Hakon Børresen : en biografisk mosaik : komponist, musikpolitiker, organisationsmand, den glemte komponist - komponisten, der aldrig skrev en nationalsang: En biografisk mosaikNiels Borksand
Kulturradio RBBd. 15. feb. 2019afafMatthias Kätherd. 15. feb. 2019"Alle Sänger sind mit Leidenschaft dabei und streichen den lyrisch-volkstümlichen Charakter des Stückes heraus, ganz wie der Komponist es wollte. Aber ... der emotionale Funke will bei mir nicht überspringen ... Glücklicherweise ist noch mehr zu hören auf der CD. Nämlich Martinůs erste Sinfonie ... Wer Musik der tschechichen Moderne mag und mit der Kurzoper nicht ganz glücklich ist, kommt bei der wirklich originellen und grandios musizierten 1. Sinfonie dann doch noch ganz auf seine Kosten. Für die Oper drei K's, für die Sinfonie fünf - macht vier".
Gapplegate Classical-Modern music reviewd. 23. jan. 2019afafGrego Applegate Edwardsd. 23. jan. 2019"Two very worthy works in live performances, namely the World Premiere Recording of the "opera-pastoral" What Men Live By based on the writings of Tolstoy, and Martinu's very appealing Symphony No. 1 ... What Men Live By is in English. It was written in 1952 while the composer resided in the US ... It is a welcome addition to what we can now appreciate in recorded form and all Martinu lovers will certainly welcome it. Its extreme brevity (here 37 minutes) makes it an opera not likely for widespread performance even today, but the quality of its musical settings is quite high ... The coupling of the opera with Martinu's First Symphony of 1942 is a great idea ... It is a work of great charm and weighty ideas and Belohlavek gives us an evergreen of a reading ... I recommend it strongly and happily".Læs anmeldelse
Presto classicald. 19. okt. 2018afafKatherine Cooperd. 19. okt. 2018"Recording of the week: The first documented performances were apparently given with piano only, which seems rather a pity given the inventiveness of Martinů's orchestration, but this fine premiere recording showcases the score's vivid colours in all their glory. As with his recording of Janáček's Glagolitic Mass which I reviewed recently, Bělohlávek gets the balance between solemn religiosity and rustic energy just right".Læs anmeldelse
MusicWeb international2019 JanuaryafafJonathan Woolf2019 January"The 39-minute work will most certainly make an immediate appeal to Martinů admirers, not least by virtue of its extreme rarity on stage, as well as on disc. And they will find a focused and sometimes moving realisation of the score presided over by one the composer's greatest champions of the last few decades, Jiří Bělohlávek ... There is much to enjoy and much that will enrich one's experience of Martinů's desire to explore compact stage music in the early 1950s ... That said, there are a few production concerns. The vocal cast is wholly Czech-speaking so you must expect some very individual accents".Læs anmeldelse
BBC music magazine2019 MarchafafDavid Nice2019 March"No reason why it shouldn't have worked: Martinu hit the right tone of new simplicity in his late masterpiece [What men live by]... But this sound throughout ... like Martinu lite ... The pairing ... a performance of the First Symphony ... The profoundly moving Largo feels totally organic, always a Bělohlávek speciality ... This Symphony is as great as its most ambitious companions".
The gramophone2019 JanuaryafafGuy Rickards2019 January"Martinů's limpid score counterpoints and underlines the action with beautifully understated finesse and perfect pacing ... The coupling of the First Symphony is especially poignant, the last recording of a Martinů work by the late Jiři Bělohlávek ... While this new, final account does not displace the older one, with this orchestra in that hall, it is something special. If I sound misty-eyed, well I am".