Leoš Janáček left behind a small but high-quality oeuvre for piano. The dramatic Piano Sonata 1.X.1905 is literally off the street. On that date (October 1, 1905), the composer saw how a worker was fatally hit by a bayonet during a peaceful demonstration. The deeply shocked composer then processed his emotions in his only piano sonata. The story goes that after the first performance, Janáček
… felt so frustrated that he threw the score in the river. Afterwards, only the first two parts could be reconstructed with the help of the pianist at the premiere. The cycle Op Een Overwoekerd Pad also has a messy tradition. The cycle is divided into two halves. The pieces of the first half were published by Janáček in 1911. These pieces were accompanied by descriptive titles, such as A Blown Away Leaf and The Barn Owl Has Not Flown Away Yet. The second half consists of five residual products, only two of which were completed by the composer. On this CD Jan Batroš only plays those completed pieces. Batroš deliberately omits the other three, because they have not been completed (and therefore authorized) by the composer. (HJ)more
