was popular from the beginning, essentially driven by the piano part, not unlike Schumann’s Piano Quintet. And of course Janacek could not have been left out of such a collection as this, and we are treated to the original version of Pohadka, his only work for cello and piano which underwent numerous revisions, finally reconstructed and premiered in 2008. This recording is the first presentation of the four-movement original.
The Kinsky Trio Prague is a young and lively group of musicians formed in 2004 from students of the Academy of Prague, and their performances are brisk, alert, and impassioned. I can’t imagine better readings of any of this music, and the surround sound only adds to its glory. This is a very fine disc, and I hope there is more to come.
— Steven Ritter