01. - 04. The Eternal Gospel. Legend for soprano, tenor, chorus and orchestra* [18'45]
05. The Ballad of Blaník [8'02]
06. The Fiddler's Child. Ballad for violin & orchestra# [11'46]
07. - 11. The Excursions of Mr Broucek. Suite for orchestra [20'58]
Gweneth-Ann Jeffers- soprano, Adrian Thompson- tenor, Edinburgh Festival Chorus*; Elizabeth Layton- violin#; BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ilan Volkov
Hyperion SACDA 67517 (recorded January 2005 and June 2004; SACD issued 2005)
(16bit/44.1kHz FLAC and scans)
Recording venue: Caird Hall, Dundee
Recording engineer: Simon Eadon; Producer: Andrew Keener
Here's an interesting selection of what Hyperion call on their website "Orchestral Music" although the disc actually features a vocal/choral work, an orchestral suite arranged from an opera, a work for violin and orchestra and only The Ballad of Blanik as a purely orchestral piece. Nevertheless, these are all fine performances of lesser known Janacek with the rare, and superb, The Eternal Gospel as the standout work. Anybody who enjoys the Glagolitic Mass will surely enjoy this. It's the only really first rate work on this disc and strange that it's not better known. The Fiddler's Child is based on a typically gruesome folk tale with the fiddle solo ably played by the orchestra's leader.
This was one of the first recordings by the young Israeli conductor, Ilan Volkov, then newly appointed as chief conductor of the BBC Scottish Symphony - Scotland's second orchestra. (Their current chief conductor is Thomas Dausgaard.)