Janácek: The Cunning Little Vixen

Leos Janacek (Composer), Simon Rattle (Conductor), Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden (Orchestra), Adrian Lloyd (Performer), Alexander Rattle (Performer), Anna Lorimar (Performer), Christopher Barnett (Performer), Devin Gregory (Performer), Diana Montague (Performer), Elizabeth Bainbridge (Performer), Emily Baum (Performer), Emma Connolly (Performer), Fiona Dobie (Performer), Gillian Knight (Performer), Gillian Ramsden (Performer), Giselle Unsworth (Performer), Glenys Groves (Performer), Gwynne Howell (Performer), John Dobson (Performer), Karen Shelby (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Adrian Lloyd, Alexander Rattle, Anna Lorimar, Christopher Barnett, Devin Gregory, et al.
• Orchestra: Royal Opera House Orchestra Covent Garden
• Conductor: Simon Rattle
• Composer: Leos Janacek
• Audio CD (October 21, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Chandos
• ASIN: B0000C83YR
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #143,734 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #10 in	Music > Classical > Featured Performers, A-Z > ( B ) > Bainbridge, Elisabeth
  #55 in	Music > Classical > Featured Composers, A-Z > ( J ) > Janácek, Leos
  #97 in	Music > Opera & Vocal > Languages > Czech

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Splendid Remastering of the 1991 EMI Session, March 23, 2004

By	Birdman (Minnetonka, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This underrated modern opera, this time in English and conducted by Simon Rattle, is one most opera-lovers should own. I found this English performance warmly dramatic and listenable. Rattle's reading is more romantic and well-rounded than the Decca classic. Should the translation dissuade the buyer? Not at all. Some of the translated expressions are Brit expressions, but they work beautifully. When in doubt, just but the Mackerras version too.

The remastering here has opened up the acoustic of the original recording so the performance sounds as though it might have happened yesterday. The orchestra is alert and playful. The singers cannot be bettered. Lilian Watson is a superb, characterful Vixen Sharp-Ears, Diana Montague is a Fox to die for and Thomas Allen is -- well -- Thomas Allen. Did the man ever cut a bad record?

At roughly 100 minutes, and in a superbly packaged set with an all-new booklet with helpful notes and libretto, what are you waiting for?

I place this recording among my top 25 opera recordings in any language. And that's scary. Five stars, without remorse.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars May be english, but it is excellent, February 28, 2005

By	Ted Zoldan (Los Angeles, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

There is nothing like the Cunning Little Vixen. It's a masterpiece, and it's not even Janacek's best Opera! This recording, sung in english, serves the work well.

The orchestra and chorus are very well lead by Rattle. The vixen's dream in the first act is beautifully played. The translation is easy on the ears, fits the music well, and all the singers have excellent diction. Lillian Watson's Vixen is well sung, a nice lyric voice that suits the part very nicely. "Can it be that I am beautiful?" is heart-stoppingly beautiful. Sir Thomas Allen is his usual peerless self. As far as I'm conserned, he is the Forester. His wonderful song in the Tavern is so incredably well sung it should be entered into the hall of fame. Diana Montague is an excellent fox, and Gwynne Howell and Robert Tear are touching and wonderfull as the priest and the Schoolmaster. Howell also is a properly Pompus badger, and Tear is a humoros Mosquito. Nicholas Fowell is a creepy Harasta and Karen Shelby makes a nice Dog. 5/5

4.0 out of 5 stars Forest Phantasy for Grown-ups, January 10, 2009

By	Roger Petrich "omnivorous reader" (Blue Heaven, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is not a Disney "Bambi" but for adults who have had some time to reflect on life and love. When the chickens fail to rally when exhorted to social revolution, the Vixen kills a few of them. Unplanned pregnancy results in a quick wedding. The forester/gamekeeper speaks for the composer at the end of the opera. Be advised that the Chandos recording is in English, if this is important to your listening pleasure. All is beautifully sung and played.