Jan Bartos - Vitezslav Novak: Piano Concerto - Import CD

Credits:

Jan Bartos

Description:

Celebrating the 150th anniversary of his birth. A pupil of Dvořák, admired by Brahms: the music of Vítězslav Novák, recorded by Jakub Hrůša and Jan Bartoš. When we think of Czech composers, the names that come to mind are Dvořák, Smetana, Janáček, Suk and Martinů — yet standing in their shadow is a richly gifted figure who this year (2020) marks the 150th anniversary of his birth: Vítězslav Novák (1870-1949). Here is a new release devoted to Novák's music from Jakub Hrůša, currently one of the leading lights of Czech musical life, and the much-admired pianist Jan Bartoš. The programme comprises the Piano Concerto in E minor, the set of piano pieces At Dusk, Op. 13, and the symphonic poem Toman and the Wood Nymph, Op. 40. Novák studied with Dvořák at the Prague Conservatory. He subsequently won the admiration of Brahms, who helped him get his works published. Starting out from German Romanticism, he later composed in a national style, and his music is characterised by a warmth drawn from the elements of Moravian folk music it absorbs. From 1909 to 1920 he taught at his alma mater, the Prague Conservatory, where he trained a whole generation of twentieth-century Czech composers. Written when the composer was in his mid-twenties, the Piano Concerto in E minor is a virtuosic work brimming with youthful vitality, and receives here its first studio recording. At Dusk, a solo piano work in four short movements, takes its inspiration from a poem of the same title by the Czech poet J. S. Machar (1864-1942), and is full of poetic, beautifully turned melody. The symphonic poem Toman and the Wood Nymph, from Novák's mid-thirties, is based on a poem by F. L. Čelakovský. The most ambitious of his orchestral works, it was described by the composer as an expression of "passion so violent it cannot be contained". Hrůša, who speaks of a duty to present the music of his homeland anew in this anniversary year, conducts with evident conviction. The rising Czech pianist Jan Bartoš is a formidable young talent whom Alfred Brendel has praised warmly. He made a successful concert debut at the age of fourteen under Jiří Bělohlávek and has since won prizes at numerous international competitions. His Supraphon recordings of Janáček's piano works (SU 4266), Mozart piano concertos (KKC 6155 / SU 4234) and Beethoven piano sonatas (SU 4252) have all been highly praised for their finely detailed, thoughtful music-making. King International

Tracklisting:

1.Concerto in E minor for piano and orchestra~1. Allegro energico
2.Concerto in E minor for piano and orchestra~2. Andante con sentimento
3.Concerto in E minor for piano and orchestra~3. Allegro giusto
4.At Dusk, Op. 13~1. Andante rubato
5.At Dusk, Op. 13~2. Alla Ballata
6.At Dusk, Op. 13~3. Serenade No. 1. Andante con moto
7.At Dusk, Op. 13~4. Serenade no. 2. Andante grazioso
8.Toman and the Wood Nymph, symphonic poem for orchestra, Op. 40