Novák: Piano Concerto

Outside of his homeland, Vítězslav Novák is not nearly as well known today as his compatriot and colleague Josef Suk, even though he also enjoyed a great international reputation during his lifetime. Trained like his friend by Antonín Dvořák, himself a composition teacher and later rector of the Prague Conservatory, Novák left behind a wide-ranging oeuvre that extends from chamber music to ballet and opera. Clear influences of national folklore, a humorous approach to "exotic" elements and a fine sense of sound characterize the language of the artist, who understandably began as an ardent late Romantic: the juxtaposition of the piano concerto, composed in 1895, and the two ballet pantomimes, written around 35 years later, creates a field of tension that emphatically invites intensive study of a fascinating character.