Miloslav Kabeláč (1908-1979)
Overture No. 1 for orchestra, Op. 6 (1939)
Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 15 (1942-46)
Overture No. 2 for orchestra, Op. 17 (1947)
ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra/Jakub Hrůša
rec. live, 14-16 June 2023 & 17 June 2024, Konzerthaus, Radio Kulturhaus, Vienna
Capriccio C5546 [55]
Anyone familiar with The Mystery of Time will know that the Czechoslovakian composer Miloslav Kabeláč was an unflinching agent of resistance. Opposition to repressive forces marked out his professional and personal life and nowhere is this shown more nakedly than in his wartime works, something this perceptively selected triptych demonstrates.
His Symphony No.2 was begun in 1942 but only finished in 1946 and its tense, propulsive and baleful grip is almost unrelenting. The opening movement (of three), cast in sonata form, is propulsive and terse with only brief moments of reprieve, and those ushered in by the clarinet. Even here, though, the music remains cautious and watchful, reflecting rather a Prokofiev-like tension. The more aggressive, unrelenting passages might also evoke Shostakovich or even Honegger at his most intransigent, the symphonic argument lucid, if martial and grim, reflecting the times. Kabeláč had a liking for the alto saxophone which he employs in the slow, central movement, a striking lament-laden voice before the unleashing of renewed tumult, the saxophone returning as the movement ends in threnodic introspection. For the finale Kabeláč unleashes the percussion, and winds decorate briefly a slower passage, before a fugal section develops sweeping intensity and, with organ underpinning the orchestral mass, the works ends in a blaze of unstoppable martial vehemence. I realise this summary, for those who don’t know the work, makes it sound grim and unapproachable but it is undoubtedly a complete symphonic statement, well structured, emotionally complex but explicable. Jakub Hrůša and the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra’s performance is very similar in conception to that of the Prague Radio Symphony under Marko Ivanović, who recorded all Kabeláč‘s eight symphonies in a recommendable box from Supraphon in 2016. In the case of the Second Symphony, Hrůša and his forces generate that bit more vehemence without sounding brittle.
The two Overtures are no mere makeweights, being substantial works in their own right. The first dates from 1939 and acts as an apt precursor for the symphony, programmed first in this recording. It offers an almost asphyxiating martial tension, taut, and – again – unrelenting. The brassy elements do admit some brief lyric moments but they sound sour and tart. If you want to know if you can ‘take’ Kabeláč, this is as good a place to begin as any. The Overture No.2 is a post-war work, dating from 1947 and written for an introduction to a radio programme that commemorated the second anniversary of the May Uprising. Post-war, yes, but the aesthetic is still drenched in the intensity and vehemence of the war years and whilst booklet note writer Miloš Haase is surely right when he speaks of ‘the characteristic melodic writing, rich rhythmic structures and irresistible energetic musical expression’, what emerges most starkly is a gripping, even remorseless intensity.
As noted, the performances are splendid and the recording is fine. Capriccio has also brought out Kabeláč’s complete chamber music but there’s no indication – as yet, to the best of my knowledge – that it intends to record all the symphonies. For now, this tightly focused release reveals the composer in wartime mood – indomitable, immovable and defiant.
Jonathan Woolf
Previous review: David Barker (September 2025)
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