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Through the Night

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01:00Through the Night

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Janacek Day - 4 July 2004
Oil Painting of Janacek, kept in the Janacek Museum, Brno.
An introduction to the day
The Czech composer Leos Janacek was born on July 3rd 1854.
Radio 3 celebrates the 150th anniversary of his birth with a whole day exploring his life and music.
Dennis Marks travels through the Czech Republic uncovering the story of Janacek's life, while John Tusa meets Janacek performers and experts from the Czech Republic, the UK and the USA, including conductors Mark Elder and Charles Mackerras, singers Karita Mattila,  Amanda Roocroft, Anja Silja and Graham Clark and Philip Langridge, stage directors and Janacek scholars. 

Dennis and John are joined live in the studio by some of Janacek's leading champions: stage director David Pountney, soprano Kathryn Harries and composer Steve Martland. Throughout the day there are complete performances and highlights from all of Janacek's major works in recordings by top Czech and international artists, including Janacek's pupil Rudolf Firkusny.

David Calder plays Janacek himself, with Annette Badland as his wife Zdenka and Judith Paris as their long-serving and long-suffering maid Mara, in a specially-commissioned play by Hattie Naylor.  

And there'll be a variety of "Janacek postcards" from Janacek enthusiasts including writers Ivan Klima and Milan Kundera.

The day climaxes with a concert in which the greatest Janacek interpreter of the last 50 years, Sir Charles Mackerras, conducts three of his greatest works: the Violin Concerto, the Glagolitic Mass and the Sinfonietta .
 

Map of Bohemia/Moravia
Full schedule for Janacek Day

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