Piano recital: Ivo Kahánek and Martin Kasík (Janáček Brno 2026)

ABOUT

This concert is dedicated to three of the most important Janáček conductors active at the National (later Provincial and State) Theatre in Brno, two of whom also prepared piano arrangements of his works.

František Neumann (1874–1929) came to Brno as an already accomplished composer and, above all, conductor. At Janáček’s insistence, he was appointed head of opera in 1919, when the new Czech National Theatre was being formed in Brno. It was a wise choice: Neumann became an outstanding conductor of Janáček’s works, preparing a number of world premieres to the composer’s complete satisfaction. Yet Neumann was not only a conductor – he was also a successful composer in his day, particularly in Germany. He devoted himself mainly to music for the stage, but a considerable part of his output was chamber music. Such is the case of the lyrical melodrama Pan, set to a German text by the Frankfurt poet Julie Virginie. It was premiered on 12 March 1907 in Frankfurt am Main, where Neumann worked as a conductor at the Opera House. In Brno, Pan was heard in its orchestral version on 18 December 1921, and Neumann later presented it in Prague at a concert with the Czech Philharmonic on 21 February 1926.

The pianist and conductor Břetislav Bakala (1897–1958) studied with both Janáček and Neumann at the Brno Conservatory and the Master School. Janáček held him in high esteem, entrusting him with piano reductions of his operas and proofreading tasks. From répétiteur Bakala rose to become a distinguished conductor and one of the foremost interpreters of his teacher’s music. During Janáček’s lifetime, he arranged two of his works for piano, both published in 1925. Janáček composed his orchestral rhapsody Taras Bulba between 1915 and 1918; it received its delayed premiere in 1921, and he continued revising it during the long preparation of the printed score. For this reason, Bakala’s 1921 four-hand piano arrangement differs considerably from Janáček’s final version, making it especially intriguing. His second piano arrangement, this time for two hands, was of the wind sextet Mládí (Youth). Janáček approved both arrangements, consulted them with Bakala, and almost certainly played through them with him. Today, these fascinating and to some extent authentic transcriptions are rarely heard.

František Jílek (1913–1993) also drew much of his conducting inspiration from Bakala, though his actual teacher at the Conservatory was another Janáček and Neumann pupil, Zdeněk Chalabala. Jílek is associated with the most celebrated era of Brno opera after the Second World War. His focus was on 20th-century composers, above all Leoš Janáček. His recordings of Jenůfa and The Excursions of Mr. Brouček are still highly regarded, as is his complete set of Janáček’s orchestral works. Although not active as a composer, he created a number of suites from Janáček’s operas. His arrangement of Janáček’s Sinfonietta for piano four hands, completed in 1985 shortly after leaving his post as chief conductor of the State Philharmonic Brno, is also highly effective.

Text: Jiří Zahrádka

Programme

František Neumann: Pan, Op. 29 / melodrama for reciter and piano

Leoš Janáček: Taras Bulba, JW VI/15 / arrangement by Břetislav Bakala for piano four hands

Leoš Janáček: Mládí, JW VIII/10 / arrangement by Břetislav Bakala for piano two hands

Leoš Janáček: Sinfonietta, JW VI/18 / arrangement by František Jílek for piano four hands

Performers

Piano: Ivo Kahánek
Piano: Martin Kasík