This is a record worth seeking out—though not if you insist on the finest standards of orchestral playing and recording—and it shows why Zdenek Fibich (1850-1900) is counted by his compatriots with Smetana and Dvorak as one of the founders of Czech national music. Two of his three symphonies are already available in this country on Supraphon recordings (No. 2—410 2165, 4/79; No. 3—1110 3038G, 3/84); his Idyll for orchestra, At twilight, written in 1893, is contemporary with the second of them, and the other two orchestral pieces recorded here, though of less interesting quality, help to fill out a picture of a remarkable orchestral colourist. His personality may not have been so strong as Smetana's or Dvorak's—you hear him being knocked sideways for a moment or two near the end of At twilight by Wagner's influence—but the charm and fine craftsmanship exemplified by these four works make you want to explore more of him. It is that sort of record. The performances aren't first class but you feel you have made some worthwhile discoveries.
Odd man out here is the Cantata A springtime tale (''Jarni Romance''), composed in 1880 as a sort of choral ballad to verse by Jaroslav Vrchlicky. This is simple, almost narrational in choral effect but the text is dramatically articulated by the orchestral setting and tellingly illustrated by instrumental detail. The passing of winter, the coming of spring—the images are familiar enough, and a musical depiction of spring or a pastoral atmosphere is common to three of the four pieces, with a good deal of tone-painting and bird-song in At twilight. Yet the invention remains unpredictable, the music never tired. A night in Karl«f/G»†tejn, an overture to Vrchlicky's comedy of the same title, shows Fibich working successfully in another genre.
A sheet giving text and translation of the Cantata is included. Many passages in the scores are marked pp or ppp and suggest Fibich had a great liking for subdued sound, and it is a pity the performances are not more expert in characterizing this aspect of his music.'