#144 The Smell of Comedy

Now that's a cunning vixen! That's a way how to get married! And all the animals are concurring: Wanna get married? No problem, here you are, let's celebrate!

The music is so funny and so joyful. It's capturing a happy part of vixen's life, ending the second act.

Composer: Leoš Janáček
Work: The Cunning Little Vixen, "Kdybyste věděli, co já viděla"
Recording: Helena Tattermuschová, Eva Zikmundová, Jaroslava Procházková, Jaroslava Dobrá, Prague National Chorus and Orchestra, Bohumil Gregor

#97 The Smell of Constraint

Here's the original overture to Jenůfa, discarded before its premiere. It's not a happy piece of music, all the menacing fanfares and nervous changes...

Mackerras is the Janáček's conductor, and despite the overture name, he's able to keep it soft, somehow lyrical, with bad ass prickles and thorns.

Composer: Leoš Janáček
Work: Jealousy
Recording: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Charles Mackerras

#40 The Smell of Homesick

What else to listen to, in a hotel room in an unknown city, unknown (i.e. east) coast? The song shoves you into its thrill, the verses are building upon each other, and each is so different. It takes you so high and then, there are just tears and memories...

The symbioses of voice and piano is perfect. They're waiting for each other, communicating. It's like one person singing and playing in the same time.

Composer: Leoš Janáček
Work: Moravian Folk Poetry in Songs, Muzikanti
Recording: Magdalena Kožená, Malcolm Martineau