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Record Label – Musical Concepts: “Since 2006, Musical Concepts has brought the best in classical music, on its budget Alto label as well as more specialized recordings under the Musical Concepts imprint."Tags
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Baroque Bohemia & Beyond, Vol. 7 ‘Winter Season’ / Czech Chamber Philharmonic, Vojtěch Spurný
The latest release from Musical Concepts in their ongoing Baroque Bohemia & Beyond series, this seventh installment is subtitled "winter season", and is comprised of delightful music by Czech composers active in the early decades of the Classical era. The music is largely by unfamiliar composers, some of the better known being Michel Corrette, Jan Krtitel Kuchar and Antonio Rosetti. Performances are by the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra, a modern-instrument ensemble under the direction of Vojtěch Spurný.
In 1770, a time around which this music was written, Haydn was 38 years old and Mozart was 14. Most of the composers whose music appears here eventually made their way to the European music centers of Vienna, Berlin and Paris, and were highly respected in those cities. With them they brought a sound with a unique pastoral quality endemic to Bohemian regions. There resulted a lasting mutual influence, not only throughout the Classical era, but well beyond - would the music of Dvořák, for example, have been possible without the spirit of what we hear here combined with the formal structures and theoretical practices of Viennese classicism?
There are ten tracks all together, three of which are solo organ pieces. Lighthearted, tuneful and colorful, the program remains fresh from beginning to end. This is due not only to the diversity you'd expect in a program coming from nine little-known composers, but also to the three brief organ interludes and the colorful scoring and festive nature of the music. There are two album samples in the sidebar video. The first is one of the organ interludes, Fugue 'de tempore natalis' by Josef Seger and the second is by the best-known composer on the album, Sinfonia Pastoralis by Antonion Rosetti.
It's all lighter fare, rustic , fun to listen to and very well played by a distinguished orchestra steeped in a tradition of performing this music. In addition, as these are practically all first recordings, you very likely do not yet have any of it on your shelves. A price under ten bucks cinches the deal.
The seventh installment in our series dedicated to the composers – many of whom are little-known and rarely heard – who laid the groundwork for the Classical era. Baroque-era Bohemia (the modern day Czech Republic, roughly) was an important hotbed of music innovation and talent, and the Baroque Bohemia & Beyond series explores this extremely rare repertoire to present many world premiere recordings and other pieces that have never appeared on CD. This album features music of the winter and Christmas seasons. Works on this album: Jan Krtitel Kuchar – Pastorella in D Major Jan Vaclav Stamic – Sinfonia Pastorale, Op. 4, No. 2 Josef Seger – Fugue De Tempore Natalis Josef Seger – Fugue Christ the Lord was Born Jan Hatas – Parthia Pastoritia in D Major Frantisek Antonin Rossler-Rosetti – Sinfonia Pastoralis Weissmann – Pastorella in F Major Jiri Ignac Linek – Sinfonia Pastoralis in C Major Jiri Ignac Linek – Pastorela per Clavicembalo Concerto Michel Corrette – Nouveau Livre de Noëls
 Vojtěch Spurný |
Vojtěch Spurný, conductor, organist
Vojtech Spurny studied at the State Conservatory Prague (flute and piano), theAcademy of Music Art Prague (opera production, conducting and harpsichord) and Hogeschool de Kunsten, Utrecht (interpretation of ancient music and harpsichord). He passed master courses and lectures by K. Gilbert, H. Rilling and J. Sonneiter.
Since 1999 he has conducted many Czech and foreign symphony and chamber orchestras. In Prague, he has received great acclaim from that city’s knowledgeable audiences for his performances of Smetana’s “The Bartered Bride” at the National Theatre and Scarlatti’s oratorio “Agar” for the “Old Testament” festival, while his performance of Purcell’s opera “Dido and Aeneas” in Pilsen won the 1998 “Staging of the Year” award. He also conducted “The Barber of Seville” in Gothenburg, Sweden. Source: http://www.ckf-orchestra.com/about-us/vojtech-spurny-12/ |
 Stanislav Vavřínek |
Stanislav Vavrinek, conductor
Stanislav Vavřínek (b.1972) is a Czech conductor and teacher at the department of conducting at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague. Vavřínek first studied flute and conducting at the Brno Conservatory, then he continued his studies at the department of conducting at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague (with Eliška, Vajnar, Štych) and afterward he attended courses by Roberto Benzi in Switzerland. He started his profession in 1994 as the Chief Conductor of the Prague Student Orchestra. Since the beginning of his career he has worked with orchestras including for example the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Prague Symphony Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic and with exceptional soloists like Ivan Moravec, Igor Ardašev, Eugen Indjic, Gabriela Beňačková, Eva Urbanová, Dagmar Pecková, Ivan Kusnjer, Radek Baborák, Václav Hudeček, Bohuslav Matoušek,Sophia Jaffé, Jiří Bárta, Milan Svoboda etc. He also appeared as a guest conductor in many European countries and Japan and was a guest at many international music festivals (Prague Autumn, Prague Spring etc.). Between 1999 and 2008 he was the Chief Conductor of the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of South Bohemia. Since 2008, he has been the Chief Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra and since 2006, a professor at the department of conducting at the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in Prague. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Vav%C5%99%C3%ADnek |
| Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra
The Czech Chamber Philharmonic, a young and dynamic orchestra, is already recognized as one of the most successful ensembles in the music-loving Czech Republic. It is a regular guest on prominent European stages, issues best-selling CDs both at home and in the United Kingdom, and presents an enormously popular cycle of Baroque concerts every month in the beautiful city of Prague. Source: http://www.ckf-orchestra.com/ |
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Baroque Bohemia & Beyond, Vol. 7: 'Winter Season' / Czech Chamber PO; Spurný