Jaroslav Brezina- Janacek: The Excursions of Mr. Broucek

In April 1920, following 12 years of intricate work, Leoš Janácek's The Excursions of Mr. Broucek premiered at the National Theatre in Prague, the one and only work of his to do so. A century later, the self-same theatre's soloists, chorus and orchestra returned to the "Broucekiad" at the Rudolfinum in Prague. The present studio recording, after Neumann's and Jílek's only the third in the Supraphon catalogue, was thus in part made owing to the closure of theatres and concert halls during the recent Covid pandemic. Janácek dedicated The Excursions of Mr. Broucek to T. G. Masaryk, the first President of the newly founded Czechoslovak Republic. Declining to celebrate the two nations' acquired freedom and statehood by foregrounding Saint Wenceslas, Charles IV or another great figure of Czech history, the composer chose as the protagonist of his "national" opera one Mr. Broucek, a narrow-minded oaf, coward, hypocrite, liar, boor and drunkard. A man overly fond of food and beer, possessing a