Piano Concerto, Toman & The Wood Nymph, at Dusk : Jan Bartos(P)Jakub Hrusa / Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

The greatest Czech composers Dvork, Smetana, Jancek, Suk, Martinu ... And anyone else? Yes, Vtezslav Novk! Who was he? A pupil of Dvorks, later on one of the most distinguished music creators and teachers on the domestic scene. A Post-Romantic and the first of the generation of Modernists profoundly inspired by Moravian folk music. This years 150th anniversary of Novks birth affords the opportunity to take a closer look at his oeuvre and to rediscover that which has been overlooked. The idea of making the first studio recording of the Piano Concerto, a remarkable early work by the 25-year-old Novk, was enthusiastically endorsed by the superb Czech pianist Jan Barto. Due to its intimate nature, At Dusk, Op. 13, a cycle of miniatures for solo piano, inspired by J. S. Machars poetry, stands in contrast to the concertos virtuosic stylization. The tone poem Toman and the Wood Nymph may be deemed the most ambitious of Novks symphonic works. As the composer himself put it, he strove to express an uncontrollable torrent of wild passion, referring to the piece as an orgy of sound and the ballad as a depiction of womans demonic power over man. Jakub Hrua, a globally renowned contemporary conductor, invites us to rediscover Novks music: We are obliged to perform it. His music is so profound and far-reaching that we simply cannot ignore it and let it gather dust in archives and remain buried in music history textbooks.