Michal Kanka - CD

Czech roots and international careers are the connecting link between the creators of all the three featured concertos.

Antonín Kraft, first cellist in Prince Esterházy’s orchestra, was according to Haydn, who initiated him into the art of composition, “one of the most superb masters of this instrument”.

In Dresden, he performed together with Mozart, and his virtuosity was also esteemed by Beethoven (who wrote for Kraft the demanding cello part of his Triple Concerto). Like Kraft, Antonín Vranický too lived in Vienna, studied with Haydn and was a friend of Beethoven. A superlative violinist, he worked as Kappelmeister, concert master and composer in Prince Lobkowitz’s orchestra and is considered the founder of the Vienna Violin School. Carl Stamitz was born in Mannheim, where he played the violin in the celebrated court orchestra before spending years in Paris and London and undertaking solo concert tours throughout Europe (Vienna, Salzburg, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, etc.).

His music contains undertones of the Romantic sentimentality. Michal Kaňka, a member of the Pražák Quartet and soloist, the holder of numerous accolades (including from the ARD Munich Competition) and with award-winning recordings to his name, has breathed new life into the nearly forgotten concertos created by the three masters.

"in a fine performance such as this, the work still amazes…The Cello Sonata allows us to savour a superb partnership between Michael Kanka and Jaromir Klepac - they surmount every difficulty and Kanka's phrasing is often delightful." The Strad, November 2008

The famous Russian pianist-composer, who became an American citizen in 1958, was as well known in 1930s Paris as Stravinsky and heir to a number of Slav cultures in Europe and Asia. In the course of long visits, he also analysed the music of the Far East (China, Japan, Korea...), endeavouring to find a common language in the various folklores he discovered. Myriad one-page blochki ('little fleas') as well as 6 piano concertos, 4 symphonies, 3 operas, cantatas, choruses, songs, etc. offer up a surprising literature, and for cello and keyboard, a vivid, virtuosic repertoire, authenticated by its folk sources.

In 1969 Gennady Rozhdestvensky married the brilliant pianist Viktoria Postnikova, who first shot to fame at the Leeds International Piano Competition; their son is the internationally acclaimed violinist Alexander, or Sasha, Rozhdestvensky. He has appeared at the Proms, the Barbican and the Festival Hall in London and has made well-regarded cds for both Delos and Chandos usually in Russian repertoire. Here he exhibits clear, precise, rhythmic refinement as free as it is polished.

The fifth volume devoted to Schönberg’s chamber music. On display here is writing that, after being based on traditional models (youthful Scherzo and Presto), evolves towards a melodic density and clarity of counterpoint making the Chamber Symphony, Op.9 (1906) accomplished and radiant as much in its chamber transcriptions as in the versions for full orchestra. The Quartet No.3 (1926) achieves a masterful balance between rhythm and harmony, melody and counterpoint, horizontality and verticality. For over 30 years, the Prazak Quartet has been at home on music stages worldwide. They are regular guests in the major European musical capitals—Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan, Madrid, London, Berlin, Munich, etc.—and have been invited to participate at numerous international festivals, where they have collaborated with such artists as Menahem Pressler, Jon Nakamatsu, Cynthia Phelps, Roberto Diaz, Josef Suk, and Sharon Kam.

The Prazak Quartet records exclusively for Praga/Harmonia Mundi which, to date, has released over 30 award-winning CDs. In 2010 Pavel Hula succeeded founding first violinist Vaclav Remes, who was unable to continue performing due to a medical condition in his left hand. Pavel Hula was the longtime first violinist with the Czech-based Kocian Quartet, and has been a close friend of the Prazak Quartet for many years.

Violinist, pianist, conductor, composer, Ernest Bloch, had to live between two worlds: his native Europe, torn by wars and anti-Semitism, and the American mirage offering successes as glorious as they were short-lived. Voice in the Wilderness, written 20 years after the famous Schelomo, remains little known. This masterpiece exists in two versions: a dialogue between piano and cello, and a rhapsody in which the piano gives way to a large orchestra. In the first recording since 1952, Voice in the Wilderness is again heard in its original version along with its vibrant summary, Visions and Prophecies.

A juxtaposition of a youthful, tumultuous and virtuoso sonata (1934), still influenced by Tchaikovsky and Miaskovsky, and his very last score of 5th July 1975, originally for viola, ending with a homage to Beethoven. Here, for the first time, it is played on the cello in its original tessitura.

Little known in the West and victim of anti-Semitic ostracism in the former USSR, the name of Weinberg seems to be slowly emerging from the shadow of Shostakovich, his protector and friend. His chamber music includes 17 quartets, the most experimental body of his work along with his cello sonatas, written with Rostropovich in mind. Ongoing collections of his works are now appearing:Toccata's song cycle, a symphony cycle on Bis and a string quartet cycle for CPO, all of which have been enthusiastically received.

Two transcriptions: one, by Mahler and published in 1984, of Death and the Maiden, of which he completed only the second movement, and conducted in concert. It charms in a similar way as the orchestral arrangements of Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht or Berg's Lyric Suite. The other of the Arpeggione Sonata is in Michal Kanka's own version for cello and strings, of which this is the first recording.