Clara Novakova 20th-Century Music for Flute (Martinu, Kabelac, Grossmann, Macha, Havelka, Novak).

Clara Novakova 20th-Century Music for Flute (Martinu, Kabelac, Grossmann, Macha, Havelka, Novak)

Clara Novakova -- flute, Jean-Bernard Marie -- piano

(in Martinu, Grossmann, Macha, Novak). Production: Lukas Herink. Text: C, A.

Recorded: 24.-27. 10. 2005, Studio 1, Czech Radio, Prague. Released: 2006.

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TT: 77:59. DDD. 1 CD LH Promotion 7 1771 009-06.

The children of great composers often follow in their footsteps and become performers of their music. Examples are ready to hand--Maxim Shostakovich, Marcus Stockhausen and, in this case, Clara Novakova. Clara Novakova is one of the two daughters of the composer Jan Novak (1921-1984), born in Nova Rise. He is a composer whose works are rarely performed today. Although he was the pupil of Pavel Borkovec, Aaron Copland and Bohuslav Martinu, he never achieved anything like the recognition in public consciousness attained by his older classmate Vitezslava Kapralova. The reason lies in the official cultural policy of the 1950s and 1960s, which Novak unwaveringly opposed, and which ultimately forced him to leave Czechoslovakia in 1968. His intelligence, education, razor-sharp irony and very precise vision of the work made him an inconvenient individual who mocked every dogmatism and collectivising trend of his day. Twenty years of forced silence did nothing for his work and today he is almost unknown in this country. Nonetheless, he wrote music of exceptional quality which needs to be accorded the recognition it deserves. His daughter flautist Clara Novakova is playing an important part in the process. Coupled with her gifts, her outstanding education (Musikhochschule Stuttgart and Conservatoire National Superieur in Paris) has made her one of the most sought-after interpreters of the music of the 20th century, including that of her father. This CD entitled "20th Century Czech Music for Flute" contains pieces by Miloslav Kabelac, Otmar Macha and Svatopluk Havelka framed by the compositions of Jan Novak and his teacher, "padre" Bohuslav Martinu. The CD has many appealing features. First of all it is rare for a CD booklet to be written by the performer herself, and in this case clearly for the best of reasons--Clara Novakova makes no pretence to affected encyclopaedic knowledge and talks about the pieces from her own standpoint. Second, the CD offers relatively unknown but still engaging compositions for flute solo or with piano accompaniment. The arrangement of the CD is like a mirror. The centre of the symmetrical programme design is the expressive Natalis Solis Invicti (1977) by J. Grossman for flute and piano. Arranged around it are the solo pieces, Improvisation op. 29 by Kabelac and Disegno by S. Havelka, both rather meditative in character, and also the mobile Variations on His Own Theme by O. Macha. The circle is closed by the pieces at each end: B. Martinu's Sonata for Flute and J. Novak's Choreae Vernales (Spring dances, 1977) are both pieces written in exile. Perhaps this is why they possess the greatest emotional charge, pure joy and grief. Their authenticity is the mirror of the purity and conscientiousness of the performance offered by Clara Novakova and Jean-Bernard Marie, who both set the seal on the excellent choice of music with the excellence of their interpretation.