Virtuosi di basso: Gioachino Rossini, Claude Debussy, Antonín Dvořák
Od bouřlivé předehry k Rossiniho opeře Vilém Tell přes snové hudební obrazy Clauda Debussyho až po radostné finále Dvořákovy osmé symfonie. Díla tří velikánů klasické hudby tentokrát zazní v neobvyklém podání osmi violoncell a jednoho kontrabasu. Soubor Virtuosi di basso pod uměleckým vedením Václava Petra, koncertního mistra skupiny violoncell České filharmonie, představí pestrý program v originálních úpravách skladatele a aranžéra Tomáše Illeho.
Program:
Gioachino RossinOverture from William Tell, arr. Tomáš Ille
Claude Debussy: Selection from the Préludes, Book I and II: Bruyères, La puerta del Vino, La fille aux cheveux de lin, arr. Tomáš Ille
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony no. 8 in G Major, op. 88 “English” (selection), arr. Tomáš Ille
Allegretto grazioso
Allegro ma non troppo
Performed by:
Virtuosi di basso
Václav Petr, Adam Klánský, Eduard Šístek, Josef Špaček, Aneta Šudáková, Marek Novák, Jan Holeňa, František Host - cello
guest performer - Jiří Hudec, double bass
Václav Petr - artistic director
About program
All of the evening’s compositions will be performed in arrangements by composer and arranger Tomáš Ille, whose works have been performed by orchestras from Berlin to Pittsburgh. “If you’re arranging Janáček, for example, you have to become Janáček,” he says of his craft. Gioachino Rossini (1792–1868) wrote William Tell, his final opera, in 1829. With it, the celebrated 37-year-old composer bid farewell to the opera stage. The overture consists of four parts depicting dawn, a storm, a pastoral idyll, and a final gallop. Thanks to its use in the Western series The Lone Ranger, this final part has become one of the most famous opera melodies of all time.
The Préludes of Claude Debussy (1862–1918) are short musical sketches. The composer deliberately placed their titles at the end, so as not to influence listeners in advance. La puerta del Vino (The Wine Gate) was inspired by a postcard of the Alhambra in Granada, sent to Debussy by the composer Manuel de Falla. La fille aux cheveux de lin (The Girl with the Flaxen Hair) is one of Debussy’s best known piano pieces.
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) composed his eighth symphony in 1889 at his beloved summer residence at Vysoká near the town of Příbram. The epithet “English” has nothing to do with the work’s character: The piece was published by the London publisher Novello after Dvořák failed to reach an agreement with his Berlin publisher Simrock. The charming third movement, with its beautiful waltz melody and jubilant finale, is among the most joyful works Dvořák ever composed.
Václav Petr and Virtuosi di basso
Václav Petr is one of the most prominent Czech cellists of his generation. Winner of the 70th Prague Spring International Music Competition and a semifinalist in the Emanuel Feuermann Grand Prix, he has performed as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, and numerous other orchestras at home and abroad. With the Czech Philharmonic, he has performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under the direction of Semyon Bychkov and Jakub Hrůša, and he performed in the world premiere of a concerto by Petr Wajsar at the Dvořák Prague Festival. Petr has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic’s cello ensemble since 2013.
The ensemble of cellists from the Czech Philharmonic was founded 2004. The group also released their first CD that year, and a year later the ensemble – ten cellists and two double bassists – left for a tour of Japan. Its repertoire initially consisted of works by Czech composers (Zdeněk Lukáš, Juraj Filas, Evžen Zámečník, Jiří Gemrot), “custom-written” just for the ensemble. Ten years ago, with the arrival of Václav Petr as concertmaster, and with other outstanding musicians such as Ivan Vokáč, Eduard Šístek, and Matěj Štěpánek joining the Philharmonic’s cello section, a new, young generation brought fresh ideas that gave the ensemble new momentum. Virtuosi di Basso currently performs with a lineup of eight cellos and one double bass. For the past several years, the ensemble has collaborated with composer and arranger Tomáš Ille, whose arrangements have significantly expanded its already extensive repertoire to include new compositions. Today, the ensemble performs regularly in the Czech Republic and in neighboring Germany.
Václav Petr is one of the most prominent Czech cellists of his generation. Winner of the 70th Prague Spring International Music Competition and a semifinalist in the Emanuel Feuermann Grand Prix, he has performed as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, and numerous other orchestras at home and abroad. With the Czech Philharmonic, he has performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under the direction of Semyon Bychkov and Jakub Hrůša, and he performed in the world premiere of a concerto by Petr Wajsar at the Dvořák Prague Festival. Petr has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic’s cello ensemble since 2013.
The ensemble of cellists from the Czech Philharmonic was founded 2004. The group also released their first CD that year, and a year later the ensemble – ten cellists and two double bassists – left for a tour of Japan. Its repertoire initially consisted of works by Czech composers (Zdeněk Lukáš, Juraj Filas, Evžen Zámečník, Jiří Gemrot), “custom-written” just for the ensemble. Ten years ago, with the arrival of Václav Petr as concertmaster, and with other outstanding musicians such as Ivan Vokáč, Eduard Šístek, and Matěj Štěpánek joining the Philharmonic’s cello section, a new, young generation brought fresh ideas that gave the ensemble new momentum. Virtuosi di Basso currently performs with a lineup of eight cellos and one double bass. For the past several years, the ensemble has collaborated with composer and arranger Tomáš Ille, whose arrangements have significantly expanded its already extensive repertoire to include new compositions. Today, the ensemble performs regularly in the Czech Republic and in neighboring Germany.
Václav Petr is one of the most prominent Czech cellists of his generation. Winner of the 70th Prague Spring International Music Competition and a semifinalist in the Emanuel Feuermann Grand Prix, he has performed as a soloist with the Czech Philharmonic, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, and numerous other orchestras at home and abroad. With the Czech Philharmonic, he has performed Dvořák’s Cello Concerto under the direction of Semyon Bychkov and Jakub Hrůša, and he performed in the world premiere of a concerto by Petr Wajsar at the Dvořák Prague Festival. Petr has been concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic’s cello ensemble since 2013.
The ensemble of cellists from the Czech Philharmonic was founded 2004. The group also released their first CD that year, and a year later the ensemble – ten cellists and two double bassists – left for a tour of Japan. Its repertoire initially consisted of works by Czech composers (Zdeněk Lukáš, Juraj Filas, Evžen Zámečník, Jiří Gemrot), “custom-written” just for the ensemble. Ten years ago, with the arrival of Václav Petr as concertmaster, and with other outstanding musicians such as Ivan Vokáč, Eduard Šístek, and Matěj Štěpánek joining the Philharmonic’s cello section, a new, young generation brought fresh ideas that gave the ensemble new momentum. Virtuosi di Basso currently performs with a lineup of eight cellos and one double bass. For the past several years, the ensemble has collaborated with composer and arranger Tomáš Ille, whose arrangements have significantly expanded its already extensive repertoire to include new compositions. Today, the ensemble performs regularly in the Czech Republic and in neighboring Germany.