František Jílek (22 May 1913 – 16 September 1993) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

conductor, known especially for his interpretation of

Leoš Janáček Leoš Janáček (, 3 July 1854 – 12 August 1928) was a Czech composer, Music theory, music theorist, Folkloristics, folklorist, publicist, and teacher. He was inspired by Moravian folk music, Moravian and other Slavs, Slavic music, includin ...

's works.

Life

Jílek began studying piano and composition as a pupil of

Jaroslav Kvapil Jaroslav Kvapil (25 September 1868 – 10 January 1950) was a Czech poet, theatre director, translator, playwright and librettist. Early life, education and family Jaroslav Josef Kvapil was born on 25 September 1868 in Chudenice, into the fami ...

, and later studied conducting under Antonín Balatka and Zdeněk Chalabala at the Brno Conservatory. In 1937, Jílek completed his education at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory () is a public music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, the school offers four- or six-year courses, which can be compared to the level of a high school diploma in other countries. Graduates c ...

, in the master class of Vítězslav Novák. From 1938 to 1949 he conducted the opera in

Ostrava Ostrava (; ; ) is a city in the north-east of the Czech Republic and the capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region. It has about 283,000 inhabitants. It lies from the border with Poland, at the confluences of four rivers: Oder, Opava (river), Opa ...

. In 1952, he became the principal conductor of the Janáček Opera in Brno, a position he held for 25 years. During his career Jílek frequently conducted the orchestra of the National Theatre in Prague, the Czech Philharmonic, as well as orchestras abroad. In 1978, he became the conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra.

Work

He conducted the complete

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

s of

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 ...

and Leoš Janáček, and also focused on

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

operatic repertoire. The recordings of his interpretations of Janáček's, Novák's and Martinů's work are available on the Czech label

Supraphon Supraphon Music Publishing is a Czech record label, oriented mainly towards publishing classical music and popular music, with an emphasis on Czech and Slovak composers. History The Supraphon name was first registered as a trademark in 1932. Th ...

. He was awarded the ''Orphée d'Or de l'Academie National du Disque Lyrique (Prix

Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...

- Paul Vergnes)'' for the recording of Janáček's opera

Jenůfa ''Její pastorkyňa'' (''Her Stepdaughter''; commonly known as ''Jenůfa'' ) is an opera in three acts by Leoš Janáček to a Czech libretto by the composer, based on the Play (theatre), play ''Její pastorkyňa'' by Gabriela Preissová. It was ...

in 1980.''Pozdní divoch, p. 216 (only in Czech)''

Footnotes

References

*Jaroslav Smolka: ''Malá encyklopedie hudby''. Prague: Editio Supraphon, 1983. *Jiří Ort: ''Pozdní divoch. Láska a život Leoše Janáčka v operách a dopisech.'' Prague: Mladá fronta, 2005.

Selected recordings

* Fibich: ''The Bride of Messina'' CD. 11 1492-2 612 (Suprapho

* Janáček: '' The Excursions of Mr. Brouček'' CD. 11 2153-20612 (Suprapho

* Janáček: '' Destiny (Janáček), Destiny'' CD. SU 0045-2 611 (Suprapho

* Janáček: ''

'' CD. SU 3869-2 612 (Suprapho

* Janáček: ''Orchestral Works I.-III.'' CD. SU 3886-3888-2 031 (Suprapho

http://www.supraphon.cz/cs/katalog/databaze-titulu/detail-titulu/?idtitulu=200960

External links

List of recordings on Supraphon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jilek, Frantisek 1913 births, Jilek Franisek 1993 deaths Czech male conductors (music) 20th-century Czech conductors (music) 20th-century Czech male musicians Brno Conservatory alumni Prague Conservatory alumni