ArcoDiva’s Czech Contemporary Music for Oboe features compositions by four of the finest senior composing figures in contemporary Czech music: Jiří Teml (b. 1935), Jaroslav Krček (b. 1939), Zdeněk Šesták (b. 1925) and Jan Málek (b. 1938). Performing these works on both oboe d’amore and English horn is Gabriela Krčková, an outstanding Czech oboist and musician to whom many of the works were dedicated. Supporting Ms. Krčková on this CD release is Musica Bohemica, Prague, a chamber ensemble with an almost thirty year tradition and more than three-dozen releases to date.
J.S. Bach clearly thought of the solo Cello Suites as real cycles (no key repetition), while their textures are not as strongly polyphonic as those of his works for the solo violin. It is sometimes thought, therefore, that they were written somewhat earlier, but that is only an assumption. Their invention, technical prowess and form guarantee Bach's output for solo cello it's permanent place in the repertoire, as well as representing a great challenge to every cellist. A member of the Martinu Quartet, Jitka Vlasánková ranks among the finest of contemporary Czech cello soloists.
Prague Philharmonia Wind Quintet plays charming music for wind instruments and piano - for this time they play together with one of the most renowned Czech classical pianists - Ivan Klánský. The repertory of recording is very colorful and inspiring. To put Mozart, Martinu and Poulenc side by side seems entirely natural in programme design terms. Both Martinu (1890-1959) and Poulenc (1899-1963) had found in Mozart one of the main founts for their own neoclassical music. The recording is opened by Mozart's Piano Quintet in E flat major for oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn and piano. Sextet FP 100 by Francis Poulenc for wind quintet and piano is imbued with a typical Parisian nonchalance, French colouring and with Poulenc's mischievousness balanced out with his firm faith. Bohuslav Martinu's Sextet seems to be more like a suite (5 parts composition), but the music of each of the movements is very original and enjoyable. Prague Philharmonia Wind Quintet with Ivan Klánský are presenting us highly professional and truly enjoyable interpretation of all these pieces.
The new recording captures the concert and instrumental compositions of the prominent Czech middle-generation artist Jaroslav Krček. Jaroslav Krcek, born on April 22, 1939, near Ceske Budejovice in southern Bohemia, is a renowned Czech composer strongly influenced by his national folk heritage. He studied composition with Miloslav Kabelac and conducting with Bohumir Liska at the Prague Conservatory of Music. After graduation in 1962, he became a music editor for the recording company Supraphon, and also worked for Plzen Radio and Prague Radio. For over twenty years he has conducted the renowned ensemble Musica Bohemica, which has delighted many audiences at European music festivals. From his intensive study and long- time experience with folk music, Krcek has transformed nearly a thousand simple tunes into masterful arrangements. His catalog also includes three symphonies, a Double Concerto for Oboe, Harp and Orchestra, the opera Raab, the Harlot, which received an international prize in Zurich and many chamber compositions. This release includes his Oboe concerto, Three Dances in Old Style, and The Music to Lusatian Sorb fable “The Secret of the Old Mill.”
This new album from notable Czech mezzosoprano Eva Garajová with great pianist Miroslav Sekera presents Slovak Songs by Czech composer Vítezslav Novák (1870-1949). Slovak Songs is released on these two albums as a world premiere and it shows the versatility of the composer's creative profile as well as the amazing musicality of both performers. Eva Garajová is considered to be one of the greatest performers of song literature of her generation in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Her highly authentic recordings for music publisher Arco Diva have also raised attention on the international music scene.
This release includes four Concertos for harpsichord written by Joseph Anton Steffan who was one of the most prominent composers of Czech origin living in Vienna in 18th century. He was born in the small Bohemian village of Kopidlno, and thanks to his talent he made an international name for himself. In his best works he touched on the new horizon of Romanticism. His compositions became some of the most substantial sources of Mozart's inspiration. His catalog is dedicated primarily to keyboard instruments- in addition to other compositions he wrote more than 40 keyboard concertos. He was a favorite composer among the noble families and rich burghers, although he has now been almost forgotten in music history. The present release features Edita Keglerova and the Hipocondria Ensemble performing Steffan's Concertos for Harpsichord.
Pianist Jan Schulmeister (b. 2006) belongs to the sixth generation of the Cerný-Schulmeister musical family. Jan Schulmeister has been playing the piano since he was five years old. He is a student of Bc. Eva Zonová at Elementary Art School in Kromeríž. Since the age of seven he regularly participates in national and international piano competitions where he gathers the highest awards. He cooperates with many Czech orchestras such as Brno Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra in Olomouc and Prague chamber Orchestra. He performed under the conduction of personalities such as Tomáš Netopil, Davies or Jakub Klecker. On this release, he presents a Romantic program of works by Johannes Brahms, Frederic Chopin, and Robert Schumann.
Mahler Contemporaries, a live concert recording from the Gustav Mahler Festival 2014, offers a range of well and lesser-known songs by friends, contemporaries and collaborators of Mahler, including Hugo Wolf, Pauline Viardot, Hans Rott, Richard Strauss, Arnold Schönberg and Bruno Walter, among others. The world premiére recording of Czech composer Josef Bohuslav Foerster’s Stabat Mater, Op. 56 opens proceedings; several of his songs also feature. Sung by winners of Karlsbad Int’l Singing Competition, the concert was recorded in the same Jihlava Church where Mahler started to listen to music.
The new album Lady Viola presents various viola repertoire performed by Czech eminent violist Kristina Fialová. Pieces on this release include by Rebecca Clarke, Sylvie Bodorová, Lillian Fuchs and more. Fantasia for Solo Viola by Sláva Vorlová is world premiere recording. Kristina Fialová has been primarily praised by the critics for her impeccable technique, impassioned performance and sophisticated musical sentiment. After winning the Michal Spisak International Competition in Katowice, Poland, she was invited to the major concert stages around the world. Her appearance at the prestigious Tivoli Festival in Denmark was followed by her debuting in Tonhalle Zürich, Cologne philharmonic hall, Sumida Triphony hall in Tokio, Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima and giving a recital at the Prague Spring festival.
Glinka, Chopin, Dvorák, Tchaikovsky & Rachmaninov: Songs for
ArcoDiva
CD
$14.99$18.99Save 20%Aug 12, 2016
Anda-Louise Bogza is a leadering operatic soprano who performs in renowned opera houses across Europe. She has performed in starring roles such as Aida and Tosca, and here presents a programme of songs from composers Glinka, Chopin, Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, and Rachmaninoff. Especially notable on this release is the inclusion of the songs by Chopin, which have been rarely recorded. Talented pianists Marcel Javorcek and Galina Aleshkevich accompany Bogza for these works.
On this new release, two outstanding instrumentalists, Miriam Rodriguez Brullova and Petr Nouzovsky, have recorded songs from the world champions of classical music- Faure, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Ravel, Schubert, and others. This release is a demonstration of the supreme virtuosity of both performers, and the juxtaposition of guitar and cello, a rarely heard combination, creates interesting sound combinations. Guitarist Miriam Rodriguez Brullova studied at the State Conservatory in Bratislava. After receiving a degree in interpretation and pedagogy, she studied with Alvaro Pierri at Universite du Quebec a Montreal and Universite Laval in Quebec City. She has performed as a soloist alongside ensembles like the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra, North Czech Philharmonic, and others. Czech cellist Petr Nouzovsky has embarked upon an impressive career. He made his debut in Amsterdam’s famed Concergebouw Hall in 2008. Since then, he has regularly appeared in major venues in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kyoto, Alger, The Hague, and Buenos Aires.
Prague Kaleidoscope contains several premiere works of today’s most promising Czech composers. Recorded by Duo Teres, an outstanding violin and guitar duo, the ensemble brings a beautiful testimony of contemporary Czech composition and musicianship. Duo Teres is comprised of violinist Lucia Fulka Kopsova, and guitarist Tomas Honek. Composers featured on this disc include Martin Brunner, Jan Freidlin, Karel Ruzicka, Lukas Hurnik, Ondrej Kukal, and Matej Benko.
Although programmatic, Bedrich Smetana’s string quartets do not deal with historical or social themes.
Instead, they express the composer’s subjective feelings through the medium of chamber music.
The Wihan Quartet, formed in 1985 and still made up of the original four members, has developed an outstanding reputation for the interpretation of its native Czech repertoire as well as the many classical, romantic and modern masterpieces of the repertoire.
MusicWeb-International “Recording of the Month”
This recording includes works by two leading Czech composers, both of them women. Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940) lived in the first half of the twentieth century, and the career of Sylvie Bodorova (b. 1954) has spanned the final decades of the twentieth century up through the most recent years of the twenty-first. Both composers have excelled in all musical genres, except that Kapralova's shortlife precluded her from exploring the world of opera, her final planned project.
Bodorova, Haas, Jirovec & Skroup: TrioTones - Czech Chamber Music
ArcoDiva
CD
$18.99May 03, 2024
The impulse to create this album was the 10th anniversary of TrioTones and in the Year of Czech Music, TrioTones presents its debut album "Czech Chamber Music". In this album you can listen to music written between 1763 and 1980. One of the composers is also Roman Haas, a talented, partly forgotten Czech composer. The project took a year from inception to completion, and now you can finally listen to this album of exquisite Czech chamber music for clarinet, cello and piano.
Bach, Haydn, R. Schumann, Chopin, & Debussy: Piano Music / Jan Schulmeister
ArcoDiva
CD
$18.99Mar 03, 2023
Jan Schulmeister is young and promising pianist. He has been playing piano since the age of five. To this day, he has over 30 victories and special awards from national and international competitions. He also regularly performs solo concerts in both Czech and foreign countries. Now he presents his new CD with recordings of compositions by Robert Schumann, Johann Sebastian Bach and other great composers.
He said about this CD: "I see this audio recording as a kind of transition from my "junior" recordings to future ones. I am sixteen years old, and in these years my sort of imaginary journey associated with courage to join my older, already mature colleagues, the masters of black and white keys, begins."
Franz Liszt, musical genius and piano titan. When he first came to Prague in 1840, he heard and remembered Josef Theodor Krov's melody "Tešme se blahou nadejí", which was then misinterpreted as an old Hussite song. Franz Liszt, inspired by this song, has written the "Hussiten-Lied". Another Liszt’s composition you will find on this CD that is inspired by Czech/Slavic culture is "Slavimo slavno slaveni!". Naturally, Liszt left an indelible mark among Czech musicians, so you will also find Czech composers on this album.
ArcoDiva presents this new unique album of Dvořák's unreleased pieces. Despite the fact that at the moment there are many recordings of piano works by Antonín Dvořák, for whatever reason some compositions have never been included on these releases. We are now gladly presenting you those pieces for the first time on a publicly released album. All of the compositions are played by Tomáš Víšek.
Víšek is one of the most significant Czech pianists of his generation. Born in 1957, he studied at the Prague Conservatory (prof. V. Kameníková, Z. Kožina) and the Prague Academy of Arts (AMU) – first under prof. J. Páleníček and then under prof. Z. Jílek with whom he continued post-graduate studies in 1990–1993. In 2017, he obtained the Ph.D. title at the Pedagogical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague (his dissertation was titled “Attraction and Problems of the Antonín Dvořák ́s Piano Works”).
