Vaclav Smetacek

J.S.Bach - Concertos For Violin, Concerto For Two Violins, Concerto For Violin & Oboe - Josef Suk (1988)
EAC Rip | FLAC (img + cue), LOG | TT 65:32 | Covers (jpg 300 dpi) | RAR 357 MB (3% Recovery)
Supraphon | Czechoslovakia | 11 0642-2 011 | 1988

The soloist in all the concertos of our recording is Josef Suk (1929), the grandson of the composer Josef Suk (1874-1935) and great- grandson of Antonin Dvorak. Since 1954, he has been pursuing an uninterrupted and diversified solo career and has become the most eminent Czech violin virtuoso of his generation. Suk's partner in Bach's Concerto for Two Violins is the Czech violin virtuoso Ladislav Jasek (1929), who has been active in Australia since the early 1970's. The oboe part in the Double Concerto in D minor BWV 1060a is played by Jan Adamus (1951).

Beethoven - Violin Concerto, Romances Nos. 1 & 2 - Josef Suk (1988)
EAC Rip | FLAC (img + cue), LOG | TT 63:09 | Covers (jpg 300 dpi) | RAR 325 MB (3% Recovery)
Supraphon | Czechoslovakia | 11 0628-2 011 | 1988

The interpreter is the Czech violinist Josef Suk (1929). Having completed his studies in Prague, he devoted himself to both chamber music and solo performances. Among his repertoire Suk includes works not only by Dvorak, Suk and Beethoven but also by Berg, Janacek and Martinu. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom Suk appeared as a soloist for many years, performs here under the direction of the conductor Franz Konwitschny (1901-1962). Konwitschny first began his musical career as a violinist and viola player; he took up the baton succesfully for the first time in 1927. In 1949 he was made Director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, and later took up the post of Principal Conductor at both the Dresden and Berlin Operas. Milos Navratil

Greetings From Russia - Czech Orchestras perform Russian Works (1988)
EAC Rip | FLAC (img + cue), LOG | TT 67:58 | Covers (jpg 300 dpi) | RAR 358 MB (3% Recovery)
Supraphon | Czechoslovakia | 11 0622-2 011 | 1988

The birth of Russian national music culture in the 19th century is closely connected with Glinka. Balakirev was one of the initiators of the group in which musicians of varying creative inclinations & abilities came together. The oriental element is very evident in works by Borodin & he makes effective use of the exotic sound world in his only opera Prince Igor. Rimsky-Korsakov is represented as a composer in his own right on this recording by his overture Russian Easter Festival (1888). Tchaikovsky was not a member of the "Mighty Five", unlike the composers already mentioned, but he too strove to write works in which typical national features were prominent.