JANACEK: Sarka.(Review)

JANACEK: Sarka

[] Urbanova; Straka, Kusnjer, Brezina; Prague Philharmonic Choir, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Mackerras. Text and translations. Supraphon SU 3485-2 631 (Qualiton, dist.)

Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900), along with Bedrich Smetana and Antonin Dvorak, was widely considered one of the three great exponents of the Czech nationalist style until he was supplanted by Leos Janacek around the time of World War I. Sarka, we are told, is Fibich's best-known opera. Janacek's version of the same Bohemian legend (also titled Sarka) is his first opera and one of his least-known. New recordings of both, on different labels, both featuring Czech soprano Eva Urbanova in the title role, are now available. The Fibich Sarka has been recorded before; the Janacek is a world-premiere recording.

The story is, quite literally, a battle of the sexes. A powerful princess has recently died, putting power back in the hands of the men. When the women, under the leadership of the Valkyrie-like Sarka, attempt to assert their rights, they are rebuked by the warrior Ctirad. Sarka vows revenge on him, but when she later feigns helplessness in an attempt to trap him in a surprise attack, their mutual hatred turns to love. The other women, primed to seize Ctirad on cue, capture him as planned. Janacek and Fibich tell the story with their own distinct scenarios and even different endings. In the Janacek version, both Sarka and Ctirad die; in the Fibich, they escape together, but Sarka takes her own life out of grief for having betrayed her cause.

Newcomers to the music of Fibich will find some pleasant surprises. The overture is full of the snappy rhythms of Bohemian folk music, plus a big, sumptuous tune that is reprised to great effect upon the capture of Ctirad. An early sequence -- beginning with the lovely first ...