Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.classica
Titolo: Karel Ancerl su Gramophone

http://www.gramophone.co.uk/Reputations_detail.asp?id=1956
Karel Ancerl: Time's Arrow    
From the horror of war emerged a determined interpreter and charming leader
Feature by Tully Potter
How would you define the ideal recording conductor? He should surely be
adaptable to a wide range of music and capable of giving good
&#8216;central&#8217; performances of the core repertoire. He should have
rock-solid rhythm, so that one take will not differ much from another, yet
be able to infuse each repetition with spontaneity. He should have
personality but not too much ego. He should be respected by his orchestra
and experienced in radio work, so that he can co-operate with producers
and engineers and finish projects on time. If that wish-list sounds like a
portrait of Sir Adrian Boult, it is equally applicable to the Bohemian
conductor Karel Ancerl. One of the things that impresses me when I come
back to an Ancerl recording is that tricky tempo changes and transitions
seem to take care of themselves, because the conductor has such a clear
over-view of the score that he does not need to &#8216;do&#8217; anything
to it. And his command of the mechanics of technique is so complete that
his vision is communicated in its entirety to the players. 
 
Ancerl &#8217;s heyday was a glum time for Bohemians, Moravians and
Slovaks, living under a repressive system. But it was a golden age for
Czech music and we are still reaping the benefit. Under Ancerl the Czech
Philharmonic Orchestra (CPO) of Nedbal and Talich reached its peak.
Prominent musicians had emigrated but fine soloists remained and an
amazing roster of chamber groups was headed by one of the world&#8217;s
top string ensembles, the Smetana Quartet &#8211; I would like to have
heard their Elgar Introduction and Allegro with Ancerl and the CPO in
London on October 15, 1956. That interpretation does not survive but many
others do, for Prague was a major recording centre, with first-rate
equipment and technicians. A generation of Western music-lovers was
educated by Supraphon LPs, many of them conducted by Ancerl . 
Russian musicians liked to record in Prague and it was Ancerl &#8217;s
skill in accompanying that won him the CPO job, after the uneasy
interregnum between Talich&#8217;s internal exile and Kubelik&#8217;s
emigration. Ancerl &#8217;s first notable recording was the Brahms Double
Concerto, made on April 26, 1950 with a dream team of soloists, David
Oistrakh and Milos Sadlo. Directing the Prague Radio SO, Ancerl so
impressed Oistrakh that the violinist had a quiet word with the powers
that be, and the top job was clinched. 
From Childhood to the CPO    
 
It seems Ancerl always wanted to be a conductor. He was born into a
cultured middle-class Jewish family who were not musical but raised no
objection to his desire to play the violin. &#8216;He always said:
&#8220;It is a pity that I didn&#8217;t know the piano, because that is so
important for a conductor&#8221;. He was a violin and viola player,&#8217;
says Alice Sommer, who was in the Terezin and Auschwitz concentration
camps with Ancerl . Nevertheless he took up the piano at senior school and
must have been competent, as he worked as a repetiteur and played the
quarter-tone piano during his pre-war collaborations with the composer
Alois Haba. His natural sense of rhythm was fostered by conducting for the
cabaret at the Osvobozene Divadlo (Emancipated Theatre); and at the Radio
he had to take on Prokofiev&#8217;s Third Symphony at short notice with
the composer present. Even then he was conducting the CPO occasionally. 
The war, in which he lost all his family, left its mark. &#8216;It was a
very great influence on his thinking and his approach to people,&#8217;
says Lubomir Kostecky of the Smetana Quartet. &#8216;His sons were not
well behaved and when someone complained, he said: &#8220;I have seen so
much trouble that children have suffered in the camps that I cannot be
very strict with any children, even my own sons&#8221;. He was a very
friendly man.&#8217; The mezzo-soprano Sona Cervena says: &#8216;When he
rehearsed the orchestra, he would be careful to avoid saying anything
distressing or offensive. His fervent wish was that aggression and the
injustice which he and his family had suffered so terribly from, should
never reappear on this earth.&#8217; And Mrs Sommer says: &#8216;He was a
charming man with a lot of sense of humour.&#8217; 
The CPO&#8217;s &#8216;chef d&#8217;orchestre&#8217;    
 
Although never a professional string player like Nedbal, Talich, Stupka,
Sejna or Neumann, Ancerl patently had superb control over the CPO&#8217;s
famed string section. Jaroslav Motlik, who occupied the principal viola
seat for more than 30 years, including all of Ancerl &#8217;s tenure,
says: &#8216;As a conductor he understood all the strings very well. He
was really a chef d&#8217;orchestre like Professor Talich, and after him
the Czech Philharmonic did not have such a chef d&#8217;orchestre.
Rehearsal with him was not easy and he wanted the technical side to be
perfect. His example was the US orchestras. He had his own image of what
he wanted and the conception of the work was his alone.&#8217; Kostecky
adds: &#8216;He was a very experienced musician and was able to solve any
programme in a very short time.&#8217; 
You can hear Ancerl &#8217;s control in his accompaniment to Josef Suk in
the Dvorak Violin Concerto, where the pacing seems perfect and the
transitions, especially that between the linked first two movements, are
masterly. Hear how beautifully the orchestra moves under his direction in
Brahms&#8217;s First Piano Concerto, with Erik Then-Bergh an impressive
soloist. Ancerl made many other terrific concerto recordings, including a
definitive Prokofiev First Piano Concerto with Richter &#8211; now showing
its age &#8211; and important examples of the work of Ida Haendel, Andre
Gertler, Paul Tortelier and Andre Navarra. 
 
A Master of Choral Works    
 
Passing quickly over opera &#8211; there is an excellent 1947 Bartered
Bride, a work he conducted in Terezin &#8211; we come to one of Ancerl
&#8217;s strengths, the big choral works. In Terezin he even managed to
put on the Verdi Requiem. &#8216;We studied hours and hours,&#8217; says
Alice Sommer. &#8216;And then some people had to leave&#8230; Music was
our food, this is the reason why we survived.&#8217; A live Beethoven
Missa solemnis from Toronto (Tahra) is worth pursuing, as the soloists are
good and everyone is keyed up for the task. And several Supraphon
recordings are musts. For the Dvorak Requiem, a DG co-production, Ancerl
&#8217;s soloists sing their hearts out, as does the choir. The
performance has a blazing sense of mission and the work emerges as a
masterpiece. Janacek&#8217;s Glagolitic Mass was also a specialist work
until Ancerl took it on. Here the Czech soloists sing their socks off
&#8211; Beno Blachut&#8217;s outbursts are unforgettable; Ancerl &#8217;s
pacing is flawless and the choral singing is transcendent. The more
charming side of Ancerl is heard in two similar recordings of
Martinu&#8217;s Bouquet of Flowers. 
 
Karel Ancerl (photo: Suprahon Archives) 
I would not make outsize claims for Ancerl in the Classical repertoire,
except perhaps in Haydn &#8211; only live performances are available, all
good. His Mozart can be heavy and his Beethoven is nothing special, apart
from the Missa. Two recordings of the Vorisek Symphony are heavy but
impressive. Brahms is more Ancerl &#8217;s territory, although I know only
the first two symphonies. 
His Smetana Ma vlast is a safe recommendation. In Dvorak he can lack the
pliancy of Talich or the underrated Neumann: the first movement of the
Sixth Symphony is squarely phrased. But the &#8216;New World&#8217; is
fine; two live Eighths (CPO and Concertgebouw) are exciting; and in the
Seventh Ancerl wrings tremendous power out of the Hessian Radio SO.
Perhaps his best Dvorak interpretations are the overtures, which generate
immense energy in his hands, but the Slavonic Dances (Berlin RSO and CPO)
on Tahra have equal certainty. His first CPO recording, Novak&#8217;s In
the Tatras, has a heroic sweep but his Suk is not exceptional &#8211; here
everyone felt inhibited by Talich. Martinu&#8217;s symphonies are well
represented by the live Toronto Fifth; the CPO material, live and studio,
is variable in sound quality although at its best (Parables, Frescoes) it
is the genuine article. The Memorial to Lidice is very moving &#8211;
Ancerl of all people knew how it should go. The two big Janacek works are
virtually definitive and the prize-winning &#8216;Great Conductors&#8217;
set includes one of my favourite Ancerl /CPO recordings, Krejci&#8217;s
little Serenade. 
A Taste of Russia    
 
Most people will look elsewhere for their Mahler, and the live Toronto
Fifth should be avoided, as the playing is tentative; but I gain much
satisfaction from Ancerl &#8217;s First (a wonderful Frantisek Posta
double bass solo) and Ninth, which minimise the composer&#8217;s lapses of
taste while maximising his symphonic structures. Strauss&#8217;s Till
Eulenspiegel is as sharp as a Punch and Judy show. 
In modern Russian music Ancerl comes into his own. No one will go wrong
with his Stravinsky: Petrushka and The Rite have Russian character without
the attributes of Russian orchestras which upset some British listeners.
Good, too, are Les Noces, invigorating without going over the top, and the
Symphony of Psalms, a superbly balanced account. His Shostakovich Tenth is
one of those marvellous late mono DG productions, solid and imposing in
sound. The work is magnificently laid out by the conductor and the playing
alternates inwardness and force in ideal proportions, with the CPO&#8217;s
great horn section having a good day. The Supraphon First and Fifth are
almost at the same level. Prokofiev&#8217;s Classical Symphony is in the
Malko class, full of good humour, but if I could keep only one Ancerl
recording it would be the excerpts from this composer&#8217;s Romeo and
Juliet. Here all the best qualities of Ancerl and his orchestra are
paraded: power in the dramatic episodes, irresistible rhythm in the big
set pieces, infinite tenderness in the love music. How ironic that this
great interpreter of Russian art felt driven from his homeland by
Russians. 
-- 
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 Feature by Tully Potter
Ma figurati se a quest'ora del mattino mi metto a fare il compito 
in classe di inglese.....:-))))))
-- 
==========================
Marco Marcelli - Genova
==========================

 eccezionale...in quel periodo c'era chi già sapeva fare molto meglio...).
E' da un po' che voglio comperarla. Poi oggi sono andato su 
www.jpc.de
 e
inserendo solo Ancerl viene fuori una insperata quantità di cd Supraphon.
E ho sentito il primo minuto dei primi due movimenti della 10a. 
I m p r e s s i o n a n t e. Ho sempre pensato che Mravinsky fosse fuori
portata qui. Forse Ancerl lo raggiunge, se tutta la sinfonia è così. I
tempi veloci danno un senso compiuto alle frasi, nel primo movimento.
Impressionante il fraseggio degli archi nel secondo. Manca solo un po'
della potenza dell'Orchestra di Leningrado, forse. La devo assolutamte
prendere (
http://tinyurl.com/x335
). E prenderei molte altre cose da quel
sito, se non fosse che bisogna pagare con carta di credito... Io ho una
bellissima 5a di Shostakovich, accoppiata al 1o Concerto per vc. con
Sadlo. E una 7a che nonostante abbia da tanti anni non ho ancora compreso.
E poi una 9a di Dvorak con un secondo movimento da favola e un terzo
dirompente come non mai. E un'Ouverture 1812 di Caikowski, al solito dalla
potenza folgorante.
Qualche foto di Ancerl (in rete ce ne sono poche): col cane
http://tinyurl.com/x32v
, nella splendida Smetana Hall
http://tinyurl.com/x32y
, una bella foto a metà pagina mentre dirige
http://tinyurl.com/x33e
, 
http://tinyurl.com/x33g
, 
http://tinyurl.com/x33i
,
con Talich 
http://tinyurl.com/x332
, a Toronto 
http://tinyurl.com/x33j
, il
cimitero Vysehrad in cui è sepolto assieme a Dvorak e Smetana
http://tinyurl.com/x33o
.
Ciao   Mr Duffy



La 7a Supraphon non e' una delle sue cose migliori.
Molto meglio il live Praga Chant du Mond
alla pari con la spettacolare versione di Svetlanov
Saluti
    Luigi


( mega cut)
.........e per chi non sa l'inglese?
Inserire un articolo in inglese di qualche pagina non mi sembra una
buona idea.
Giuseppe

 buona idea.
Hai ragione, potevo lasciare semplicemente il link, oltretutto per qualche
ragione di codifica che non conosco si legge malissimo. Per la lingua mi
spiace, ma una mia traduzione che non sarebbe granchč dato il mio inglese;
la traduzione di altavista č come al solito piů comica che utile. 
Ciao   Mr Duffy


 alla pari con la spettacolare versione di Svetlanov
Ho anche letto che il riversamento su cd non rende l'impatto che aveva su
lp. Per parte mia, quella di Mravinsky occupa un posto particolare. Anche
se č una Sinfonia che lascia spazio a molte interpretazioni. Molto bella
anche quella di Neumann della Supraphon. A quale versione di Svetlanov ti
riferisci?


 inserendo solo Ancerl viene fuori una insperata quantità di cd Supraphon.
Stanno pian piano ripubblicando tutte le loro incisioni di Ancerl...le
ottime rimasterizzazioni gettano una luce spesso nuova su di esse...



Per fortuna una casa discigrafica inglese ,la Scribendum
sta' ristampando le matrici russe .
Fra queste anche la 7a di Svetalnov del 68 ref SC 025
Da non confondere con quella live del 78 ref SC027
altrettanto incandescente ,ma con i legni poco puliti.
puoi vedere tutto su questo sito:
http://www.silveroakmusic.com/silveroak.html
che conoscendoti ti piacera'
Saluti
   Luigi

    Luigi
E anche questo , vedi alla voce Shosta
http://www.regisrecords.co.uk/regisrecords/Index.html
ce' una bella sorpresa per te !!

 ce' una bella sorpresa per te !!
Grazie, conoscevo il sito della Regis perchè i loro cd per fortuna si
trovano abbastanza facilmente. Sono anche andato molto vicino
all'acquistare i Quartetti eseguiti dallo Shostakovich trovati in un
negozio quando ancora erano sotto etichetta Olympia, e li conoscevo ancora
poco. Allora preferii un cd della Leningrand Masters con alcune
straordinarie esecuzioni del quartetto Taneyev. Sono felice di rivederli,
oltertutto anche in cd separati. I Preludi e Fughe della Nikolaeva sono la
seconda versione, e chi l'ha sentita parla della prima come della
migliore. Delle Sonate di Richter con Kagan e Bashmet parlava Andrea Trave
l'altro giorno. Non sapevo invece nulla della Scribendum, in cui mi pare
ci siano assolute novità in cd (della 7a di Svetlanov non avevo mai
sentito parlare). 
Grazie!   Mr Duffy
