Since 2004 alone, some 12 new member states have joined the European Union within the enlargement process. Along with the new territory, the EU has also integrated the history, culture and tradition of each of these countries. A national anthem often reflects one of the most significant chapters in a country’s history and in some cases it refers to the very beginnings of its existence. This new recording of the national anthems of all current EU member states affords the listener the possibility of discovering the diversity concealed beneath the unifying blue flag. Besides possible use on international occasions and during state celebrations, our CD also provides an excursion into the history and traditions of each of the EU countries.

The common denominator of the recordings of these three virtuoso concertos is the name of the soloist. In 1932 František Hanták, still a student, was called up by Václav Talich to assume the post of first oboe of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Hanták was concurrently a member of Czech Nonet and later on also performed with the Czech Wind Quintet and the ground-breaking ensemble Ars rediviva. Following on from the previous CD comprising concertos by Mozart, Richard Strauss and Martinu (SU39552), this album features other gems from Hanták’s discography in Supraphon’s archives: the legendary 1951 recording of Kramár’s Concerto in F major, the “Haydn” concerto (with the yet to be clarified question of its authorship), with the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Mozart’s lovely Sinfonia concertante, K 297b, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Václav Smetácek (1965).

The charming young soprano Martina Janková has amid fierce international competition established a firm position within her category. Since 1998 she has been a soloist of the Zurich Opera, working with conductors of such renown as Gardiner, Harnoncourt, Fedoseyev, Herreweghe and Rattle. Under Gardiner, she has also participated in recordings of Bach's cantatas. Yet, as in the case of this album, she keeps returning to the song repertoire, which simply suits her voice perfectly. Her Haydn is unpretentious, yet she captures all the nuances of expression and colour amid the spectrum of moods of individual songs.

The central figures of the CD are two colleagues from the Berliner Philharmoniker – first horn Radek Baborák and first clarinet Wenzel Fuchs. On this recording, accompanied by the members of Baborak Ensemble, they present themselves both as phenomenal soloists without technical limits and as experienced chamber players. In a novel dramaturgy, they introduce lesser known and rarely recorded works (Koechlin), alongside compositions performed more frequently..

The cantata Opening of the Wells, one of Martinu’s most intimate professions of love for his native land, simply cannot be absent from the Supraphon catalogue. The composition is inspired by the ancient custom of saying good-bye to the winter and welcoming the spring, when children come to “open” springlets and purify them of deposits of sludge. A “rite of spring”, yet one entirely different to that we know from Stravinsky. In the character of the wanderer, the composer himself too returns to his native land – at least in his memories, since from 1938 until the end of his life he had no chance to come back home. Martinu also completed the other two cantatas – Legend of the Smoke from Potato Fires and Mikeš of the Mountains – in the final years of his life, homesick, with the memory of his native region and folk songs in his heart.

When the violin maestro Josef Suk, celebrating his 80th birthday this year, recorded for Supraphon a CD of Antonín Dvorák’s and Josef Suk’s chamber works (SU 3976-2) last year, the reviewers marvelled at the album’s intimate mood, tone and interpretational directness. These attributes are also characteristic of his latest release, “Romance”. On these 30-year-old recordings, Suk is backed by the two finest Czech orchestras. The album is abounding in the very qualities synonymous with Suk’s illustrious name: the beautiful, mellow and cultivated tone of his Stradivarius, sparkling technique and depth of feeling. These pieces by Czech and foreign composers are as though tailored to Suk’s virtuosity.

Legendary, critically acclaimed Suk recordings of Martinù’s concertos in newly re-mastered form. In 1973, together with the conductor Georg Solti, Josef Suk premiered Martinù’s first violin concerto in Chicago. This 'Paris-era' concerto was originally written for the famous violinist Samuel Dushkin. However, it was later mislaid, only to be rediscovered and premiered some 40 years later.

Janácek’s The Cunning Little Vixen has of late been appearing ever more frequently on the stages of opera houses worldwide. Two seemingly different worlds – the animal and human – blend together in their relentless cycle and consequently the work poses a great challenge to staging teams. Janácek’s specific musical phraseology brings to the story a unique emotional depth which, given a heart-felt interpretation, resonates in the audience’s souls. In Supraphon’s catalogue this masterwork features in two complete recordings – those by the conductors Bohumil Gregor (1970) and Václav Neumann (1980). The latter had previously recorded the opera back in 1957 with the soloists Hana Böhmová (Bystrouška, the vixen), Rudolf Asmus (Forester), Libuše Domanínská (Goldskin, the fox) and other superlative singers.

The origination of Mozart’s extensive Clarinet Quintet in A major (1789), as well as that of Brahms’s opus some hundred years later (1891), was primarily inspired by the mastery of a virtuoso clarinettist. In the case of Mozart, it concerned the famous Anton Stadler, to whom the composer also dedicated other solo compositions for clarinet. The piece’s 1789 premiere in Vienna was concurrently the premiere of the basset clarinet, in whose construction Stadler himself participated. Brahms was inspired to write his Quintet by the clarinettist Richard Mühlfeld. Bearing witness to the composition’s success is the fact that at its premiere (1891) the second movement with the melody spiced up “Hungarian-style” was repeated on no less than three occasions.

The Suk Trio is one of the most historically present and enduring piano trios from Czechoslovakia. Although the piano and cello chairs have been filled by several different musicians since the group's formation in 1951, the most historically and musically notable member has always been violinist Josef Suk, grandson of composer Josef Suk and great-grandson of the venerable Antonin Dvorák. This album, featuring the greatest hits of Beethoven's piano trios (numbers 3, 5, and 7) and Schubert's First Piano Trio, was originally recorded in the mid-'60s. The disc's remastered sound is pleasingly clear and clean. Each of the trio's members is exceptionally skilled. Technical execution cannot be faulted; articulation between the strings is abundantly crisp and refined.

Having already checked off the second (and by far most popular) cello sonata of Bohuslav Martinu in his first album for the Supraphon label, cellist Tomás Jamnik (all of 23 years old at the time of this recording) has set his sights on Martinu's Third Cello Sonata. Other works on this program include the Suita balladica for Cello and Piano of Petr Eben and the Sonata for Cello and Piano of Lubos Sluka. All of these works share not only a common Czech pedigree, but were composed within about five years of each other. Though they were all heavily influenced by the Czech folk music tradition, they are stylistically contrasting, resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable program of works not likely to be found anywhere else. As in his first album, Jamnik again proves himself to be an artist to watch. His technique is remarkably well developed and he skips nimbly around his instrument with apparent ease.

Supraphon's Bohuslav Martinu: Chamber Music with Viola is part of their undesignated, but apparently aiming to be complete, survey of Martinu's works and concentrates on viola-driven chamber music dating from the last dozen years left to the eminent Czech composer. All but seven of those years were spent in New York City, where he taught at Mannes College of Music; during his time in New York Martinu forged a great many friendships with talented American musicians, including violist Lillian Fuchs and her husband, violinist Joseph Fuchs. Along with those two, Martinu made the acquaintance of pianist and Polish émigré Artur Balsam .

There probably isn't a recording anywhere of Johann Sebastian Bach's six Brandenburg Concertos that can match the breakneck speeds of the performances by early music specialist Marek Stryncl and his virtuoso period ensemble Musica Florea. In cases where a jaunty Allegro or Allegro moderato can be assumed, Stryncl opts for Presto, or even Prestissimo, apparently with sound scholarship to back up his choices. This may be a legitimate Baroque practice (lay listeners could not know otherwise, without access to Stryncl's research), but there is a point where the rapid tempos will seem unduly hasty and become irritating to anyone who wants to linger over such niceties as instrumental color, articulation, harmony, and counterpoint.

Naïve releases the third volume dedicated to Vivaldi’s violin concertos in its ground breaking project, the Vivaldi Edition. Multi award-winning violinist Duilio Galfetti is accompanied by acclaimed early music ensemble I Barocchisti under the direction of Diego Fasolis.

The music of Robert Schumann and the artistry of Sviatoslav Richter are a natural match. Schumann was loathe to use flashy, purely virtuosic elements in his compositions, a fact brilliantly illustrated in the vast majority of his works for solo piano. Rather, Schumann was much more likely to tell a story, paint a picture, or read a poem through his music, although his works were not overtly programmatic. Richter possessed a technique virtually unrivaled during his career and was able to definitively toss off even the most technically demanding works. At his heart, however, Richter was a poet and an artist with profound musical insights and introspections.