Czech renowned pianist Jan Bartoš will perform in Czech Center New York. Don't miss the recital of this unique artist who is considered one of Europe's finest pianists.
Registration here.
Program:
Leoš Janáček: 1.X.1905
Presentiment
Death
Miloslav Kabeláč: Eight preludes, op. 30
Preludio ostinato
Preludio meditativo
Preludio sognante
Preludio corale
Preludio notturno
Preludio volante
Preludio arioso
Preludio impetuoso
– Intermission –
Leoš Janáček: In the Mists
Andante
Molto adagio
Andantino
Presto
Bedřich Smetana: Dreams
Faded Happiness
Consolation
In Bohemia
In the Salon
By the Castle
Harvest
Program notes:
Leoš Janáček (1954-1928)
1.X.1905
The composition was developed during the autumn of 1905, at the height of the unrest between the Czech-speaking and German-speaking communities of Brno, home of Janáček. In response to the violent death of a Czech worker, Janáček wrote a three-part piano composition, originally entitled "From the Street, October 1, 1905". Shortly, after its première in 1906, Janáček destroyed the final movement and then, following a private performance in Prague, the other two movements as well. It was not until the celebrations for his 70th birthday that the pianist of the première found the courage to play the piece to the composer once again from her personal copy. Janáček then decided to publish the work after all.
Miloslav Kabeláč (1908-1979)
Eight preludes, op. 30
Miloslav Kabeláč belongs to the most distinguished Czech composers of the 20th century. He soon created a distinctive style for which the auspicious melody and harmony, the ingenious polyphony and the consistent architecture of both small and large compositions are typical. His utmost expression was his conscious work with the intervals in which he emerged from non-European musical cultures. Kabeláč belongs to the foremost Czech symphonists, whose work is sometimes compared with Antonín Dvořák's and Bohuslav Martinů's. In the communist period Kabeláč's work found itself on the periphery of official attention and was performed only sporadically and in a limited choice of compositions. In 1954-56 Kabeláč composed his most important piano work, the Eight Preludes for Piano, Op. 30. In the Preludes, Kabeláč's relationship to rational compositional procedures reaches one of its high points within his oeuvre. Several major motifs pervade the entire cycle, internally linking and unifying the work. As elsewhere in Kabeláč's works, structure and form are based on content, on an elementary musical idea. The author himself adds: "This piece is really meant to deal with the piano as a virtuoso instrument. It makes enormous demands on the pianist's technique, musicality, and physical stamina. The preludes are meant as a whole, but they can be played individually or in smaller groups."
Leoš Janáček
In the Mists
In the Mists is the last of Janáček’s more substantial solo piano works. It was composed in 1912, some years after Janáček had suffered the death of his daughter Olga and while his operas were still being rejected by the Prague opera houses. The immediate catalyst for the cycle may well have been a performance in January 1908 at the Brno Organ School of Debussy's 'Reflets dans l'eau' (first published in 1905); certainly, In the mists bears faint traces of contact with Debussy's piano style. The first version of In the mists (initially entitled Mlhy—' Mists') was completed by 21 April 1912 and was probably revised in early 1913. The premiere and publication of the first edition was in late 1913. Ten years later, a new edition was commissioned in honor of Janáček's seventieth birthday.
Bedřich Smetana
Dreams
For his six characteristic pieces “Rêves” (Dreams), composed in 1875, Smetana returned to his favorite instrument, the piano. It was the first time he had written for the instrument in almost ten years. His compositions reflect two forms: the character piece and the virtuoso piece, the latter being a form that occupied Smetana, particularly during his time in Sweden. Importantly, Smetana was also working on the first tone poem of “Má vlast” while composing these six pieces.“Rêves” were written for and dedicated to Smetana’s former pupils. The dedication was a means of thanking them for the benefit concert they had organized in the spring of 1875 for their teacher, who had recently lost his hearing.
Jan Bartoš
The international press has described Czech pianist Jan Bartoš as “one of the finest European pianists” and “an emotional and sophisticated interpreter”.
As a Supraphon label exclusive recording artist, his CD-recordings of the music Janáček, Mozart, Beethoven and Novák have earned international critical acclaim from critics at Gramophone, Diapason, BBC Music Magazine, The Sunday Times, American Record Guide, The Guardian, and in many other leading world media and music publications..
Jan Bartoš’s recent released CD on Supraphon, performing Vítezslav Novák’s (a pupil of Dvořák’s and a highly distinguished composer) Piano Concerto in E minor (the first studio recording of the concerto), with Maestro Jakub Hrůša and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, has been critically acclaimed internationally. Voted London’s THE GUARDIAN newspaper’s Classical Album of the Week and The Month's Best Albums in September 2020: who wrote of Bartoš’s expressive gifts that the Novák concerto crammed with hefty bravura solo ‘‘is dispatched on the recording by Jan Bartoš with suitable muscularity". Stretto classical magazine wrote, ‘‘the music is brilliantly performed by both, the soloist and the conductor.’’And London’s THE SUNDAY TIMES, highlighted the CD as ‘‘worth knowing in Hrůša and Bartoš’s idiomatic performances.’’
In May 2021, Bartoš’s recording with Maestro Jakub Hrůša and Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra of Vítězslav Novák’s - Piano Concerto, Toman and the Wood Nymph won the Czech Republic’s “Grammy®” 2020 Best Classical Album Ceny Anděl Coca-Cola Awards (Angel Coca-Cola Award).
Bartoš’s Janáček CD, selected as the Gramophone Editor's Choice, noted Bartoš draws listens into ‘‘Janáček’s compelling sound world, music both exposed and somehow personal, lines and details delivered from the very beginning with imagination and deep thought.’’ Bartoš’s Janáček CD was further selected among 10 Classical Albums To Usher In The Next Decade by NPR (National Public Radio, USA).
Furthermore, Bartoš’s Beethoven double album received a high 5-star review in the BBC Music Magazine, stating that “everything in this recording is outstanding... The Arietta of Op. 111 is here gorgeous beyond words."
Bartoš has appeared at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in a concert solo-recital of Janáček's piano works which was viewed online by an international world audience. He returned to the 76th Prague Spring Music Festival performing the Prokofiev Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D flat major Op. 10 with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Maestro Ilan Volkov. And has also performed the Prokofiev Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in concert with Maestro Kristjan Järvi and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra at the Leoš Janácek International Music Festival. Bartoš was to perform at the Shanghai International Arts Festival and undertake a 4-date solo recital concert tour of China in 2021 (rescheduled to 2022).
Other appearances have included a sold-out solo recital (along with Evgeny Kissin, Marc-Andre Hamelin, and Beatrice Rana) at the Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival organised by the Prague Spring Music Festival, and the complete Janáček's piano works at the International Festival Janáček Brno. Bartoš has performed Grieg’s Piano Concerto and Martinů’s Double Concerto with the Prague Philharmonia.
Jan Bartoš has given concerts at prominent venues throughout Europe, in Asia and the USA (including his debut Carnegie Hall). He made his New York debut in 2009 playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Manhattan Philharmonia.
The late-Czech conductor Jiří Bělohlávek was a keen supporter of Jan Bartoš and regularly appeared together in concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Together with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Bartoš recorded Mozart’s Piano Concertos No. 20 in D minor, K 466 and No. 12 in A major, "a quattro", K 414. London’s The Sudnay Times newspaper, wrote that Bartoš' ‘‘crisp articulation and singing legato are never far from the spirit of the composer's sunnier comedies.’ These live recordings came with the endorsement of the internationally acclaimed pianist Alfred Brendel. Bartoš was also invited to perform on the newly released Supraphon DVD My Musical Life (2021) by Alfred Brendel celebrating his 90th birthday, who wrote, “Jan Bartos is one of my most impressive and exciting young colleagues. In him, virtuosity is coupled with deeply serious musicianship.''
Jan Bartoš is a 1st prize winner of the 2008 Zaslavsky-Koch Competition in New York. He was awarded a prize by the 2004 Peter S. Reed Foundation in New York and won International Mieczyslaw Munz Award Competition in New York. He is the winner of the 2006 Rotary Musikförderpreis (Nuremberg), and Concertino Praga (Czech Republic).
Moreover, Bartoš has received the prestigious accolades and scholarships from the Czech Ministry of Culture, the Rucorva Trust Award in the Netherlands, and the Schimmel Prize in Germany.
Bartoš was the last pupil of the legendary pianist Ivan Moravec. Following his studies in the Czech Republic, with Martin Ballý and Miroslav Langer, he continued to hone his artistry abroad, under the guidance of Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, James Tocco, and Zenon Fishbein. And studied chamber music with Juilliard String Quartet's Robert Mann and Emerson String Quartet's Lawrence Dutton. He has a Professional Studies Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music in New York, and a doctorate from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Jan Bartoš is the co-founder and director of the Prague Music Performance, an innovative festival and institution, which combines concerts with master classes, lectures and residencies. And is also the Artistic Director of the American Spring Festival in the Czech Republic, Europe.
Jan Bartoš teaches piano and chamber music at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
More at www.janbartosmusic.com
This concert has been made possible with the assistance of the San Francisco International Piano Festival.
