Customer Reviews

Leos Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen - Lucia Popp / Eva Randová / Dalibor Jedlicka / Vienna Philharmonic / Vienna State Opera Chorus / Sir Charles Mackerras

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Czech composer Leos Janacek wrote a series of operas late in his life: Kat'ia Kabanova, Cunning Little Vixen, The Makropoulos Affair, and From the House of the Dead, in that order. All are magnificent, standing with the very best work of the Czech masters Smetana and Dvorak. Even among those late operas, though, Vixen stands out because of its vibrant orchestration and easy approachability. It is quite popular, and it has even been featured in an animated version for TV by Geoff Dunbar of Peter Rabbit fame.

The story revolves around the Vixen, who is a real fireball, always gracefully foxing her way in and out of tough situations with the force of her personality. This character is played by a soprano in a fox costume, in this case Lucia Popp. I'm not sure if she wore the costume in the studio, but she may well have, because she gives her part a wonderful vivaciousness and gusto - you can almost imagine glistening fangs as she heatedly preaches to the hens about oppression. Her spirited tone adds immeasurably to the recording as a whole.

The adult male leads, who play human parts (the Schoolmaster, the Forester, and the poacher Harasta), also do a very fine job. In particular, their Czech diction is exemplary, though with the sound of the Vixen resonating in the ears they sometimes sound Germanic by comparison.

And the children! The dance at the beginning of Act III, which depicts the Vixen with her cubs recognizing and defusing a trap, is one of the greatest examples of synthesized folk music I've ever encountered. The children's choir hired for this recording sing the melody, built on the Lydian mode and the whole-tone scale, flawlessly, vigorously and rhythmically.

Through all this, Mackerras shows the utmost sympathy to the bright colors and poignant orchestrational details. And the Vienna Philharmonic, often among the most conservative of ensembles, play brightly and faithfully, with solo passages that sound exotic and brilliantly evoke animal sounds.

This is simply a great recording. Not to be missed.

What a combo Amazon offers Janacek fans. "Jenufa" and "The Cunning little Vixen" are absolute masterpieces and in the hands of the composer's greatest interprepter, Mackerras, these recordings are non-pareil. The singing of Soderstrom and Lucia Popp make any other recordings a redundancy and an act of futility. Ravishingly beautiful is the only way to describe their performances. These superb recrodings are in the case of "Vixen" , a momument to the healing power of the act of creation. and in the case of "Jenufa" a monument to the victory of human compassion and its power of heallng.. All singers bring glory to the music and the Vienna Philarmonic plays as one born to perform this music as no other orchestra. These cds belong in your collection: deeply moving experiences that only improve upon contnued listering. Bravo to Mackerras for his one man renaissance of Janacek's masterpieces. Let us not forget "Katya Kabanova" a third member of this holy trio. As in "Jeunfa" Sodertsrom triumphs in this work as well.

Excellent recording of an intruguing work. I bought this particular recording because of the strong lineup of musicians: Sir Charles Mackerras conducts- he seems to be one of the reigning Janacek experts these days, and Lucia Popp is a very highly charged Vixen. Of course, the orchestra (Vienna Philharmonic) deserves recognition, too- they did a fine job on this recording. I don't know many different interpretations of this opera, having mainly just listened to this CD set countless times, but it's definitely worth owning.

If you don't feel like spending the money for CD's of the entire opera, the condensed [orchestral] version is also well-written, but it does leave out some fine musical moments. The orchestral version has been recorded many times by different people, and it's relatively easy to find.

This is a marvelously atmospheric recording. The libretto for the Cunning Little Vixen was, as is well known, adapted by the composer from a daily comic in the newspaper Lidové noviny (transforming himself into the forester) into a reflection on the cycle of life. In style it is lighter and more tender than his other, often brutal and serious other operas, but Janacek turns the whole thing into an enchanting - utterly magical, really - work (as a Gramophone reviewer - I don't remember who - once pointed out, it is a lucky thing Disney hasn't gotten their hold on this one quite yet; shorn of its profundity, this touching, magically atmospheric work could be fitted very well into their mold).

This recording is also perfect in almost all respects. The orchestral and choral contributions have extraordinary clarity and depth, exquisite coloration and dynamic vitality. And it is the orchestra rather than the soloists that, for the most part, plays the main expressive role. Dalibor Jedlicka's forester sounds a little old, even a touch strained at times, but then that is part of the point. Lucia Popp's Vixen is pure youthful delight and no less impressive is Eva Randova's very human Fox. The rest of the cast is excellent as well.

It is, indeed, hard to imagine that this version will ever be bettered. Not only are the performances and sound quality superb, there is also a very interesting booklet essay (complete, of course, with libretto and translations). If you haven't already, sit back and enjoy one of the most exquisite, enchanting listening experiences you can possibly have. Gorgeous.

This is an excellent CD - the sound quality is perfect, the orchestra & the singing very good as well - the booklet is also very informative and very well designed. If you're not familar with Janacek, I highly recommend it. I found about this from the Gramophone classical music magazine.