Classical Music

This new release features music that paints an interesting picture of the musical life of Prague during the reign of Charles IV (1316-1378). During the reign of Charles IV, Prague blossomed into its beauty. The art, music, and architecture that it acquired during this time is evident, and the King was exceptionally supportive of the city’s cultural and spiritual life. The track list is divided into seven sections, each painting a picture of the music of Charles’ time through different lenses of the king’s day to day life: Charles and France, Charles and Relics, Charles and the University, Charles and Courtly Love, Charles and Slavic Liturgy, and Charles and the Worship of Saints. Performers on this album include the Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, soprano Hana Blazikova, and Jakub Kydlicek and Monika Reslerova on recorders.

Leo� Jan�cek is one of the composers who brought fame to Czech music worldwide, and his Glagolitic Mass, Sinfonietta and mature operas are regularly performed on prominent stages around the globe. Yet the composer's folk-based works have remained relatively little known, even though traditional songs pulsate in the very heart of his music, significantly forming his singular idiom, and serving as a source of inspiration without which Jan�cek's oeuvre simply cannot be imagined. Owing to the artist's collecting passion, today we can enjoy numerous lovely songs which have been preserved in both music scores and period audio recordings. The collections Moravian and Hukvaldy Folk Poetry in Songs contain the most beautiful of them all. Jan�cek left the songs in their pure form, afforded to them by the landscape and the people living in it, merely - and with the sensitivity of a precious painting restorer - furnishing them with congenial piano accompaniments. The landscape and the language of Jan�cek's Hukvaldy and Moravia have also been imprinted in the very souls of the artists who have recorded this album, focusing on the purity of folk songs, reflecting simple directness and enchanting poetics. The present recording is the fruit of their joint seeking and endeavor to get in touch with the candid and deeply symbolic world of the songs. Into the very heart of Jan�cek's singular musical universe

What Romani children lack is the sense of being welcome in the society. Their journey out of the vicious circle of living in the settlements and city ghettos into a world where they are expected to do things, where they can find confidence and achieve, is one of the hardest imaginable. The Chavorenge choir represents an environment motivating them to pursue their dreams and give their life paths meaning. With this creed, Ida Kelarov� has been collaborating with the Czech Philharmonic for the past five years. The result is a project that gives a number of children the above-mentioned hope. What has been achieved? Almost forty concerts have taken place in the Rudolphinum in Prague. Performances and workshops have been given in other places all over the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Most importantly, however, this project has influenced lives of numerous Romani children and youngsters. By participating in it, they relate to their own cultural roots, experience self-esteem and discover their unique life paths. After several summer camps called "Romano drom" (Romani way) held in East Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Chavorenge set out to record an album in collaboration with the Czech Philharmonic and many guests. The catchy, extremely lively but at times also sad tunes emanate an energy that hardly anybody can resist.

Twenty-six year old violinist Josef Špaček is fast emerging as one of the most talented virtuosos of his generation, and for his Supraphon debut he’s chosen works by Slavonic composers. The pianist Miroslav Sekera is a wonderful partner to Špaček on the recording, as are the superb and inspiring acoustics of the Dvořák Hall of Prague’s Rudolfinum.

Isn't it possible to turn some local material into duets, for example Moravian songs? This question was posed by Jan Neff, himself from Moravia, who grew tired of repeating German songs over and over again at the piano with his wife and Anton�n Dvor�k. His question in fact stood at the birth of Moravian Duets and also marked the beginning of Dvor�k's journey abroad. "Why not, find good lyrics and I will take care of the rest." When the composer got the first selection of folk songs from Su�il's collection, he decided to take only the lyrics and provide them with his own tunes. As soon as the duets got into the hands of Johannes Brahms (who was a member of a committee that assessed Dvor�k's application for a state scholarship), the well-established composer did not hesitate to recommend them to his Berlin publisher Fritz Simrock. "When you play them, you will enjoy them just as I did, and as a publisher you will especially be pleased by their unique beauty." It was Simrock who initiated the composition of a four-hand version of the Slavonic Dances that led to Dvor�k's first major international success. The present recording is unique in another aspect as well: the complete set of 23 Moravian Duets have been played and recorded on Dvor�k's original grand piano, a 1879 B�sendorfer that is a pride of the Anton�n Dvor�k Museum in Prague. The challenge was taken hold of by young musicians who are not only crowned by international laurels but also possess a sensitivity both for the charm of Dvor�k's songs and the unique timbres of the instrument touched by the composer's own hands.

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

Classical Music

One of the fastest-rising talents on the Prague jazz scene. The Prague Post "Libor �moldas is, together with David Doru�ka, Petr Zelenka and also Roman Pokorn�, among the leading Czech jazz guitar players." Harmonie "His trio plays rhythmical-solid music, which is significant for so called 'new Czech jazz generation', open, fresh, very own and with international qualities" Czech radio "This unique trio has a modern approach of contemporary jazz players but also respects jazz tradition, and that's the way it should be!" NajPonk "While his tone is entirely in keeping with the modern mainstream idiom, he tends to be more rhythmically assertive than a lot of the players he might cite as influences." AllAboutJazz Libor �moldas has been one of the busiest jazz guitarists on Prague's scene for last years. He studied at both the Jaroslav Je�ek Conservatory and it's Post-Secondary School. He plays with such legends of Czech jazz as Najponk, Jarom�r Honz�k, Radek Zapadlo, Yvonne Sanchez, Jir� Slav�cek, Petr Dvorsk�, Josef Feco and David Doru�ka, and also musicians from abroad (Bob Montgomery, Steve Fishwick, Osian Roberts, Lukasz Zyta, Pavel Wlosok). Libor writes his own music, performing it mainly with his trio (CD On the playground, 2007). He is also a member of Ondrej Pivec's band Organic Quartet, with which he has performed at numerous European festivals (England, Germany, Austria, France, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania...) and recorded albums Never Enough and Don't Get Ideas. The album was awarded the 2006 Andel award for Best Czech Album in the jazz and blues category and was also widely praised in the international press. In 2005 he was awarded a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music. �moldas also teaches jazz guitar at the Post-Secondary School of the Jaroslav Je�ek Conservatory, and occasionally at New York University's Prague campus. Since 2008 he is a member of Czech Jazz Society's managing board. Libor �moldas was born on February 17, 1982 in Olomouc, but has lived in Prague since his childhood. He devoted himself to music at an early age, starting with the recorder and trumpet, then beginning to play guitar when he was twelve. After initial forays into rock and blues he began to take an interest in jazz, mainly due to his fascination with the recordings of Charlie Parker. At sixteen he was already appearing in Prague jazz clubs with the blues band of American singer Phil Speat, as well as at Sunday jam sessions at U Mal�ho Glena. He took guitar lessons from Josef Kustka, Lubo� Andr�t, Zdenek Fi�er and Petr Zelenka. After finishing primary school he attended the Evropsk� High School of Music in Prague before being admitted to the jazz guitar department of the Jaroslav Je�ek Conservatory as a student of Jir� �indler in 2001. Two years later he transferred into the Conservatory's newly-opened Post-Secondary School, which is directed by Jarom�r Honz�k. There he studied under Petr Binder, Josef �tep�nek and David Doru�ka; after graduating he himself became a professor of guitar and ensemble performance. In 2005 he went to Freiburg to audition for a scholarship to the prestigious American conservatory, the Berklee School of Music. Although he was awarded a scholarship, he decided to remain in Prague. That same year he played in Brazilian Mood, the band of Polish-Cuban singer Yvonne Sanchez, opening for Billy Cobham on a tour of Turkey and Cyprus. He performs regularly with organist Ondrej Pivec and his Organic Quartet at numerous European festivals, including Cheltenham, Sibiu, Kishinev, Prague Spring, Jazz Brno and the Phillips Jazz Festival Prague (winning the Phillips Festival award in 2005). Together with the quartet, he recorded the albums Never Enough (2007) and Don't Get Ideas (2006), the latter of which won the 2006 Andel award for Best Czech Jazz Album and was widely praised in both the Czech and international press. (AllAboutJazz, Hammondbeat USA, Music Web International, Harmonie, Lidov� noviny). With the Libor �moldas Trio he performs mostly his own music, although the ensemble also accompanied American trumpeter Bob Montgomery at his 2007 concert in Prague as well as British trumpet player Steve Fishwick. The trio was also chosen to perform at prestigious festival Young Prague in 2007. The first CD of this group will be out in august 2007. Since 2006 he has also been performing with his wife, singer Vendula �moldasov�, whose repertoire consists primarily of Brazilian bossa nova. Despite his young age, Libor �moldas is an inseparable part of the Prague jazz scene, working with the legends of Czech jazz as well as with promising young players. He teaches at the Jaroslav Je�ek Post-Secondary School of Jazz and at New York University's Prague campus, composes his own music, and is generally considered one of the best Czech jazz guitarists.

Classical Music

Schubert's music is as naive as the poet's expressions; the emotions contained in the poems are as deeply reflected in his own feelings, and these are so brought out in sound that no-one can sing or hear them without being touched to the heart. Thus read a Viennese critic's review of Winterreise, a true masterpiece published in the final year of the composer's life. Enthralled by the verse of Wilhelm Muller (1794-1827), Schubert slightly changed the order of the poems so as to make a story - of a wanderer, a homeless man, unrequited in love and disappointed by the whole word. A tale that has always prompted questions as to what degree it reflects the personal experiences of the two artists, the poet and the musician, coevals whose lives ended too soon. The motif of a vagrant, an outcast loner, was characteristic of 19th-century Romanticism, yet it seems to resonate with the feeling of solitude of those living today. Possessing a robust, colorful voice, the bass Jan Martinik inheres an immense sensitivity for expressing the intimacy of Schubert's songs. He has proved his calibre by having attained success at international competitions, as well as by having performed to great acclaim on major opera stages. Following his Supraphon debut, Martinik has recorded Winterreise, splendidly accompanied on the piano by David Marecek. The virtue of their joint music journey lies in modest simplicity and profound intimacy.