Forgetten Czech Piano Concertos - Supraphon: SU43372 - CD or download

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The forgotten concertos the album title refers to were composed by Karel Kovarovic (1862-1920), Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940), and Pavel Borkovec (1894-1972), each successful in their day... — Sunday Times, 14/04/2024, 4 stars More…

Release Date: 8th Mar 2024
Catalogue No: SU43372
Label: Supraphon
Length: 75 minutes

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Kovarovic: Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 6

Work length31:54

$3.15

$4.05

$4.80

Marek Kozák (soloist), Marek Kozák (piano)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Robert Jindra

I. Allegro affettuoso

Track length15:52

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

II. Larghetto

Track length7:19

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

III. Vivace. Scherzando

Track length8:43

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

Kapralova: Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 7

Work length22:30

$3.15

$4.05

$4.80

Marek Kozák (soloist), Marek Kozák (piano)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Robert Jindra

I. Allegro entusiastico

Track length10:10

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

II. Largo

Track length3:32

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

III. Allegro

Track length8:48

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

Borkovec: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 2

Work length21:00

$3.15

$4.05

$4.80

Marek Kozák (soloist), Marek Kozák (piano)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
Robert Jindra

I. Agitato

Track length6:55

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

II. Poco lento

Track length7:25

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

III. Vivace

Track length6:40

$1.05

$1.35

$1.60

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It would very much seem that the 19th- and 20th-century Czech piano concerto repertoire begins and ends with Dvorak and Martinu. The present recording, however, serves to prove that this is far from being the case. It contains three piano concertos that have been - undeservedly - overlooked. Vitezslava Kapralova wrote the Piano Concerto in D minor, characterised by brilliant instrumentation and an engrossing solo part, at the age of 20 as her graduation work. The premiere, which she herself conducted, met with great critical acclaim. In 1937, the young composer moved to Paris to study with Bohuslav Martinu. Just a year later, Kapralova was lauded at the International Society for Contemporary Music festival in London, which she opened conducting the BBC Orchestra performing her Military Sinfonietta. In 1940, when she was just 25, the gifted artist's life and career were sadly terminated by a serious illness. At that very age, Karel Kovarovic created his one and only piano concerto. A pupil of Zdenek Fibich, he would later on primarily gain recognition as a conductor and serve as director of Prague's National Theatre Opera (1900-1920). Kovarovic'sPiano Concerto in F minor affords the soloists great scope to display their virtuosity. Pavel Borkovec, a pupil of J. B. Foerster and Josef Suk, wrote his Piano Concerto No. 2 after World War II. At the time a mature artist, as a teacher he cultivated a new generation of major Czech composers (Petr Eben, Jan Novak, Vladimir Sommer, etc.). The main protagonist of the present album, the pianist Marek Kozak, who has garnered accolades at a number of competitions (Zurich, Bolzano, Bremen, Prague, and elsewhere), has a penchant for exploring little-known and forgotten landscapes, as attested to by this revelatory recording.

Reviews

14/04/2024

The forgotten concertos the album title refers to were composed by Karel Kovarovic (1862-1920), Vitezslava Kapralova (1915-1940), and Pavel Borkovec (1894-1972), each successful in their day but all overlooked now. Kovarovic’s work has a high Romantic sweep, foregrounding the soloist with passages of infectious brio. Kapralova’s written as her graduation piece, peers into the future with wonderfully reckless keyboard runs. Tragically, she would die at 25. Borkovec’s second piano concerto, full of colour and activity, bears traces of Bartok and Shostakovich. This beautifully played and recorded disc has an inescapable poignancy to it; a time capsule of periods in history where the sun shone before obscurity beckoned.

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