Fabrice Bollon’s Janáček project was developed during the COVID lockdown when the use of large orchestras was forbidden. Bollon wrote a version of The Cunning Little Vixen for twelve instruments – not a reduction but an imaginative recreation employing new combinations of sounds, without brass. Janáček’s vital, highly personal orchestration inspired Bollon, in his version, to make the opera more accessible and open to a wider audience. He has also compressed Šárka into a duo and written Twelve Lilies for Leoš, a colourfully scored tribute employing reminiscences from Janáček’s works.

The Cunning Little Vixen was composed in 1923 so this is its 100-year anniversary, heard in this brand-new and unique chamber arrangement by Bollon.

Fabrice Bollon has made numerous appearances with many renowned European orchestras, and from 2009 to 2021 served as general music director/chief conductor at Germany’s Theater Freiburg, overseeing numerous recordings for Naxos including a remarkable interpretation of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane in 2018 (866041012). His work in Freiburg garnered international acclaim, including Editor’s Choice accolades in Gramophone magazine and Diapason d’Or Awards, among others. He has been chief conductor of the Staatskapelle Halle and general music director of the Halle Opera since August 2022. In 2020 his album of original compositions released on Naxos (8574015) received a Choc de Classica award and an ICMA nomination.

Fabrice Bollon is a renowned conductor of French music on Naxos. His recording of Franck’s opera Hulda on 866048082 is an American Record Guide Critic’s Choice disc: ‘The conducting, playing and choral singing here are all excellent. Bollon impressively ratchets up the dramatic tension with measured inexorability: the orchestral textures, all dense strings and melancholy, sobbing woodwind, really get under your skin; and the Theater Freiburg’s choruses sound splendid throughout’ (Gramophone).

He has also recorded three discs of the music of Magnard including the symphonies (8574083 and 8574082) and orchestral music (8574084): ‘Bollon and his orchestra have the full measure of these captivating scores’ (Fanfare).

His remarkable interpretation of Korngold’s Das Wunder der Heliane in 2018 can be heard on 866041012: ‘Bollon and his orchestral and choral forces indeed do a magnificent job with this sprawling, complex late-Romantic score’ (Opera).

Cast (The Cunning Little Vixen):
- Vixen: Samantha Gaul (soprano)
- Forester: Michael Borth (baritone)
- Fox: Irina Jae-Eun Park (soprano)