Břetislav Bakala (February 12, 1897 in
Fryšták – April 1, 1958 in
Brno
Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...
) was a
Czech
Czech may refer to:
* Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe
** Czech language
** Czechs, the people of the area
** Czech culture
** Czech cuisine
* One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus
*Czech (surnam ...
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Biology and medicine
* Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear
* Conduction aphasia, a language disorder
Mathematics
* Conductor (ring theory)
* Conductor of an abelian variety
* Cond ...
,
pianist
A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...
, and
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
. His career was centred on Brno and he was particularly associated with the music of
Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...
.
Life and career
Bakala was born at Fryšták,
Moravia
Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia.
The medieval and early ...
. He studied conducting at the
Brno Conservatory
The Brno Conservatory, also Brno Conservatoire (), was established in Brno on 25 September 1919 by Moravian composer Leoš Janáček.
History
Leoš Janáček attempted to establish and improve high musical education in Brno from his early age. ...
with
František Neumann, and composition with
Leoš Janáček
Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...
at the organ school.
/ref> In 1922 he continued his studies at the Master school at the Conservatory with Vilém Kurz
Vilém Kurz (23 December 1872 – 25 May 1945) was a Czechs, Czech pianist and piano teacher.
Career
Kurz was born in Havlíčkův Brod, Německý Brod, Bohemia in 23 December 1873. He became a professor at the State Conservatory in Lviv and Vi ...
. From 1920 to 1925 and from 1929 to 1931 he worked as a conductor of the National Theatre in Brno, making his conducting debut in ''Orfeo ed Euridice
(; French: '; English: ''Orpheus and Eurydice'') is an opera composed by Christoph Willibald Gluck, based on the myth of Orpheus and set to a libretto by Ranieri de' Calzabigi. It belongs to the genre of the '' azione teatrale'', meaning an ...
''.
Bakala discovered Janáček '' The Diary of One Who Disappeared'' in the composer's trunk in 1921 and first performed it (taking the piano part) in April that year.[Lambert, P. In the shadow of Talich. '' International Classical Record Collector'', Summer 1996, Vol 2, 5, p16-18.]
On 31 January 1925 he conducted the premiere of Bohuslav Martinů
Bohuslav Jan Martinů (; December 8, 1890 – August 28, 1959) was a Czech composer of modern classical music. He wrote 6 symphony, symphonies, 15 operas, 14 ballet scores and a large body of orchestral, chamber music, chamber, vocal and ins ...
's ballet ''Kdo je na světě nejmocnější?'' (''Who is the Most Powerful in the World?'') in Brno. From 1925 to 1926 he worked for a short time as an organist in Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in the United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, acting also as accompanist to Hans Kindler
Johannes Hendrikus Philip Kindler (January 8, 1892 – August 30, 1949) was a Dutch American cellist and conductor who founded the National Symphony Orchestra. He was married to painter Alice Kindler and Persis Chase Myers.
Kindler as c ...
, with whom he had already successfully toured in Europe.
From 1926 he became a pianist and conductor of the Czech Radio Orchestra in Brno, and on the death of Neumann in 1929 became principal conductor of the Brno Opera. In 1936 Bakala was appointed conductor of the Vach Choir of Moravian Women Teachers. He took the Brno Radio Symphony Orchestra on tour to Russia and Latvia in 1937.
In 1951 he began teaching at the newly founded Janáček Academy of Music and Performing Arts in Brno. He was appointed as director and chief conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra
The Brno Philharmonic (Czech: ''Filharmonie Brno'') is a Czech orchestra based in Brno, the Czech Republic. Its principal concert venue in Brno is the ''Besední dům''. The orchestra also performs regularly in the Janáček Opera House in Brno. ...
in 1956. During the mid-1950s Bakala became one of the few conductors to champion Martinů's music in his homeland.
Bakala's main interest was concentrated on the works of Janáček. In 1921 he staged the premiere of '' The Diary of One Who Disappeared'', in 1930 he conducted the premiere of the opera '' Z mrtvého domu'' in Brno. He revised this opera in co-operation with Osvald Chlubna
Osvald Chlubna (July 22, 1893 in Brno – October 30, 1971 in Brno) was a prominent Czech people, Czech composer. Intending originally to study engineering, Chlubna switched his major and from 1914 to 1924, he studied composition with Leoš Janá� ...
. He also studied Janáček's seldom performed operas '' The Beginning of a Romance'' (1931) and '' Osud'' (1934). He made the piano reductions of his works including the 2nd movement of the Piano Sonata 1.X.1905. He edited the arrangements of Moravian folk songs. His wife, soprano Marie Bakalová-Šíšová was a member of the Brno Opera as well as a concert singer.
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; (17 November 1925 – 14 July 2010) was an American-born Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associ ...
described Bakala's conducting of Janáček's music as "a great milestone" in the history of interpretation of the composer, citing in particular an unissued Brno Radio broadcast of '' The Makropoulos Case''.[Králík J. Sir Charles Mackerras Interviewed. (translated Lisicka V) ''Czech Music'', Vol 6, No 3, 1980, 7-12.]
Recordings
His recordings include the Glagolitic Mass, Sinfonietta and Lachian Dances
The ''Lachian Dances'' (in Czech: ''Lašské tance'') was the first mature work by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. Originally titled ''Wallachian Dances'' H6571p after the Moravian Wallachia region, Janáček later changed the title when the r ...
by Janáček[Simeone N. Bakala: Moravian Conductor. ''Czech Music'', Vol 6, No 3, 1980.] as well as Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...
's ''Feu d'artifice
''Feu d'artifice'', Op. 4 () is a composition by Igor Stravinsky, written in 1908 and described by the composer as a "short orchestral fantasy". It usually takes less than four minutes to perform.
Composition
Stravinsky composed ''Feu d'arti ...
'', ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' by Josef Bohuslav Foerster
Josef Bohuslav Foerster (30 December 1859 – 29 May 1951) was a Czech composer and musicologist. He is often referred to as J. B. Foerster, and his surname is sometimes spelled Förster.
Life
Foerster was born in Prague. His ancestors were of ...
, and Otakar Ostrčil
Otakar Ostrčil (25 February 1879 in Prague – 20 August 1935 in Prague) was a Czech composer and conductor. He is noted for symphonic works ''Impromptu'', ''Suite in C Minor'', and ''Symfonietta'', and in his opera compositions '' Poupě'' and ' ...
's symphonic poem ''Summer''. During a visit of the Brno State Philharmonic Orchestra to Warsaw in 1956 Polski Nagrania made the first LP recording of Martinů's 3rd Symphony with Bakala conducting.[Lambert P. Martinů in his time, part 4. '']Classical Recordings Quarterly
''Classical Recordings Quarterly'' (formerly ''Classic Record Collector'') was a quarterly British magazine devoted to vintage recordings of classical music, across the range of instrumental recordings, chamber music, orchestral, vocal and opera. ...
'', Spring 2013, p39. With the Vach Women's Choir he recorded ''Kašpar Rucký'', while his wife Marie Bakalová features in Dvořák's ''The Cunning Peasant
''The Cunning Peasant'' () is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto is by Josef Otakar Veselý.
Composition and reception
''The Cunning Peasant'' was written at a time when there was a lack of high-quality Czech dramatic writers. In h ...
'' and in ''Říkadla''.
Among rarer examples of 20th century music, Bakala set down recordings of Novák's Serenade in D, Petrželka's ''Pastoral Sinfonietta'', Václav Kaprál's ''Lullabies'', Vítězslava Kaprálová's ''Military Sinfonietta'' and the ballet suite ''The Spectre's Bride'' by Jan Novák.
The Brno Radio Archive contains further examples of Bakala's work.
Compositions
Břetislav Bakala's small number of compositions are influenced by Vítězslav Novák
Vítězslav Augustín Rudolf Novák (5 December 1870 – 18 July 1949) was a Czech composer and academic teacher at the Prague Conservatory. Stylistically, he was part of the neo-romantic tradition, and his music is considered an important e ...
and Janáček. They include a cello sonata, string quartet, Scherzo for orchestra, ''Christmas Lullaby'', as well as arrangements of Janáček mentioned above.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bakala, Bretislav
1897 births
1958 deaths
People from Fryšták
Czech composers
Czech male composers
Czech male conductors (music)
20th-century Czech conductors (music)
20th-century Czech composers
20th-century Czech male musicians
Brno Conservatory alumni