Václav Luks (born 14 November 1970) is a Czech harpsichordist,

horn player This list of horn players and pedagogues includes notable players of French horn, German horn, natural horn, Vienna horn, tenor (alto) horn, and alphorn. B *Radek Baborák, former Principal horn Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Phil. Orch ...

, conductor,

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some m ...

and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

, founder and artistic director of the Prague baroque orchestra

Collegium 1704 Collegium 1704 is a Czech early music orchestra and choir founded in 2005 by the Czech conductor, harpsichordist, and horn player Václav Luks. The Collegium Vocale 1704 is the affiliated vocal ensemble. Since 2007, the ensemble has been making re ...

and of the vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704. He specialises in Baroque music, especially in the works of

Jan Dismas Zelenka Jan Dismas Zelenka (16 October 1679 – 23 December 1745), baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka was a Czech composer and musician of the Baroque period. His music is admired for its harmonic inventiveness and mastery of counterpoint. Zelenka was rais ...

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

, George Frideric Handel, and others. His activities have played an important role in reviving interest in the works of Czech composers including Zelenka and

Josef Mysliveček Josef Mysliveček (9 March 1737 – 4 February 1781) was a Czech composer who contributed to the formation of late eighteenth-century classicism in music. Mysliveček provided his younger friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart with significant com ...

. In 2022, Luks was awarded the title of Knight of the French Ministry of Culture, Arts and Letters.

Education

Luks studied at the Pilsen Conservatoire in classes of

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

and at the

Academy of Performing Arts in Prague The Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ( cs, Akademie múzických umění v Praze, AMU) is a university in the centre of Prague, Czech Republic, specialising in the study of music, dance, drama, film, television and multi-media. It is the larg ...

; in 1992, he resumed his studies at the

Schola Cantorum Basiliensis The Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (SCB) is a music academy and research institution located in Basel, Switzerland, that focuses on early music and historically informed performance. Faculty at the school have organized performing ensembles that have ...

in the studios of

Jörg-Andreas Bötticher Jörg-Andreas Bötticher (born 1964) is a German harpsichordist, organist and musicologist. Life Bötticher was born in Berlin. After several years of music lessons and experience as a keyboarder in a band in his youth, he studied at the Schola ...

and Jesper Christensen (in the fields of historical keyboard instruments and historical performance practice), graduating as a soloist in 1997. During his studies in Basel and in the years that followed, he gave concerts in Europe and overseas as the principal horn player of the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin.

Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704

Upon his return from abroad, Luks transformed a chamber ensemble which he founded during his studies into the Prague baroque orchestra Collegium 1704 and the affiliated vocal ensemble Collegium Vocale 1704: the most immediate impulse was the project Bach — Prague — 2005, initiated by Luks himself. Since 2007, the ensemble has been making regular guest appearances at festivals and concert halls all over Europe: the

Salzburger Festspiele The Salzburg Festival (german: Salzburger Festspiele) is a prominent festival of music and drama established in 1920. It is held each summer (for five weeks starting in late July) in the Austrian town of Salzburg, the birthplace of Wolfgang Amad ...

(2015, 2016, 2018), the

Berliner Philharmonie The Berliner Philharmonie () is a concert hall in Berlin, Germany, and home to the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The Philharmonie lies on the south edge of the city's Tiergarten and just west of the former Berlin Wall. The Philharmonie is o ...

, London’s

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadi ...

, Vienna’s

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prima ...

and Konzerthaus, the

Lucerne Festival Lucerne Festival is one of the leading international festivals in the world of classical music and presents a series of classical music festivals based in Lucerne, Switzerland. Founded in 1938 by Ernest Ansermet and Walter Schulthess, it curren ...

, BOZAR (Palais des Beaux-Arts) in Brussels, the Chopin Festival in Warsaw, Wratislavia Cantans, and the

Elbphilharmonie The Elbphilharmonie (; "Elbe Philharmonic Hall"), popularly nicknamed Elphi, is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. It is among the largest in the world. The new glassy con ...

, and it is an ensemble-in-residence at the festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht and at the Leipzig Bachfest. In 2008, Music Bridge

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

—

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

began, bringing together the two cities’ wealth of cultural traditions. In 2012 Collegium 1704 started a concert series at the

Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. Curr ...

in Prague. Since autumn 2015, the two cycles have been merged into a single concert season that continues to take place in parallel in Prague and Dresden. In 2019 Collegium Vocale 1704 launched a series of chamber choir concerts in Prague. The ensemble cooperates with prominent soloists, both Czech and international, including

Magdalena Kožená Magdalena Kožená (also Lady Rattle; ; born 26 May 1973) is a Czech mezzo-soprano. Early life Kožená was born in Brno in Czechoslovakia. Both her parents had come originally from Bohemia, to the west. She was born one of the two daughters o ...

Bejun Mehta Bejun Mehta (born 29 June 1968) is an American countertenor. He has been awarded the Echo Klassik, the Gramophone Award,http://www.gramophone.co.uk/awards/2014/contemporary Gramophone Awards 2014 Contemporary Le Diamant d’Opera Magazine, the Ch ...

, Simona Houda-Šaturová,

Martina Janková Martina Janková (born 1972, Orlová) is a Czech operatic soprano. She has been successful in a number of opera contests, including winning first prize at the competition Neue Stimmen in Gütersloh. She has been a member of the Zürich Opera since ...

, Hana Blažíková, Karina Gauvin,

Lisandro Abadie Lisandro Abadie (born 28 July 1974) is an Argentine bass-baritone. He studied in Switzerland, initially in Basel at the Schola Cantorum (music diploma in 2001) and subsequently at the Music School of Lucerne University, graduating with a solo-sin ...

, and others.

Work with other ensembles

In addition to his work with Collegium 1704, Václav Luks also collaborates with international ensembles including

Camerata Salzburg The Camerata Salzburg is an Austrian chamber orchestra based in Salzburg, Austria. The Camerata's principal concert venue is the Mozarteum University. History Bernhard Paumgartner founded the ensemble in 1952 as the ''Camerata Academica des Moz ...

, the Akademie für Alte Musik in Berlin, La Cetra Barockorchester Basel, and the

Dresdner Kammerchor The Dresdner Kammerchor (Dresden Chamber Choir) is a mixed chamber choir which was founded in 1985 by Hans-Christoph Rademann in Dresden and is still conducted by him. The semiprofessional ensemble of about 40 singers has appeared internationally. ...

. Amongst his recent projects have been performances of Purcell’s opera ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was com ...

'' with Ensemble Pygmalion at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence and a programme with works by Polish composers with the ensemble Orkiestra Historyczna. At a benefit concert for the restoration of the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, Václav Luks conducted the Orchestre nationale de France.

Teaching

Between 1996 and 1999, Luks taught basso continuo at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, and in 2001–2003 he lectured at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy” in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

. He has also worked with the Janáček Academy of Music in Brno and he is regularly invited to sit on juries of international competitions (Schmelzer-Wettbewerb Melk, Prague Spring 2012).

Opera and theatre

In 2009/2010, Collegium 1704 under Luks's baton performed Handel's ''Rinaldo'' at the National Theatre in Prague at Théâtre de Caen, Opéra de Rennes, and Grand Théâtre du Luxembourg. In 2013, they performed Josef Mysliveček’s opera '' L’olimpiade'' and the production was nominated for the 2014 International Opera Awards. In 2017, they followed with Antonio Vivaldi’s ''

Arsilda, regina di Ponto ''Arsilda, regina di Ponto'' is a dramma per musica by Antonio Vivaldi. The opera was first performed at the Teatro Sant'Angelo in Venice on 27 or 28 October 1716. Roles Plot The plot was considered rather controversial at the time and led or ...

'' in its modern-era world premiere, directed by David Radok - the premiere took place at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava and the production toured several European citites, including Opéra de Lille, Théâtre de la ville de Luxembourg, Théâtre de Caen, and Opéra Royale de Versailles. In 2022, Collegium 1704 under his direction staged G. F. Handel's ''

Alcina ''Alcina'' (Händel-Werke-Verzeichnis, HWV 34) is a 1735 opera seria by George Frideric Handel. Handel used the libretto of ''L'isola di Alcina'', an opera that was set in 1728 in Rome by Riccardo Broschi, which he acquired the year after during ...

'' at the

National Theatre Brno The National Theatre Brno ( cs, Národní divadlo Brno) is an opera, ballet and drama company in the Czech Republic, that nation's second busiest. It was established in 1884 on the model of the National Theatre company in Prague. Today it runs th ...

, in co-production with Théâtre de Caen and Opéra Royale de Versailles, and the production was renewed in 2023.

Film projects

In 2014 Collegium 1704 led by Luks collaborated with

on a DVD of

Gluck Christoph Willibald (Ritter von) Gluck (; 2 July 1714 – 15 November 1787) was a composer of Italian and French opera in the early classical period. Born in the Upper Palatinate and raised in Bohemia, both part of the Holy Roman Empire, he g ...

’s opera '' Orfeo ed Euridice'' with the stage director

Ondřej Havelka Ondřej Havelka (born October 10, 1954) is a Czech jazz and swing singer, actor, and director. Career Havelka has been the lead vocalist for the Original Prague Syncopated Orchestra (1976-1995) and for Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers (19 ...

, and with

Rolando Villazón Rolando Villazón Mauleón (born 22 February 1972) is a Mexican operatic tenor, stage director, author, radio and television personality and artistic director. He now lives in France, and in 2007 became a French citizen. Villazón has published ...

on the making of the BBC 2 documentary ''Mozart in Prague''. The ensemble took part in making the director

Petr Václav Petr Václav (born 11 June 1967) is a Czech film director and screenwriter whose films have received many awards, both in the Czech Republic and internationally. He has lived in Paris since 2003 and holds both French and Czech citizenship. Li ...

’s epic historical film ''

Il Boemo ''Il Boemo'' () is a 2022 feature film about the life and career of the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček (1737–1781), directed by Petr Václav. Mysliveček was one of the most acclaimed and prolific composers of opera seria in Italy in the sec ...

'' (2022) about the life of

, and previously in the director's documentary about Mysliveček, ''Confessions of the Vanished'' (2015).

Cooperation with radio stations

Václav Luks works in cooperation with a number of broadcasting networks such as Deutschlandradio Berlin, Schweizer Radio DRS, the Austrian Broadcasting Company (ÖRF), and Radio France and with music publishers including Supraphon, Pan Classics, Zig-Zag Territoires, Arta, and Accent.

Discography

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( , ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival." He has been regarded i ...

: ''My Country'' (Accent, 2022) * Luigi Cherubini: ''Requiem C Minor'' /

Karol Kurpiński Karol Kazimierz Kurpiński (March 6, 1785September 18, 1857) was a Polish composer, conductor and pedagogue. He was a representative of late classicism and a member of the Warsaw Society of Friends of Learning (Polish: ''Towarzystwo Warszaws ...

: ''Te Deum'', sol. Simona Šaturová (Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina, 2021) * Jean-Philippe Rameau: ''

Les Boréades ''Les Boréades'' is a ''tragédie lyrique mise en musique'', or a lyric tragedy put into music, a type of opera, in five acts by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It is the last of his five such works. The libretto, attributed to Louis de Cahus ...

'' (Chateau de Versailles Spectacles 2020) *

: ''Missa 1724'' (Accent, 2020) *

: ''Il giardino dei sospiri'' , Marcello, Vinci, Leo, Gasparini, Händel (Accent, 2019) *

Georg Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concertos. Handel received his training i ...

: ''Messiah'' (Accent, 2019) *

: ''Oboe concertos et cantatas'' (Accent, 2018) *

: ''Violin Concertos'' (Accent, 2018) *

: ''Sonatas'' ZWV 181 , a 2 oboi (violino) e 2 bassi obligati /2CD/ (Accent, 2017) * Jan Dismas Zelenka: ''Missa Divi Xaverii'' ZWV 12 (Accent, 2015) * Johann Sebastian Bach: ''Mše h moll'' BWV 232 (Accent, 2013) * Jan Dismas Zelenka: ''Officium defunctorum'' ZWV 47 / Requiem ZWV 46 (Accent, 2011) * Antonín Reichenauer: ''Concertos , Koncerty'' (Supraphon, 2010) * Jan Dismas Zelenka: ''I Penitenti al Sepolcro del Redentore'' (Zig-Zag Territoires, 2009) * Jan Dismas Zelenka: ''Missa votiva'' (Zig-Zag Territoires, 2008) * Jan Dismas Zelenka: ''Composizioni per Orchestra'' , Orchestrální skladby (Supraphon, 2005) *

Jiří Antonín Benda Georg Anton Benda ( cz, Jiří Antonín Benda, italic=no, link=no; 30 June 17226 November 1795) was a composer, violinist and Kapellmeister of the Classical period (music), classical period from the Kingdom of Bohemia. Biography Born into a Bend ...

: ''Harpsichord Concertos'' , Koncerty pro cembalo (ARTA Records, 2005) * Henrico Albicastro: ''Concerti a quattro'', op. 4 (PAN Classics, 2001)

References

External links

Václav Luks
on the Collegium 1704 official website
Václav Luks
on

France Musique France Musique is a French national public radio channel owned and operated by Radio France. It is devoted to the broadcasting of music, both live and recorded, with particular emphasis on classical music and jazz. History The channel was launch ...

Václav Luks
on the BBC
Bach_&_Zelenka:_Jan_Dismas_Zelenka:_"Te_Deum"_[ZWV_146
-_Collegium_1704/_Luks_(20.08.11)_(1of2)_(YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Luks,_Vaclav 1970_births.html" ;"title="WV 146">Bach & Zelenka: Jan Dismas Zelenka: "Te Deum" [ZWV 146
- Collegium 1704/ Luks (20.08.11) (1of2) (YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Luks, Vaclav 1970 births">WV 146">Bach & Zelenka: Jan Dismas Zelenka: "Te Deum" [ZWV 146
- Collegium 1704/ Luks (20.08.11) (1of2) (YouTube) {{DEFAULTSORT:Luks, Vaclav 1970 births Living people People from Rakovník Czech conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Czech musicologists Czech harpsichordists Czech music educators 20th-century conductors (music) 21st-century conductors (music) 20th-century Czech male musicians 21st-century Czech male musicians Chevaliers of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres