Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959)
Saturday, June 6, 2026
Berliner Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, Berlin
When Martinů moved, via Paris, from his native Czech soil to the USA, living there from 1941 to 1953, the already-prolific composer started to write Symphonies, and continued to do so in quick succession five more – premieres in Boston with Koussevitzky (1 & 3), Cleveland/Leinsdorf (2), Philadelphia/Ormandy (4), Czech Philharmonic/Kubelík (5; first-performed in Prague) and back to Boston for No.6 (‘Fantaisies symphoniques’) conducted by Charles Munch, f-p, Jan 7, 1955, possibly the greatest of them all, although the Fourth would be my Island choice (I wish Ormandy had recorded it).
The first such work opens like a blossoming flower, the music personal and bountiful, rhythmically pugnacious and lyrically expressive, harmonically and tinted distinctly, music that is motoric, playful and yearning, with piano, harp and percussion key ingredients across these four movements. Jakub Hrůša and the Berliners gave an admirable performance, no problem with the many intricacies, or identifying the right degree of intensity for the most heartfelt moments (strings rich and vibrant), or precise rhythms (Scherzo accents punched out)… BUT, come the glorious ultimate coda (generously optimistic at the time of war), Hrůša sped through it as if it wasn’t there, ruinous in itself (notes fighting for space; winners and losers), enough to queer the whole and make me wary of his just-released Bamberg cycle on DG. Try Neumann, below, at about half the speed, so much better, revealing.
The concert began with Suita rustica by Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915-40), who studied with Martinů (and more, it seems!) – exuberant and colourful music, sometimes edgy, certainly nostalgic and Slavonic, with a substantial borrowing (maybe Smetana had done so, too) of music found in The Bartered Bride. How Kaprálová would have developed but for her early death (ditto Lili Boulanger) can only be surmised; she was also a conductor and made it to London for at least one BBC date.
As centrepiece – by a mentor of Martinů – Josef Suk’s Fantasy (violin and orchestra; 1902, rev. 03) a wonderful piece – romantic, soulful, full of personality – enough to invent a programme and characters – seductive, wooing, tender and fiery. Julia Fischer is clearly smitten with this twenty-five-minute treasure, playing it superbly, technically and musically, and impressively supported by conductor and orchestra for an important revival.
“Jakub Hrůša conducts three works that combine the specific tone of Czech music with the musical language of the 20th century: Bohuslav Martinů’s First Symphony, written while in exile in America in 1942, evokes his lost homeland with folk melodies and dance rhythms. The yearning Suita rustica by his pupil Vítězslava Kaprálová is based on traditional folk themes. Julia Fischer also presents Josef Suk’s Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra.” [DCH]
Vítězslava Kaprálová Suita rustica
Josef Suk Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra
Bohuslav Martinů Symphony No. 1
The LP coupling was another splendid Sixth Symphony, Walter Piston’s.
I was very interested in your reservations about Hrůša’s tempo in the final coda of Martinů’s First Symphony. Looking at the score, however, I wonder whether his approach may have rather more textual justification than the comparison with Neumann suggests. Martinů first marks the passage Poco vivo (quarter note = 152), then Più vivo (half note = 76), and a little later explicitly writes accelerando sempre. The metronome markings are particularly interesting, since the first two are metrically equivalent, while the change of beat seems to encourage a broader, more propulsive pulse, followed by an actual continuing acceleration.
This of course does not settle the interpretative question: Hrůša may still take the acceleration too far, at the expense of clarity, and one may certainly prefer Neumann’s more spacious conception. But I wonder whether what sounds like excessive haste may in part reflect Hrůša taking Martinů’s progressive tempo indications unusually literally.