JANACEK. Sinfonietta, Preludes. Pro Arte Orchestra/Mackerras

We are indeed lucky to have lived through the times of Charles Mackerras. The man is a phenomenon. He was well before his time in the development of the authentic music movement with his still startling Fireworks Music with a full complement of woodwind (just about every oboist in London, recorded in the early hours of the morning) and with the use of elaborate authentic ornamentation in Handel and Mozart. He demonstrates a witty lighter side as an arranger of Gilbert and Sullivan. As Head of English National Opera there were memorable performances of Verdi and Wagner as well as rarities like Szymanowski, Smetana and Martinu. But, above all, it is probably as the man who brought the operas of Janacek to a British and then to a World audience that he will be most gratefully remembered.

This reissue is of an early Mackerras recording of Janacek, his first of the Sinfonietta, and made before a lot of the editorial cleaning-up for which Sir Charles was in large part responsible. Nevertheless, these are marvellous Janacek performances. There is a special freshness and a conviction about the playing of the Pro Arte Orchestra (a largely ad hoc ensemble with some fine soloists, especially among the woodwind). The acoustic is quite dry and the recording quite lean, which suits this music admirably. There is, for example, a crispness to the timps and a brightness to the brass in the opening and closing fanfares of the Sinfonietta that is more apt in this music than the more usual lushness we get from other conductors. Even Mackerras' later versions of the Sinfonietta with the Vienna and Czech Phils seem a little over-upholstered by comparison.

The opera preludes, too, revel in a sense of discovery and revelation. Whether it's the imperial fanfares of Makropoulos, more tight crisp timpani with the insistent Fate motif in Katya Kabanova or the hair-raisingly wild violin cadenzas in House of the Dead, both tempi and sound are perfectly judged in these performances. And Jealousy, the original prelude to Jenufa, is a fine work in its own right - even if Janacek's second thoughts work better in the context of the opera.

The fill-ups on this disc, not on the original LP, are more evidence of Mackerras' indefatigable versatility. The Enescu, especially, has great energy, flexibility and shape - but the Brahms, Dvorak and Bartok also show off Sir Charles as the master of the tempo juste, even in familiar music.

In short, the slightly dated sound suits Janacek's music well and Sir Charles' performances match anything he did later (and more than match anyone else). Most of all, there is a special sense of discovery about the composer here that carries well down the years.

This is a truly great performance of the Sinfonietta, the first recording of it by Mackerras with the Pro Arte Orchestra. If you are wondering if a pickup orchestra of British players under a Scottish conductor can provide the "authentic" Czech flavour of Janacek, you don't need to wonder. This performance is my benchmark. I've owned it on LP and two other CD incarnations, and this one, on Testament CD, is the best-mastered one. The music of Janacek was little known in Britain when this (early stereo) recording was made and that's a positive advantage; the players struggle a little, but it suits the work; their playing is atmospheric and there is a real sense of new discovery. The finale is berserk. This Testament issue is particularly expensive but in my opinion it's worth it for the Sinfonietta alone -- and it's coupled with marvelous Janacek opera preludes and other Slavic compositions. Now Mackerras recorded this repertoire many times; his later, Vienna Sinfonietta is good but not as raw as this one; a Czech PO performance I haven't heard yet but can't imagine preferring it.

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