Label Praga

The Budapest String Quartet Founded in 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the Budapest Quartet became the most internationally successful chamber ensemble of modern times. Across 50 years, and a repertory ranging from Mozart to Bartok, the group brought chamber music of these composers to audiences on two continents, and further popularized the music through their recordings. The Budapest Quartet's original members were Emil Hauser, Imre Poganyi, Istvan Ipolyi, and Harry Son, all of whom had played in the Budapest Opera Orchestra.

“La Ville” for solo piano, can be understood as a sort of postlude to K, a stroll outside of time, a tribute to the historic quarters of Prague haunted by the shade of Kafka, as much a psychological labyrinth as a seemingly abstract construction with a strange power of fascination (world premiere).

Leonard Bernstein Génie protéiforme, animateur de la vie musicale américaine pendant presque quarante ans, débordant de générosité et parfois d’outrance, Leonard Bernstein aurait eu 100 ans le 25 août 2018. Né à Lawrence, à une cinquantaine de kilomètres au nord de Boston (Massachusetts), il est le fils d’exilés ukrainiens, dont le père a fait fortune dans le négoce en fournitures pour coiffeurs. Après son diplôme à la Boston Latin School de Boston, il étudie la musique à Harvard où il rencontre Aaron Copland avec lequel il restera ami tout au long de sa vie. C’est là qu’il écrit ses premières œuvres pour les besoins des spectacles de l’université et qu’il rencontre le chef grec Dimitri Mitropoulos dont le charisme et l’ascendant sur les musiciens l’incitent à devenir chef d’orchestre.

The Prazak Quartet is not only one of the leading string quartets from Czechoslovakia, but among the longest-lived from any country. Although most of the original membership is gone, all the current personnel has been in place since 1986, and two of the three replacements have served since the early or mid-'70s. Not surprisingly, the ensemble has shown a preference for Czech repertory, focusing particularly on Dvorák, Smetana, Janácek, and Martinu. But the group has also demonstrated an affinity for the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and other composers in the Germanic sphere.

The Prazak Quartet is not only one of the leading string quartets from Czechoslovakia, but among the longest-lived from any country. Although most of the original membership is gone, all the current personnel has been in place since 1986, and two of the three replacements have served since the early or mid-'70s. Not surprisingly, the ensemble has shown a preference for Czech repertory, focusing particularly on Dvorák, Smetana, Janácek, and Martinu. But the group has also demonstrated an affinity for the string quartets of Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, Brahms, and other composers in the Germanic sphere.

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is the leading symphonic ensemble in the musically rich Czech Republic, with a long history of definitive performances and recordings of Czech repertory. The orchestra has sometimes found itself a topic of political contention as the waves of European history have swept across its homeland. Like many other Central European orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic began as a theater orchestra: a group of orchestral musicians at the Prague National Theatre named themselves the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1894, and in two years the wisdom of the move became apparent when Dvořák conducted the group in a concert of his own works.

C’est un des musiciens les plus unanimement aimés de la planète classique. Tourmenté, imprévisible, Sviatoslav Richter était dans l’introspection permanente, jouant du piano comme pour se délivrer de ses démons et de ses obsessions. Participer à un récital de Richter était toujours un choc pour l’auditeur, qui sortait enrichi par ce qu’il avait pu vivre. Densité expressive, recueillement, intimité avec le compositeur, voire austérité étaient les caractéristiques de son art pianistique. Sa phobie des studios a préservé ce qu’il y avait de plus vrai et de plus spontané chez lui, grâce à de très nombreux enregistrements live et souvent « pirates », qui font de Richter un des pianistes les plus documentés du XXe siècle.

He is one of the most universally loved musicians on the classical planet. Tormented, unpredictable, Sviatoslav Richter was in permanent introspection, playing the piano as if to free himself from his demons and his obsessions. Participating in a Richter recital was always a shock for the listener, who left enriched by what he had been able to experience. Expressive density, contemplation, intimacy with the composer, even austerity were the characteristics of his piano art. His phobia of the studios has preserved what was truer and more spontaneous about him, thanks to numerous live and often “pirated” recordings, which make Richter one of the most documented pianists of the 20th century.

Zdeněk Košler was a Czechoslovakian conductor who was known for his interpretations of Central European opera and orchestral music. He conducted over 60 orchestras around the world and was a major musical influence in Slovakia. Košler was born into a musical family in 1928, and had one younger brother, Miroslav, who also became a respected conductor. His father, Vaclav Košler, was a violist in the National Theater Orchestra of Prague, and his mother, Malvina Katzova, was a singer. Both parents contributed to Košler's early musical education with violin and voice lessons.

This original programme brings together three very different works. The famous String Quartet No. 14, known as Death and the Maiden, one of the pillars of the chamber music repertoire. Composed in 1824, after the composer suffered a serious illness and realized that he was dying. It is named for the theme of the second movement, which Schubert took from a song he wrote in 1817 of the same title. First played in 1826 in a private home, it was not published until 1831, three years after Schubert's death.