Bohuslav Martinů – Cantatas from Vysočina Prague Philharmonic Choir
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) – cantatas Opening the wells for solos, women's choir and instruments H 354, Legend from the smoke of potato nati for solos, choir and instruments H 360, Romance from dandelions for a cappella choir and soprano H 364, Mikeš z hor for solos, choir and instruments H 375
Prague Philharmonic Choir, conductor Lukáš Vasilek. Soloists: Pavla Vykopalová – soprano, Jiří Brückler – baritone, Ivo Kahánek – piano, Jaromír Meduna – recital ad.

In 1955, when Miloslav Bureš sent Bohuslav Martinů his first poem, The Song of the Student Rubínka, he touched the deepest parts of the composer's heart. The poet set it in the Highlands, in the region of the composer's childhood and memories. Martinů must have seen himself in the person of an old pilgrim returning to his native region. The Opening of the Wells was completed in 9 days, and Mikeš z hory completed the setting of four of Bureš's poems half a year before his death. The cantatas represented an important connection with the homeland for the composer at a time when the political situation and later failing health kept taking away the hope of returning home. What must he have experienced when he listened to the gramophone record with the first supraphonic recording, Opening the Wells, in Schönenberg, Switzerland, when he received news from friends about the Czech premieres of his compositions... The new PFS recording on this CD is based on the prepared critical edition, taking into account the author's manuscripts and interpretation requirements. The highest interpretation demands and a return to the composer's original idea, that is the credo of this recording and its protagonists.