Zdeněk Fibich - Works for Violin and Piano (Josef Suk; Josef Hála)

Information

Composer: Zdeněk Fibich

• Sonatina, Op. 27
• Sonata in D major
• Romance, Op. 10
• Clear Night
• Song without Words
• Concert Polonaise

Josef Suk, violin

Josef Hála, piano

Date: 2000

Label: Supraphon

-----------------------------------------------------------

Review

Zdenĕk Fibich began his life as a forester’s son, and grew up to become an important Czech Romantic composer, performer and educator in Prague, eventually forming and running his own musical institute there. Fibich composed in a wide range of genres in a style less overtly nationalistic than Dvorak’s or Smetana’s. In chamber music, he occupied himself frequently with compositions for violin and piano, of which this Supraphon release comprises the first complete edition. The disc opens with the bright, tuneful Sontina, a piece remarkable for having been composed in a single day, and for the major/minor mode interplay that’s a distinctive feature of so much Czech music. The four-movement Sonata in D, the most substantial work here, begins with a slow, quasi-fugal introduction which, after returning at the start of the finale, opens up into a delightful Polonaise. Fibich was fond of this dance form, and composed an even grander version in the Concert Polonaise of 1878. The remaining works, the Romance, Song without Words, and Clear Night all share the same warm, home-spun quality that makes Fibich’s music so comforting. Violinist par excellence Josef Suk gives tour-de-force performances of his countryman’s compositions, and he’s smartly partnered by the sensitive and stylish playing of Josef Hála at the piano. Supraphon’s excellent sound provides the icing on the cake.

— Victor Carr Jr

-----------------------------------------------------------

Zdeněk Fibich (21 December 1850 – 15 October 1900) was a Czech composer. He studied under such prominent musicians as Ignaz Moscheles and Salomon Jadassohn in Leipzig and Mannheim, then settled in Prague from 1874. Influenced early by Weber, Mendelssohn, Schumann, and later by Wagner, Fibich composed many songs and operas in German, gaining acclaim from German critics but less so from Czechs. His later operas were mostly in Czech, but often based on non-Czech literary works. He integrated Bohemian folk elements into his chamber music and was a pioneer in composing Czech nationalist tone poems.

***

Josef Suk (8 August 1929 – 7 July 2011) was a Czech violinist, violist and conductor, the grandson of the composer and violinist Josef Suk. He studied at the Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts. Suk led the Prague Quartet (1950–52) and co-founded the Suk Trio in 1951. He became a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic in 1961 and later artistic director of the Suk Chamber Orchestra. A prolific recording artist, he earned numerous prestigious awards, including the Edison Prize and Grand Prix de l'Académie Charles Cros. Suk also taught violin in Vienna and served on music competition juries.

-----------------------------------------------------------