Although she only lived to be 25, Vítezslava Kaprálová taught a lesson to all those who think that one can only compose music with a license. This incredibly talented Czech simply wrote music and was on the way to becoming one of the greats before she succumbed to a typhus infection in France in 1940. Two years earlier, she opened the festival of the International Society for New Music in London with her Military Sinfonietta, which was enthusiastically received by the press and the public; her piano concerto, her graduation piece in her home city of Brno, was a brilliant success; her Suite Rustica featuring famous Czech folk songs had all the makings of a "pop hit”. … Sometimes it is difficult to comprehend the caprices of destiny.
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Reviews
“…Tomáš Vrána is CPO’s pianist and plays with admirably fleet fingers … a delicious example of her richly expressive writing, burnished with impressionism, and a lightly spiced use of folkloric influence. The piece is actually rooted in her Suite for Piano, which is included in the second disc and with which it shares an opus number, Op 1.This is a useful collection of Kaprálová’s orchestral music… “
Jonathan Woolf – Musicwebinternational.com – 21 July 2024
“… In turns tempestuous and rhapsodic, eerie and excitable, the Piano Concerto is the most substantial piece here, though there is also a lot to enjoy in the likes of the boisterous Suita Rustica and the charming Prélude de Noël” ****
Jeremy Pound – BBC Music magazine (Brief Notes section) – August 2024
Martin Blaumeiser – klassik-heute.de – 10 June 2024
“…Kaprálová was the first woman to conduct the Czech Philharmonic, so it’s fitting that Alena Hron leads the proceeding here, as she’s the first woman to be names music director of a Czech orchestra. The Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava play extremely well for her … these interpretations do full justice to Kaprálová’s art.”
Andrew Farach-Colton – Gramophone magazine – July 2024
“…The program of this album is quite mixed and indeed shows both the Slavic passion and the melodicism influenced by Moravian folk music. The most lasting are the Partita per pianoforte ed orchestra d’archi op. 20 and the Piano Concerto op. 7, played very well by Tomáš Vrána. The Janácek Philharmonic Ostrava under Alena Hron accompany him attentively. The orchestra also demonstrates a solid level in the other pieces under the direction of the Czech conductor, who always makes the music very atmospheric and colorful.” *****
Remy Franck – Pizzicato.lu – 6 May 2024
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