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

Information

Composer: Zdeněk Fibich

• (01) Sonatina, Op. 27
• (04) Sonata in D major
• (08) Romance, Op. 10
• (09) Clear Night
• (10) Song without Words
• (11) Concert Polonaise

Josef Suk, violin
Josef Hála, piano

Date: 2000
Label: Supraphon
https://www.supraphon.com/album/1404-fibich-works-for-violin-and-piano

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Review

ARTISTIC QUALITY: 10 / SOUND QUALITY: 10

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, ClassicsToday

More reviews:
http://www.classical-music.com/review/fibich-0
https://www.amazon.com/Fibich-Works-Violin-Josef-Suk/dp/B000050B8X

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Zdeněk Fibich (21 December 1850 – 15 October 1900) was a Czech composer of classical music. Fibich studied piano with Ignaz Moscheles and composition with Salomon Jadassohn and Ernst Richter. Fibich is far less known than either Dvořák or Smetana, partly because during the rise of Czech nationalism, he was living within the Habsburg Empire. Fibich's instrumental works were generally written in the vein of the German romantics. The bulk of his operas are in Czech, although many are based on non-Czech sources. In his chamber music, Fibich makes use of Bohemian folk melodies and dance rhythms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zden%C4%9Bk_Fibich

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Josef Suk (8 August 1929 – 6 July 2011) was a Czech violinist, violist, chamber musician and conductor, the grandson of Josef Suk, the composer and violinist, and great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák. His violin art was characterized by a rotund and rich tone, glass-clear intonation and an idiomatic interpretation. Suk was one of the world's best interpreters of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Aside from his solo career he also focused on chamber music. Suk played a 1710 Stradivarius violin called Duc de Camposelice, and also played the Libon Stradivari and The Prince of Orange made by Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesu.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Suk_(violinist)

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