It is always a privilege exploring the fertile universe of the Moravian composer Leoš Janáček. Listeners and musicians approaching his scores never fail to be moved by his inexhaustible inventiveness and originality, qualities that allowed him to substantially shape an innovative style that would influence generations of future creators. There are so many elements to admire in his work—from the dynamism of his musical thought, his rhythmic vitality, his superb, experimental use of harmony, and his fascinating orchestration, to his profound psychological insight into the major roles of his operas.
Throughout his career, Sir Simon Rattle has repeatedly returned to the output of the Czech master, proving himself to be one of his most important champions. Both in concert and on disc, he demonstrates a deep affinity for his unique vision. As part of an ongoing project to perform in concert and record the composer’s operas with the London Symphony Orchestra for the ensemble’s own label, The Excursions of Mr. Brouček was recently issued, captured live in May 2025 at the Barbican Hall. While I had planned to attend the performance, I unfortunately missed it; however, this exceptional document now offers the opportunity to enjoy a reference rendering.
Although Rattle has explored many of the composer’s other stage works during his career, he conducted this particular piece for the first time relatively recently, on 16 March 2015, as part of a successful staging by the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. Listening to this new album, one immediately notices the vivid, direct way the maestro brings the comic and sarcastic elements of the score to the surface. The opera tracks a convivial landlord who stumbles out of a pub and lapses into two frenzied hallucinations. In the first half, he lands on the Moon, where he parodies the overly sensitive, flower-sniffing aesthetic artists who live there. In the second, he plummets into the 15th century, exposing his own modern cowardice alongside heroic medieval warriors, right before he wakes up inside a beer barrel.
Driven by a clear personal affection for the music, Rattle encourages the always superb LSO and his singers to reveal the work’s intricate tapestry. The composer’s audacious, meticulous writing emerges with absolute clarity. The vocal roster is excellent in every way, singing with a vivid theatricality that makes the action unfold before one’s eyes. The conductor urges them to emphasise the rhythmic elements while frequently bringing the music’s polyphonic architecture to the fore.
Peter Hoare is magnificent as the eccentric landlord. Because Janáček’s satirical narrative shifts from Earth to the Moon and back to the 15th century, the remaining ensemble singers masterfully cover multiple roles across the changing settings. Soprano Lucy Crowe—who has previously tackled the title role in Janáček’s iridescent The Cunning Little Vixen—brings her consummate musicality and rigorous precision to the primary female roles of Málinka, Etherea, and Kunka. Meanwhile, talented tenor Aleš Briscein, an experienced Janáček interpreter, successfully handles the matching male triad of Mazal, Blankytný, and Petřík. Significantly, Briscein also took part in Jiří Bělohlávek’s lauded Deutsche Grammophon version—captured live, in February 2007, again at the Barbican— delivering a versatile multi-role assignment as The Composer, Harfoboj / Oblačný, and Vaček Bradatý.
Pliant baritones Gyula Orendt—portraying the Sacristan, Svatopluk, Lunobor, and Domšík—and Lukáš Zeman, as Würfl, Čaroskvoucí, and the Councillor, handle their parts expertly.
The cast is rounded out splendidly by soprano Doubravka Novotná (the Waiter, Child Prodigy, and Student), mezzo-soprano Hanna Hipp (Kedruta), tenor Stephan Rügamer (the Artist, Bohuslav, and Vojta), baritone Arttu Kataja (the Poet, Oblačný, and Vacek), and tenor Linard Vrielink (the Composer, Harfoboj, and Miroslav).
I have no doubt that this musically and technically impeccable performance, recorded with a care that beautifully captures the atmosphere of the live event, will find many admirers. Considering how few documented readings of this masterpiece exist, the release is a must-have not only for Janáček aficionados but also for wider audiences ready to explore a rara avis of the operatic repertoire. It stands as another jewel in the LSO Live label’s Janáček Operas series. I am already counting down to the upcoming additions that will complete this monumental cycle: The Makropulos Affair (already recorded at the Barbican Hall in January 2026) and From the House of the Dead (expected to join the series in 2028).
