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Burn After Reading

Kate Molleson explores the maverick spirit, fierce passions and phenomenal twilight years of Leos Janacek. Today, Janáček’s infatuation with Kamila Stösslová goes up a gear.

Kate Molleson follows the sharp turns of Janáček’s escalating love triangle.

Leoš Janáček was a true Czech original. He heard music in the way people talk on the streets, loved the local and made it universal - pouring his “speech melodies” into pioneering, devastating operas, and writing some of the most intimate confessionals in instrumental music. His life also came with a major plot twist – after years of toiling away unappreciated, he suddenly found fame in his 60s. Instead of winding down, Janáček revved up. All this week, Kate Molleson explores his maverick spirit, his fierce passions, and the phenomenal flood of inspiration of his twilight years.

Today, Janáček’s infatuation with Kamila Stösslová goes up a gear, a certain letter causes havoc in his marriage, and he writes his ecstatic masterpiece, the Glagolitic Mass.

Glagolitic Mass: Intrada
Czech Philharmonic
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor

The Excursions of Mr Broucek Suite (The Moon Waltz)
ѿý Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Ilan Volkov, conductor

1905 Sonata
Lars Vogt, piano

Capriccio (ii Adagio, iii Allegretto)
Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano)
Members of Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

Glagolitic Mass: Slava; Veruju
Hibla Gerzmava, soprano
Stuart Neill, tenor
Jan Martiník, bass
Veronika Hajnová, mezzo-soprano
Aleš Bárta, organ
Czech Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra
Jiří Bělohlávek, conductor

Moravian Love Songs: No 10 ‘Love’
Tomáš Král, baritone
Ivo Kahánek, piano

Produced by Amelia Parker for ѿý Audio Wales and West

Release date:

59 minutes

Broadcast

  • Thu 22 May 2025 16:00

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