Janáček – The Excursions of Mr Broucek
BBC Symphony Orchestra / Jirí Belohlávek
DG  477 7387GH2

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This is the opera that in the great Janácek discovery by the West got left behind. It rarely gets performed, unlike the same composer’s Jenufa, Kát’a Kabánová, The Cunning Little Vixen and others. So a new recording of this charming, madcap satire was unexpected and most welcome.

That it was of such superb quality was an added treat. “A lovable work it is,” wrote John Warrack in his review. “It all needs the sharp hand and light touch with the agile rhythms which Belohlávek brings to it…Jan Vacík gives a lively account of poor Broucek, preserving the little man’s dignity and allowing him a touching quality that sees him through it all.”