Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petr Popelka
Supraphon · SU43791
There’s something almost inevitable about a Czech orchestra tackling Ma Vlast, but Petr Popelka and the Prague Radio Symphony still find ways to make the familiar sweep of “Vltava” feel freshly discovered, letting the river’s current build with real patience rather than rushing to the big tune. The rest of the cycle benefits from that same unhurried confidence — “Šárka” has genuine bite, and the closing pair of tone poems, often treated as an afterthought, get the same care and structural clarity as the hits. Given the run of awards and shortlist nods already piling up, this feels like a version that critics are genuinely excited about rather than just respectful toward.
Awards:
- Gramophone Magazine — February 2025 — Editor’s Choice
- Presto Recordings of the Year — Finalist 2025
- Gramophone Awards — 2025 Shortlist
- Diapason d’Or de l’Année — 2025 — Musique Symphonique
“there is a good deal to enjoy in these vividly recorded performances.”
— BBC Music Magazine, February 2025,3 out of 5 stars(Performance) /4 out of 5 stars(Recording)
Daniel Matejča (violin), Martin Sulc (accordion)
Supraphon · SU43552 · 56 minutes
There’s something perfect about pairing violin with accordion for Piazzolla — the accordion carries that bandoneon ache in its bones, and Daniel Matejča’s violin gets to be the voice that wanders, argues, and seduces on top of it. Café 1930 is Piazzolla in his most nostalgic, smoke-filled mode, all slow-burn tangos that remember better nights, and Matejča and Martin Sulc play it like they’ve actually lived in that café rather than just visiting it for an album. Fifty-six minutes of this duo together is a genuinely lovely way to spend an evening.
Eduard Haken, Maria Tauberová, Miloslava Fidlerová, Věra Krilová, Ludmila Červinková, Marta Krásová, Přemysl Kočí, Beno Blachut, Jiří Joran, Ludmila Hanzalíková, Marie Podvalová, Prague National Theatre Orchestra, Prague National Theatre Chorus, Jaroslav Krombholc, Jarmil Burghauser
Supraphon · SU4382-0 · 2 hours 21 minutes
There’s something almost impossibly right about hearing Czech singers sing Dvořák in Czech, and this 1961 recording under Jaroslav Krombholc is the proof. Maria Tauberová brings a silvery, aching quality to Rusalka’s “Song to the Moon” that never tips into sentimentality, and Beno Blachut’s Prince has just the right blend of ardor and obliviousness. Krombholc keeps the Prague orchestra sounding like it’s breathing the same watery, moonlit air as the story itself — this is the sound world Dvořák actually imagined.
Jan Mráček (violin), Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, Sir John Eliot Gardiner
Supraphon · SU4380-0 · 59 minutes
The real find here is that early Mendelssohn concerto, the D minor one he wrote as a teenager and that gets completely overshadowed by its famous E minor sibling — it’s got all the melodic instinct already in place, just with a lighter, more Mozartian frame around it. Jan Mráček plays it with exactly the right unforced charm, and pairing it with the Suk Fantasy makes total sense given how both composers were writing music of real sophistication before they’d properly grown up. Gardiner leading a Czech band through this repertoire is an interesting combination too, and the chemistry between conductor and orchestra sounds unforced rather than imposed.
