Reference Recordings reissues as a “twofer” José Serebrier’s generally excellent performances of Janácek orchestral music. The performances of the Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba are both first rate and the Lachian Dances remain the best available. Even more interesting, though, is the second disc, which contains Serebrier’s own excellently assembled and marvelously conducted suite from Janacék’s “sci-fi” opera The Makropulos Case. The Czech State Philharmonic of Brno isn’t quite the Czech Philharmonic; the strings have a couple moments of iffy ensemble (in The Makropulos Case overture for example), but otherwise they play very well, with an idiomatic Czech tang to their unblended timbres. Happily, the brass players (trumpets in particular) manage to do every crazy thing that the composer asks, especially in the Sinfonietta. Sonically these discs remain state-of-the-art, so if you missed either of these discs the first time around, now’s your chance to catch up on some splendid Janácek at a very reasonable price. [3/31/2002]
