The Excursions of Mr Brouček review – Simon Rattle embraces Janáček’s baffling but beautiful opera
Barbican Hall, LondonRattle and the London Symphony Orchestra’s survey of Janáček’s operas arrives at the zany Mr Brouček. With Peter Hoare in the lead role and the likes of Lucy Crowe and Aleš Briscein, performances couldn’t be betteredSimon Rattle’s survey of Janáček’s operas in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra has already taken in the three best-known of them – big, rewarding works that inspire grand thoughts about life and love – and now arrives at something a little more awkward: The Excursions of Mr Brouček. First performed in 1920 and based on satirical stories by Svatopluk Čech, the opera comprises two drunken dreams, linked only by their self-important dreamer – a man who cares for little other than beer, sausages and always being right – and by the singers playing the main roles. It’s eccentric enough when staged; on the concert platform, even with surtitles to translate the sung text and an interval in which to scour Wikipedia for the details of 15th-century Czech history, it’s baffling.Since the release of the Prague National Theatre’s version last summer, there’s no longer a clear gap in the market for the recording that will be made from the LSO’s two performances. However, that recording is likely to be first-rate. Behind the brittleness of the opera’s characters there’s music full of fleeting moments of beauty, and these receive their full due in a genial performance from Rattle and the LSO. Continue reading...
Barbican Hall, London
Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra’s survey of Janáček’s operas arrives at the zany Mr Brouček. With Peter Hoare in the lead role and the likes of Lucy Crowe and Aleš Briscein, performances couldn’t be bettered
Simon Rattle’s survey of Janáček’s operas in concert with the London Symphony Orchestra has already taken in the three best-known of them – big, rewarding works that inspire grand thoughts about life and love – and now arrives at something a little more awkward: The Excursions of Mr Brouček. First performed in 1920 and based on satirical stories by Svatopluk Čech, the opera comprises two drunken dreams, linked only by their self-important dreamer – a man who cares for little other than beer, sausages and always being right – and by the singers playing the main roles. It’s eccentric enough when staged; on the concert platform, even with surtitles to translate the sung text and an interval in which to scour Wikipedia for the details of 15th-century Czech history, it’s baffling.
Since the release of the Prague National Theatre’s version last summer, there’s no longer a clear gap in the market for the recording that will be made from the LSO’s two performances. However, that recording is likely to be first-rate. Behind the brittleness of the opera’s characters there’s music full of fleeting moments of beauty, and these receive their full due in a genial performance from Rattle and the LSO. Continue reading...
