Laska Opravdiva (True Love)

Leoš Janáček (July 1854 – August 1928) was a Czech composer, musical theorist, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian and other Slavic music, including Eastern European folk music to create an original, modern musical style. Until 1895 he devoted himself mainly to folkloristic research. While his early musical output was influenced by contemporaries such as Dvořák, his later, mature works incorporate his earlier studies of national folk music in a modern, highly original synthesis, first evident in the opera Jenufa. The success of Jenufa gave Janáček access to the world's great opera stages. His later works are his most celebrated. They include operas such as Káťa Kabanová and The Cunning Little Vixen, the Sinfonietta, the Glagolitic Mass, the rhapsody Taras Bulba, plus two string quartets, and other chamber works. Along with Dvořák and Smetana, he is considered one of the most important Czech composers.