Composers: Janáček
Compositions: The Diary of One Who Disappeared, Říkadla, Moravian Folk Poetry
Performers: Nicky Spence t, Julius Drake p, Václava Housková ms, VOICE, Victoria Samek cl
Catalogue Number: Hyperion CDA68282

In 1917, Janáček fell in love with Kamila Stösslová, a married woman some 40 years his junior. Although the composer himself was also married, and the jury is out on whether they ever consummated the relationship, it was Stösslová who inspired the 63-year-old Janáček’s final creative blossoming.

The Diary of One Who Disappeared is the first fruit of that relationship. The story of a village ploughboy who falls for a gypsy girl, eventually leaving...