Martinu: Vaclav Neumann

Legendary, critically acclaimed Suk recordings of Martinù’s concertos in newly re-mastered form. In 1973, together with the conductor Georg Solti, Josef Suk premiered Martinù’s first violin concerto in Chicago. This 'Paris-era' concerto was originally written for the famous violinist Samuel Dushkin. However, it was later mislaid, only to be rediscovered and premiered some 40 years later.

Zuzana Růžičkova, an exceptional personality upon whom the critics conferred the title “First Lady of the Harpsichord”, continued the pioneering efforts Wanda Landowska had made to get the harpsichord recognised as an independent concert instrument. The path she took was co-determined by her lifelong relationship to Bach, whose complete works for harpsichord she has recorded, and along it she was also accompanied by a number of friends she regularly met: Karel Ančerl, Gideon Klein, Sviatoslav Richter, Josef Suk.

Few chamber music groups have as proud a history as the Smetana Quartet, or a history that evokes as much nationalistic passion. Founded during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, the group's very existence was an anomaly during an era when any manifestation of Czech nationalism was outlawed. They survived into the post-Nazi era, and went on to an acclaimed international performing career, making some of the finest chamber music recordings of the 1950s and 1960s…