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Josef Suk (violinist)
Josef Suk (8 August 1929 – 7 July 2011) was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor. In his home country he carried the title of National Artist. Youth and studies Josef Suk was born in Prague, the grandson of the composer and violinist Josef Suk, and great-grandson of the composer Antonín Dvořák. After finishing high school in 1945 he entered the Prague Conservatory (1945-1951), where his teachers were Jaroslav Kocián, Norbert Kubát and Karel Šnebergr. The most important of all his teachers was Jaroslav Kocián, who started teaching him privately when Suk was 7 years old. Led by him, Suk mastered the violin art drawing from the spectacular interpretative art of his teacher, who was specific with his noble technique of tone formation. During his studies, in 1949, Suk was sent to Paris and Brussels where he represented successfully the young generation of Czech violinists. After leaving the Prague Conservatory, he spent four terms at the Academy of Pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate oceanic climate, with relatively warm summers and chilly winters. Prague is a political, cultural, and economic hub of central Europe, with a rich history and Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque architectures. It was the capital of the Kingdom of Bohemia and residence of several Holy Roman Emperors, most notably Charles IV (r. 1346–1378). It was an important city to the Habsburg monarchy and Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city played major roles in the Bohemian and the Protestant Reformations, the Thirty Years' War and in 20th-century history as the capital of Czechoslovakia between the World Wars and the post-war Communist era. Prague is home to a number of well-known cultural attractions, many of which survived the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giuseppe Guarneri
Bartolomeo Giuseppe "del Gesù" Guarneri (, , ; 21 August 1698 – 17 October 1744) was an Italian luthier from the Guarneri family of Cremona. He rivals Antonio Stradivari (1644–1737) with regard to the respect and reverence accorded his instruments, and for many prominent players and collectors his instruments are the most coveted of all. Instruments made by Guarneri are often referred to as ''Del Gesùs''. Guarneri is known as ''del Gesù'' (literally "of Jesus") because his labels after 1731 incorporated the ''nomen sacrum'', IHS (''iota-eta-sigma'') and a cross fleury. His instruments diverged significantly from family tradition, becoming uniquely his own style. They are considered equal in quality to those of Stradivari, and claimed by some to be superior. Guarneri's violins often have a darker, more robust, more sonorous tone than Stradivari's. Fewer than 200 of Guarneri's instruments survive. They are all violins, although one cello bearing his father's label, dated 173 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suk Chamber Orchestra
The Suk Chamber Orchestra (Czech: Sukův komorní orchestr) is a classical chamber orchestra named after the composer Josef Suk. It was founded by the violinist Josef Suk in 1974, on the centenary of his grandfather, the composer Josef Suk. The orchestra currently serves as resident orchestra at the W.A. Mozart Festival. It has appeared at other festivals, including the Prague Spring Festival. It is also winner of the Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ... World Award for its promotion of Czech music. External links Orchestra Homepage Musical groups established in 1974 Chamber orchestras {{Classical-ensemble-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
János Starker
János Starker (; ; July 5, 1924 – April 28, 2013) was a Hungarian-American cellist. From 1958 until his death, he taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he held the title of Distinguished Professor. Starker is considered one of the greatest cellists of all time. Biography Child prodigy Starker was born in Budapest to a father of Polish descent and a mother who had immigrated from the Russian Empire, both Jewish. His two older brothers were violinists, and the young János (named for the hospital ''Szent János kórház'' it. ''St. John's Hospital''in which he was born) was given a cello before his sixth birthday. A child prodigy, Starker made his first public performances at ages six and seven. He entered the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest to study with Adolf Schiffer and made his debut there at age 11. Starker began teaching other children at age eight, and by the time he was 12, he had five pupils. Starker counted among his strongest i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Julius Katchen
Julius Katchen (August 15, 1926 – April 29, 1969) was an American concert pianist, possibly best known for his recordings of Johannes Brahms's solo piano works. Early career Katchen was born in Long Branch, New Jersey, and debuted at age 10, playing Mozart's D minor Concerto. Eugene Ormandy heard of his debut, and invited him to perform with the Philadelphia Orchestra in New York. He studied music with his maternal grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Svet, immigrants from Europe who had taught at the Moscow and Warsaw conservatories, until he was 14. He attended Haverford College, completing a four-year degree in philosophy in three years, graduating first in his class in 1946. He went to Paris and was invited to represent the United States at the first International UNESCO Festival, where he played Beethoven's ''Emperor'' Concerto with the Orchestre National de la Radiodiffusion Française. He then toured Europe in the spring of 1947, playing recitals in Rome, Venice, Naples, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zuzana Růžičková
Zuzana Růžičková () (14 January 1927 – 27 September 2017) was a Czech harpsichordist. An interpreter of classical and baroque music, Růžičková was the first harpsichordist to record Johann Sebastian Bach's complete works for keyboard, in recordings made in the 1960s and 1970s for Erato Records. As a teenager, Růžičková was imprisoned in the Nazi concentration camps of Terezin and Auschwitz and transported to the Bergen-Belsen death camp. After the camp's liberation in April 1945, she returned to Plzeň later that year. Růžičková was the wife of Czech composer Viktor Kalabis. The couple both refused to join the Czechoslovak Communist Party which held power from 1948 to 1989, and faced political persecution as a result. Růžičková performed across the world for 50 years, recorded over 100 records, and taught such prominent musicians as Christopher Hogwood, Ketil Haugsand, Jaroslav Tůma, and Mahan Esfahani. Early years Růžičková was born in Plzeň in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Smetana Quartet
The Smetana Quartet ( cs, Smetanovo kvarteto) was a Czech string quartet that was in existence from 1945 to 1989. Personnel 1st violin * Václav Neumann (1920-1995), from 1943 to 1945 * Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1945 to 1947 * Jiří Novák (1924-2010), since 1947 2nd violin * Lubomír Kostecký (1922-2003) Viola * Jiří Neumann, from 1943 to 1945 * Václav Neumann, from 1945 to 1947 * Jaroslav Rybenský, from 1947 to 1956 * Milan Škampa (1928-2018), since 1956 Cello * Antonín Kohout (1919-2013) Origins and activities The Smetana Quartet arose from the Quartet of the Czech Conservatory, which was founded in 1943 (during the Nazi occupation) in Prague by Antonín Kohout, the cellist. With Jaroslav Rybenský and Lubomír Kostecký as first and second violins, and Václav Neumann as violist, the group gave its first performance as the Smetana Quartet on 6 November 1945, at the Municipal Library in Prague. Neumann left to pursue conducting in 1947, at which point Rybenský ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jan Panenka
Jan Panenka (8 July 192212 July 1999) was a Czech pianist. He recorded many of Beethoven's works, and he played for many years with the Suk Trio. Life Jan Panenka began his concert career in 1944, as a pupil of František Maxián at the Prague Conservatory. In 1951 he was awarded the 2nd prize at the Prague Spring International Music Competition. He attracted attention in 1959, on a concert tour to Australia and Japan with the Czech Philharmonic.Sleeve note of the Supraphon CD (SU 3547-2 101) Panenka interrupted his career in 1979, due to hand problems. He worked as a conductor, but later returned to the piano and made recordings with the Smetana Quartet. He worked also as a teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. As a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic he made also a number of gramophone recordings, including the complete piano concertos of Ludwig van Beethoven (1964–71). He was awarded the ''Grand Prix du Disque'' for the recording of violin sonatas by Leoš ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saša Večtomov
Saša Večtomov (12 December 1930 – 29 December 1989) was a Czechoslovak cellist and music pedagogue. Biography Večtomov first studied piano and cello with his father, cellist/composer Ivan Večtomov (1902–81), a soloist in the Czech Philharmonic. He continued at Prague Conservatory under the tutelage of his father, and later at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague alongside and under cellist/pedagogue . He then pursued his graduate studies at Moscow Conservatory under until 1957, and master classes at Accademia Musicale Chigiana under French cellist André Navarra. In 1951, together with Josef Suk (violin) and Jiří Hubička (piano), Večtomov established the concert ensemble Suk Trio. In 1956 he took over from Miloš Sádlo playing cello in the Czech Trio, in which he continued to perform concerts and record until his death 33 years later. He recorded many works on LP and CD as a solo performer, as well as for radio and television broadcasts. He also performed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Suk Trio
The Suk Trio was a Czech piano trio founded in 1951 and disbanded in 1990. They made their debut on March 5 at the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague with Josef Suk (violin), Jiří Hubička (piano) and Saša Večtomov (cello). The permanent member of the ensemble was Josef Suk, the grandson of the composer and name sake of the ensemble. The pianist that played the longest with the group was Jan Panenka, and the principal cellist was Josef Chuchro. In 1958 they recorded ''Dumky'' by Antonín Dvořák for German label Deutsche Grammophon, the first stereophonic recording in the history of the label. The trio performed most of the great piano trios, touring abroad and recording extensively. It received many awards, including the Grand Prix du Disque. Among their notable recordings is one of the Mendelssohn Piano Trio No. 1 which has been re-released on CD by Supraphon. The trio performed in Africa, Europe, Japan, USA, Australia etc. One of the last concerts took place on 20 May 1990 in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harold En Italie
''Harold en Italie,'' ''symphonie avec un alto principal'' (English: ''Harold in Italy,'' ''symphony with viola obbligato''), as the manuscript calls and describes it, is a four-movement orchestral work by Hector Berlioz, his Opus 16, H. 68, written in 1834. Throughout, the unusual viola part represents the titular protagonist, without casting the form as a concerto. The movements have these titles, alluding to a programme: *1. ''Harold in the mountains'' *2. ''March of the pilgrims'' *3. ''Serenade of an Abruzzo mountaineer'' *4. ''Orgy of bandits'' Creation The Italian composer Niccolò Paganini encouraged Hector Berlioz to write '. The two first met after a concert of Berlioz's works conducted by Narcisse Girard on 22 December 1833, three years after the premiere of Berlioz's '' Symphonie fantastique''. According to Berlioz' '' Memoires'', Paganini had acquired a "superb viola", a Stradivarius (the so-called "Paganini-Mendelssohn" ) — "But I have no suitable music. Would ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau
Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau (28 May 1925 – 18 May 2012) was a German lyric baritone and conductor of classical music, one of the most famous Lieder (art song) performers of the post-war period, best known as a singer of Franz Schubert's Lieder, particularly ''"Winterreise"'' of which his recordings with accompanists Gerald Moore and Jörg Demus are still critically acclaimed half a century after their release. Recording an array of repertoire (spanning centuries) as musicologist Alan Blyth asserted, "No singer in our time, or probably any other has managed the range and versatility of repertory achieved by Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Opera, Lieder and oratorio in German, Italian or English came alike to him, yet he brought to each a precision and individuality that bespoke his perceptive insights into the idiom at hand." In addition, he recorded in French, Russian, Hebrew, Latin and Hungarian. He was described as "one of the supreme vocal artists of the 20th century" and "the most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
