By Carla Whalen [The Scotsman, 12 April 2010]
LIKE all good tales, Mr Broucek’s adventures begin in a bar. The “rosy-cheeked” protagonist, ridiculed by his fellow drinkers, takes a beer-fuelled nap and wakes up on the moon. Jan·cek’s clichÈd instrumentation – delicate harps, dreamy violin solo and lone oboe – announces the lunar landing. As a moon-dweller in a spacesuit strikes up conversation with the startled Broucek, a low bassoon confirms the jocular undercurrents of the surreal scene.