Klavírní koncert, Toman a lesní panna - CD

This CD presents Vítězslav Novák’s Piano Concerto in E minor, the symphonic poem Toman and the Wood Nymph, and the solo piano cycle At Dusk, performed by pianist Jan Bartoš, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jakub Hrůša. One of the greatest Czech composers, Novák was a student of Dvořák and later became one of the country’s most respected composers and teachers. A late Romantic and one of the first modernists of his generation, he drew important inspiration from Moravian folk music. The 150th anniversary of his birth offers an opportunity to discover his music more closely. Jan Bartoš championed the first studio recording of the remarkable early Piano Concerto, written when Novák was twenty-five. At Dusk, inspired in part by the poetry of J. S. Machar, provides an intimate counterpart to the concerto’s virtuoso style. Jakub Hrůša selected Toman and the Wood Nymph, probably the most ambitious of Novák’s symphonic works, a musical depiction of the demonic power of woman over man and what the composer called a “sound orgy.” This recording invites listeners to rediscover Vítězslav Novák.