Vitezlav Novak: Klavierwerke on 3 CDs

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The Czech composer Vitezslav Novak (1870 - 1949) first became aware of his artistic talent relatively late, while a student at the gymnasium in Jindrichuv Hradec, and from then on embarked on a systematic and active cultivation of his musical gift, initially under the tutelage of local orchestra conductor Pojman. Still then he earned a repute as a brilliant pianist, giving proof of enviable performing skills which he subsequently still refined during conservatory lessons with Josef Jiranek. As a student of Antonin Dvorak´s class, moreover, he saw the development of his compositional talent as well. The outcome of these compound early educative influences were several outstanding piano cycles which - for all their unbridled youthful temperament which sets them within a category in its own right, standing apart from the crux of Novak´s oeuvre - by and large do aspire to a relevant niche in the gallery of Czech piano music. They encompass a wide spectrum, ranging from delightful romantic genre pictures (as in Sonatinas or Youth), to works conveying a serious philosophical message (such as the nearly hour-long, five-movement monumental composition, Pan). Novak´s work requires an interpreter whose art combines the utmost technical sovereignty with creative and human maturity. In either respect, one could hardly imagine a better choice than was Frantisek Rauch (1910 - 1996), a loving champion and erudite propagator of Czech piano literature, and moreover Novak´s personal pupil.

Novak on the wings of youthful zest and deep in meditation.