Consider the fact that Smetana's piano works are much less familiar than the piano works of his contemporaries in the middle of the nineteenth century. And consider the fact that this disc by Czech pianist Jitka Cechová was recorded in Prague from October through December 2005 and was mastered, designed (with sharp photos of the artist), packaged, shipped, and on the shelves and the Internet in the U.S. by early May 2006. In the Communist era, it would have taken several times as long. The reservations for the sonically wonderful Rudolfinium hall in Prague would have had to be filled out in triplicate and approved by layers of cultural commissars, and getting a record out to the West, except in the case of musicians at the very top of the hierarchy, would have been given up as too much of a hassle. All the music on this disc is delightful, and there's a true neglected masterpiece at the beginning: the Rêves (Dreams) of 1875, from late in Smetana's career. The title of the set of six pieces seems to clash, generically speaking, with the those of the individual pieces: is it music about dreams, or about consolation (track 2), the salon (track 4), or the Bohemian countryside (tracks 3 and 6)? The answer, of course, is that these pieces represent dreams about music, about types of music Smetana had composed earlier in his career. They are transfigured character pieces, and any listener not obsessed with figuring out what was on the cutting edge of style in 1875 will find treasures unlike any of the major piano repertory items. The rest of the music, from the 1840s and 1850s, is nearly as good. The little Stammbuchblätter (Album leaves), between 50 seconds and just over three minutes long, are single musical thoughts akin to Schumann's short piano works and very cleverly worked out. The four polkas included represent a large body of Smetana works in which he tried to create a Czech counterpart to Chopin's mazurkas; they are not popular polka dances but substantial works based on the polka rhythm. The polka also appears in the final Hochzeitsszenen (Wedding Scenes), but these also include other Czech rhythms. They show Smetana's high-spirited side, which flowered in The Bartered Bride, and they contain thematic links to that opera. If you think Wagner is too solemn for your wedding, throw track 19, with its skipping march rhythm, your pianist's way. As she did on a previous album of Smetana piano works, Jitka Cechová shows herself to be a sympathetic interpreter of his music, with a feel for his humor and a perfect light touch on the odd semi-staccato articulation that is so characteristic of his piano phrasing. There are places (track 5, "Près du château," from Rêves) where she could apply more power, but with Smetana, who was a self-taught pianist and wrote really difficult passages only where they were structurally called-for, this is only occasionally an important issue. The bottom line? Now that Czech artists are free to make the case for their national music on the world stage, don't be surprised to see the history books rewritten to include Smetana's piano music.
© TiVo