Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s comedy can be a charmer on stage but it\u2019s a devil to get your head around on disc. Based on satirical stories by Svatopluk \u010cech \u2013 who even puts in an appearance in Act II \u2013 Mr Brou\u010dek (or Mr Beetle in Czech) is a petty minded, puffed-up landlord with an insatiable appetite for beer and sausages. The first half propels our sozzled antihero on an imaginary flight to the moon where he proceeds to puncture the pretensions of the artsy-fartsy inhabitants. The second half deposits him in the thick of the 15th-century Hussite wars where, cowardly to the core, he singularly fails to cover himself in glory. Amid the fun and games, the conversational text flies by at a discombobulating rate of knots.<\/p>\n
Jan\u00e1\u010dek: The Excursions of Mr Brou\u010dek, London Symphony Orchestra album cover Photograph: LSO Live<\/p>\n
This recording takes pride of place in the catalogue thanks in part to Simon Rattle\u2019s illuminating way with the music. Not only does he make it sing and dance \u2013 bagpipes and all \u2013 he brings out every quirk and colour of Jan\u00e1\u010dek\u2019s imaginative score. By giving the opera room to breathe, listeners have the best chance yet of appreciating the composer\u2019s fertile wit and gift for musical storytelling.<\/p>\n
Peter Hoare leads an outstanding cast in a performance so ripe you can almost smell the garlic on his breath. Ale\u0161 Briscein is peerless as an earthbound painter and a preening moon poet with Lucy Crowe radiant as a lunar goddess. The LSO play like fiends, and the live recording is beautifully balanced.<\/p>\n
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