专辑简介

The three works contained in this album were all written around 1880, at the height of romantic nationalism in music, when Europe’s greatest composers sought their inspiration in their racial heritage. The ‘Bohemian Dance Suite’ comprises three characteristic pieces originally composed for piano by Bedrich Smetana, the father of Czech national music. The orchestration, which gives full expression to Smetana’s colorful writing, is the work of the American composer Harold Byrns. Each piece has a descriptive title. The first, called The Merry Chicken Yard, is a polka, a highly artistic yet amusing elaboration of a rustic dance in which barnyard effects are suggested by different instrumental groups. This is followed by The Little Onion, where Slavic coloration and the stately, graceful rhythm of the minuet are captivatingly blended. The Suite ends with Circus, a breathless galop strongly reminiscent of Smetana’s ever popular Dance Of The Comedians in its jollity and exuberance. The Polonaise is one of the best known excerpts from Tschaikowsky’s ‘Eugen Onegin.’ It opens the opera’s third act by serving as a musical background to gay festivities. Here, the ceremonial air of this stately dance provides contrast to the frothy and humorous Smetana dances. ‘A Legend Of Springtime’ is the subtitle Rimsky-Korsakov gave to his opera, ‘The Snow Maiden,’ which was set to Ostrovsky’s fairy tale, a beloved Russian classic. The opera, which blends the historical and the supernatural, is seldom staged outside of Russia, but the suite of four orchestral excerpts is frequently heard in concert. The Introduction sets the poetic tone that pervades the entire work, and it is full of sounds evocative of nature’s mysterious grandeur. Another vivid tone-picture from nature, the Dance Of The Birds, is made almost visible by the composer’s skill and inventivenes. The brief Procession, which follows, is rich with exotic color and suggestions of oriental splendor. The Suite ends, powerfully and exuberantly, with the familiar athletic measure of the Dance Of The Tumblers. George Barati, who is the guest conductor of the famous Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra on this record, is musical director of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. He has conducted symphony and opera in the principal cities of Europe and America, and has numerous recordings to his credit. Mr. Barati is also a composer of significant achievements, and a winner of the Naumburg prize.