A cantata, long melody and mini-opera all at once, The Diary of One Who Disappeared is a profoundly original piece whose prosody is modelled on the scansion and intonations of Moravian poetry, like all of Janáček’s work. It is the poetic diary of a young farmer who falls in love with a gypsy and decides to go off with her and their new child. Distinctly affected by these popular poems, Janáček kept them under wraps. His love for Kamila was the inspiration for the writing of this splendid work which eventually became a recognition of his own existence.
Perhaps slightly inaccessible for those who do not understand the language or have not read the translation before listening, this vast cycle of poems is written for a tenor, with the presence of a contralto (Ester Pavlu here) and a women’s choir which is supported all the way through by an important piano part.
Born in Slovakia, the tenor Pavol Breslik sings close to his roots, taking the work from the operatic side, a rather romantic treatment which makes it considerably more successful and modifying its popular appeal. © François Hudry/Qobuz