Prague Recordings - 5CD

This five-CD set presents the complete recordings André Navarra made for Supraphon between 1953 and 1966, including several notable recordings previously unreleased on CD. The repertoire features Johannes Brahms’s Double Concerto for violin, cello and orchestra and Cello Sonatas Nos. 1 and 2; Robert Schumann’s Cello Concerto; works by Ottorino Respighi, Ernest Bloch, Jacques Ibert, Édouard Lalo, Bohuslav Martinů, Sergei Prokofiev, Zoltán Kodály, Arthur Honegger, Louis de Caix d’Hervelois, Luigi Boccherini, Ludwig van Beethoven and Maurice Ravel. Navarra is joined by violinist Josef Suk, pianists Alfred Holeček and František Maxián, the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Karel Ančerl and Constantin Silvestri, and the Chamber Harmony conducted by Martin Turnovský. After completing his studies at the Paris Conservatory at the age of fifteen, Navarra developed his own path, acquiring flawless technique partly through Ševčík’s virtuoso violin studies, which he adapted for the cello. Victory in a prestigious Vienna competition in 1937 launched his international solo career. Following his Prague Spring debut in May 1951, he returned to Prague many times, appearing at the festival, with the Czech Philharmonic and in Supraphon’s studios. His meetings with Karel Ančerl and Josef Suk produced the legendary recording of Brahms’s Double Concerto, as well as powerful and captivating recordings of works by Prokofiev, Bloch, Schumann and Respighi. The set contains more than six hours of carefully remastered recordings, documenting Navarra’s mastery, emotional intensity and spontaneous musicality.