| Content | Miloš Šafránek was in hospital for 14 days. Fortunately, everything turned out well without surgery. The letter from BM made him very happy. It answers some of his questions and requests. There is no continuation of J. A. Comenius' poem, only religious songs follow in the Canon. The poem Gilgamesh [Epic of Gilgamesh] is translated twice into English - it was published in Brno during the war in a translation by [Ferdinand] Stiebitz - but he uses hexameters after Homer. A better translation is by doc. [Lubor] Matouš, based directly on the original, using iambic, anapest, etc. verse. Lubor Matouš would make a proof copy of his translation available, but not until about a month from now. Will BM want to wait? In the meantime, BM will at least provide Stiebitz's translation.
MS doesn't know when he will get to Polička, he is still under medical supervision. Perhaps he could come before Christmas, he would like to see the snowy Highlands. On 28 September in Prague there was a very successful performance of the [2nd] MUSIC CONCERT with soloist Bruno Bělčík and conductor Václav Neumann (played by the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK). At one of the rehearsals before the concert MŠ gave a lecture about BM and his work. He has been in contact with the soloist since the holidays. It was a much better performance than three years ago with Alexander Plock.
On Monday listened to the Novaks [Duo of Eliska Novakova and Jan Novak] in THREE DANCES [probably Three Czech Dances] - they played nicely, but could have worked out the dynamics better. Tomorrow Břetislav Bakala plays in Brno the 5th SYMPHONY. On Saturday, Alena Poláková plays PRELUDIA [probably OSM PRELUDIA] for piano alongside Preludes and Fugues by Bach. The BM work is played every now and then. Also, the Smetana Quartet will perform either the 3rd or 6th. STRING QUARTET.
The MC again asks some unanswered questions from previous letters. He is interested in the opera on Goldoni [MIRANDOLINA] and the 6th. SYMPHONY. |