New LSO Live Recording of Janáček’s ‘The Excursions of Mr Brouček’ Reviewed

A newly released live recording of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Excursions of Mr Brouček, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under conductor Simon Rattle, has been reviewed by The Guardian’s music critic, who described it as a “beautifully balanced” account that helps clarify a work often considered difficult to follow on disc.

According to the review, the opera is based on satirical stories by the Czech writer Svatopluk Čech, who is said to appear as a character in the second act. The opera centers on Mr Brouček — whose surname translates to “Mr Beetle” in Czech — a self-important landlord described in the review as having “an insatiable appetite for beer and sausages.”

Per the review, the opera unfolds in two parts. In the first half, the inebriated Brouček imagines a journey to the moon, where he mocks the pretensions of its artistic inhabitants. In the second half, he finds himself amid the 15th-century Hussite wars, where, the review notes, he behaves in a cowardly manner throughout.

The review states that the opera’s rapid, conversational text can make it challenging to follow on recording, but credits Rattle’s interpretation with overcoming this difficulty. The critic wrote that Rattle “does not only make it sing and dance — bagpipes and all,” but also brings out “every quirk and colour” of Janáček’s score.

The review further states that by allowing the music room to breathe, the recording gives listeners a strong opportunity to appreciate what it calls the composer’s “fertile wit and gift for musical storytelling.”

The recording, released on the LSO Live label, features performers Hoare, Briscein and Crowe alongside the London Symphony Orchestra under Rattle’s direction, according to the source material.