Phyllis Pancella, Hui-Ting Yang, Hana Brožová, Jitka Hosprová - Kubík: Vocal Works (2018)

This new album presents a selection of the vocal works for mezzo-soprano and various instrumental settings by the recently deceased Czech composer Ladislav Kubík during the period 2012-2016, complemented with one of his earlier compositions, River in Spring on a text by Franz Kafka (1996). Kubík’s lifelong interest in poetry and prose, demonstrated over the years by his numerous vocal works, has been ranging from the ancient Latin texts and traditional Japanese poems through Rilke, Pasternak and Kafka to the 20th century Czech, Slovak, American, and Polish poetry. Equally wide is the range of musical forms and genres that bear the poetic message; they include large choral works as well as miniature songs, various chamber music combinations, and non-traditional vocal applications, sometimes in symbiosis with an electronic component. Amongst these works, a special place in Kubík’s compositional output belongs to the works for mezzo-soprano, partially generated and inspired by the composer’s collaboration with the notable mezzo-soprano Phyllis Pancella. Three of the included works, 24 Haiku, To Be a Poet, and Magdalene are dedicated to Pancella. Her performance is effectively supported by Taiwanese- American pianist Hui-Ting Yang and the Czech musicians Jitka Hosprov (viola) and Hana Brozova (flute), as well as the excellent and for New Music always enthusiastic Florida State University Percussion Ensemble with Alexander Jimnez (conductor).