Epos o Gilgamešovi - CD

Bohuslav Martinů’s oratorio The Epic of Gilgamesh, H 351 (1955), for soloists, mixed choir and orchestra, uses a libretto by Martinů based on Reginald Campbell Thompson’s English translation. Lucy Crowe, Andrew Staples, Derek Welton and Jan Martiník perform with narrator Simon Callow, the Prague Philharmonic Choir conducted by Lukáš Vasilek, and the Czech Philharmonic under Manfred Honeck. Martinů spent fifteen years developing his setting of the 4,500-year-old epic, which reflects his growing interest in profound philosophical and spiritual texts and explores enduring questions of friendship, love and death. Although distinct from the avant-garde of the 1950s, the work is thoroughly modern while drawing on Martinů’s intensive interest in Baroque music and the Notre-Dame school of Paris. Its premiere in Basel on 23 January 1958 brought the composer and his work considerable success. This recording captures the original English-sung version, performed in Prague in January 2017, and reveals the work’s spiritually profound dimension with extraordinary emotional intensity.