PRICE:
$15.50
IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Vocal Music
FORMAT
CD

LABEL
CATALOG #
NEOS 11703CD NEOS 11703CD
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/18/2018

This CD, titled Vocal Music, presents a selection of the vocal works for mezzo-soprano and various instrumental settings, composed by the recently deceased Czech composer Ladislav Kubík during the period 2012-2016, complemented with one of his earlier compositions, "River in Spring on a text by Franz Kafka (1996). Kubík's lifelong interest in poetry and prose, demonstrated over the years by his numerous vocal works, ranged from the ancient Latin texts and traditional Japanese poems through Rilke, Pasternak, and Kafka to the 20th century Czech, Slovak, American, and Polish poetry. Equally wide is the range of musical forms and genres that bear the poetic message; they include large choral works as well as miniature songs, various chamber music combinations, and non-traditional vocal applications, sometimes in symbiosis with an electronic component. Amongst these works, a special place in Kubík's compositional output belongs to the works for mezzo-soprano, partially generated and inspired by the composer's collaboration with the notable mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella. Three of the included works, "24 Haiku", "To Be a Poet", and "Magdalene", are dedicated to her. Yet, her performance is effectively supported by Taiwanese-American pianist Hui-Ting Yang and the Czech musicians Jitka Hosprová (viola) and Hana Brozová (flute), as well as the excellent and, for new music, always enthusiastic Florida State University Percussion Ensemble with Alexander Jiménez (conductor).