The most recent and thorough of these orchestral suites is the six-movement paraphrase of Mr Broueek, ingeniously made in 1994 and recorded here for the first time. Jaroslav Smolka has selected some of the most attractive episodes: they include the lovely nocturnal music, the moon waltzing, the choral song of the Hussites (with the original male chorus here tromboning sonorously), even dextrous use of a passage from Mr Broueek's third excursion (eventually dropped from the opera). Jiri Bnlohlavek sensitively recreates the haunting atmosphere of the original.
From the House of the Dead has yielded a three-movement suite to the Brno conductor Frantisek Jilek: this skilfully selects music to present the grimness of the prison world, the rugged humour of its inhabitants, finally the exuberance of the scene (the prisoners again on brass) as Goryaneikov is released. The least successful suite, as a portrait of its parent opera, is in fact the earliest and most distinguished in provenance. According to the catalogue, Janaeek's Works, Vaclav Talich got two colleagues to reorchestrate the opera in 1937, then used this version as the basis of his suite. It only uses Act 1 of the opera, mostly the instrumental parts. The exception is the scene in the farmyard when the Vixen exhorts the subject hens to rise against their slave-driving husband, here trumpeting vigorously her original 'Nae vam treba kohouta?' (or as the insert-note translates it, 'What good is a cock to you ?').'