Hailed by The Daily Telegraph as ‘a voice of real distinction’, Nicky Spence possesses unique skills as a singing actor and a rare honesty of musicianship, all of which has earned him a place at the top of the classical music profession. Admired in particular for his interpretation of the music of Janáček, he has appeared worldwide in the composer’s operas. Performing here with the outstanding pianist Dylan Perez, he presents a varied programme of Czech and Slovak art song.

Béla Bartók found his lifelong enthusiasm for folk music sparked whilst on holiday in Slovakia in 1904, when he heard a nursemaid singing. Village Scenes sets five folksongs from a large Slovakian collection published in 1915, and depicts various aspects of a country wedding. Jaroslav Křička became a central figure in Czech musical life, occupying the posts of chorus master of the Czech Philharmonic and professor of composition at the Prague Conservatory, amongst others. His Three Fables are settings of traditional fairy tales. Vítězslava Kaprálová was a composer of great promise who died of TB in 1940, aged just twenty-five. She studied conducting with Václav Talich and composition with Vítězslav Novák before moving to Paris where she was taught by Bohuslav Martinů. Her song cycle Sparks from Ashes deals with themes of love – found, flourishing, and lost – as do the eighteen numbers of Dvořák’s song cycle Cypresses. Written by Kaprálová four years later, the haunting Waving Farewell was inspired by having to leave Prague for her new life in Paris.

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Kaprálová: Waving Farewell, Op. 14
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 1, Vy, vroucí písně, pějte (You ardent songs, sing)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 2, V té sladké moci očí Tvých (In that sweet power of your eyes)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 3, V tak mnohém srdci mrtvo jest (So many a heart is as though dead)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 4, Ó, duše drahá, jedinká (Oh, dear soul, the only one)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 5, Ó, byl to krásný, zlatý sen (Oh, it was a lovely, golden dream)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 6, Já vím, že v sladké naději (I know that in sweet hope)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 7, Ó, zlatá růže, spanilá (Oh, golden rose, fair)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 8, Ó, naší lásce nekvěte (Oh, that longed-for happiness)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 9, Kol domu se ted’ potácím (Around the house now I stagger)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 10, Mě často týrá pochyba (Doubt often torments me)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 11, Mé srdce často v neštěstí (My heart often broods in unhappiness)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 12, Zde hledím na ten drahý list (Here I look upon this dear letter)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 13, Na horách ticho a v údolí ticho (On the mountains quiet and in the valley quiet)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 14, Zde v lese u potoka (Here in the forest by a brook)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 15, Mou celou duší zádumně (Pensively through my whole soul)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 16, Tam stojí stará skála (There stands an old crag)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 17, Nad krajem vévodí lehký spánek (Over the countryside reigns a light sleep)
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Dvořák: Cypresses, B 11: No. 18, Ty se ptáš, proč moje zpěvy bouří (You ask why my songs rage)
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Bartók: Village Scenes, Sz 78: I. Pri hrabaní (Haymaking)
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Bartók: Village Scenes, Sz 78: II. Pri neveste (At the Bride’s)
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Bartók: Village Scenes, Sz 78: III. Svatba (Wedding)
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Bartók: Village Scenes, Sz 78: IV. Ukoliebavka (Lullaby)
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Bartók: Village Scenes, Sz 78: V. Tanec mládencov (Lads’ Dance)
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Kaprálová: Sparks from Ashes, Op. 5: I. Ty staré písně v duši zní mi (Those old songs echo in my soul)
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Kaprálová: Sparks from Ashes, Op. 5: II. Jak na hedvábný mech (As though on silken moss)
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Kaprálová: Sparks from Ashes, Op. 5: III. Ó zůstaň ještě, moje dívko drahá (Oh, stay a while longer, my beloved
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Kaprálová: Sparks from Ashes, Op. 5: IV. A táhnou myšlenky teskné (And melancholy thoughts drift)
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Křička: Three Fables, Op. 21: I. O neposlušných kozlatech (The tale of the disobedient kid goats)
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Křička: Three Fables, Op. 21: II. Pohádka o kohoutkovi a slepičce (The tale of the rooster and the hen)
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Křička: Three Fables, Op. 21: III. Jeřáb a volavka (The crane and the heron)

Europadisc Review

In the past decade and a half, tenor Nicky Spence has established himself as one of the finest and boldest singers of his generation. He has made a particular mark on the operatic stage, where his performances of Britten and Janáček have been widely acclaimed. Last year he was awarded the Janáček Memorial Medal for services to the composer’s music, including – in addition to major roles in several of the operas – an outstanding recording of the hugely demanding song cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared. Spence’s growing affinity with the Czech repertoire is on further display on his latest disc for the Chandos label. The album takes its title, ‘Spark from Ashes’, from the eponymous song-cycle by Vítězslava Kaprálová (1915–1940), an incredibly talented composer and conductor, who would surely be better known had it not been for her tragically early death from tuberculosis. Many of the songs on the disc contain references to the flames – sometimes almost smothered, at others ardently burning – of love, and despite the stylistic variety of the four composers, there is an overarching sense of the distinctive Czech and Slovak soil, its people and its culture.

Spence’s ringing but profoundly intelligent singing, and his evident command of the Czech language, are a perfect fit for this music. That’s obvious from the outset, with Kaprálová’s Waving Farewell (1937), an exquisitely heartfelt farewell to ‘the most beautiful city of Prague’, as she prepared to depart for studies in Paris with Bohuslav Martinů in Paris. This marvellous setting of a poem by Vítězslav Nezval (1900–1958) slowly builds to an impassioned climax at the words ‘my destiny is song’ before giving way to the tender gentleness of the final stanza. With Dylan Perez proving an ideal partner in a piano part that often reaches symphonic dimensions (indeed, there exists an orchestral version of the same song), Spence inhabits every word of the text, beautifully shading his tone and enunciating every syllable with a keen sense of the words’ meaning. This is a work that goes beyond the echoes of Debussy in Kaprálová’s earlier music, giving a tantalising glimpse of how her style would have blossomed had she lived longer.

There’s a stylistic gear-change with Dvořák’s Cypresses (1865), a cycle of eighteen songs setting the sentimental poetry of the young Gustav Pfleger-Moravský (1833–1875). Dvořák composed this at a time when he was infatuated with his student, the young actress Josefína Čermáková, whose sister Anna he would later marry. The first twelve songs are each concerned with some aspect of the joys and sorrows of love, while the final six are more meditative, with nature and nation as their subjects. Although in most of the songs Dvořák is yet to achieve that fusion of lyricism and allusions to Czech folk music that are a defining feature of his mature works, there is much to relish in this complete performance, with Spence charting the varied emotions with unerring vividness and superb projection. The piano accompaniments are exquisitely realised, and a particular highlight is the fifth song, ‘Oh, it was a lovely, golden dream’, in which (as Jan Smaczny observes in his excellent booklet notes) the vocal line has the rapturous intensity of Dvořák’s later protégé Janáček, set against delicately coruscating textures in the piano.

Another contrast in mood and style comes with Béla Bartók’s Village Scenes (1924), setting five Slovak folksongs centred on village wedding celebrations. Bartók’s settings skilfully evoke the folk idiom, with the piano at times imitating the cimbalom of village bands, and Spence and Perez capture the uninhibited nature of the third and fifth songs, while Spence’s richly-hued timbre proves surprisingly apt for the tenderness of the even-numbered items (‘Wedding’ and ‘Lullaby’). Bartók originally conceived this set for female voice and piano, later arranging it for female voices and orchestra, but Spence’s performance makes a thoroughly convincing case for its appropriation by tenors.

The album’s title work, Kaprálová’s Sparks from Ashes (1932–33) sets four poems by the short-lived Romantic poet Bohdan Jelinek (1851–1874) while still a student at the Brno Conservatory, and are dedicated to fellow student Otakar Vach (‘My only love’). The music inhabits a post-Impressionist world, introducing a warmth and sensitivity to word-setting that already reflect a prodigious skill and maturity. The piano sometimes provides waves of sound, at others etching out pained melodic lines and ominous harmonies, while the voice charts highly-charged emotions with remarkable subtlety. This is currently the only recording of the work, and it deserves to be heard by all lovers of 20th-century song.

As does the disc’s rather different final works, Three Fables (1912–17) by Jaroslav Křička (1882–1967). Křička was born into a musical family and, after studies in Berlin and a brief period teaching in pre-revolutionary Russia (where Glazunov and Taneyev were among his friends), he returned to Prague, and became a key figure in the musical life of Czechoslovakia. The Three Fables all centre on animal tales (goats, cockerel and hen, and crane and heron, respectively), and show a talent for vivid characterisation and a vibrant wit. Here, Spence and Perez manage to combine a sparkling lightness of touch with a compelling sense of storytelling. Like Sparks from Ashes, this is a rarity on record, and is yet one more reason to hear this imaginatively programmed and magnificently performed album. Unreservedly recommended!

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Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Condition	Description
New	Brand new item, only ever sourced from the official UK distributor. Usually seal-wrapped, although a minority of labels do not use seal-wrap.
Used - Mint	Used item in excellent condition. Not usually seal-wrapped.
Used - Good	Used item with some minor signs of wear and tear. Never seal-wrapped.
Used - Acceptable	Used item with obvious scuffs or cosmetic damage to the case or booklet. Never seal-wrapped.

Sparks from Ashes: Songs by Dvorak, Kapralova, Bartok & Kricka

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Europadisc Review

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