Karina Canellakis conducts Janáček's From a House of the Dead

Chief conductor Karina Canellakis plunges into the raw world of Janáček and Dostoevsky with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra.

Janáček's ultimate opera
Janáček's sound is characterized by a constant alternation of lyrical melodies and obstinate rhythmic passages. In his Cunning Fox this produces surprisingly colorful contrasts, while in The Makropulos Affair those elements already regularly chafe. In his very last opera, From a House of the Dead from his dying year of 1928, the title alone constitutes an omen: the lyricism is still there, but it never sounded so wry and torn. The obstinate rhythms are played - literally - by the metal chains of the prisoners featured in this work.

Beauty in a penal camp
Janáček's musical testament, which he himself was no longer able to complete, is based on Fyodor Dostoevsky's Notes from the House of the Dead. The Russian author had himself been a political prisoner in a penal camp and here draws on personal experiences. But in this bleak and highly realistic story, the bright spots are all the brighter, such as the party night where the composer's fondness for Moravian folk music comes through. Or the arioso passages that resound as the prisoners tend a wounded eagle - a bird that represents freedom and hope.