2024-09-18 15:14:37
An ensemble originally specialized in Baroque music and its so-called historically informed interpretation, Collegium 1704, some time ago expanded its focus to 19th-century works. Its founder and artistic director Václav Luks cannot be described as an orthodox follower of the Baroque. With his ensembles or as a guest conductor, he also regularly presents works by romantic authors.
They traveled together to the end of the 19th century, for example, in 2021, when they opened the Prague Spring festival with Bedřich Smetana’s My Homeland. This Sunday at the Dvořák Prague show, there was also a second Czech national composer. The Piano Concerto in G minor and the hymn Dědicová Bílé hora by Antonín Dvořák were performed in the Rudolfinum, supplemented by a symphony by the little-known Czech composer Jan Václav Kalivoda.
The soloist of the evening was the twenty-two-year-old Canadian pianist Eric Guo, whom Prague had already heard last year, right after he won the Chopin competition for period instruments. It forms a younger counterpart to one of the most prestigious piano competitions held in the Polish metropolis and indicates where the trend is heading: to get closer to the contemporary sound aesthetics of composers, whether it is a Renaissance madrigal or music from the era of the Industrial Revolution.
Guo is a remarkable phenomenon – he effortlessly alternates playing 19th-century instruments with the modern piano, although each requires a completely different playing technique. He won over the jury of the Chopin competition with a deeply experienced and distinctive performance, in which youthful temperament, playfulness and free-spiritedness are mixed with disarming modesty.
Compared to Chopin’s, Antonín Dvořák’s concerto is larger, more technically demanding and played much less often. Only a handful of world pianists have it in their repertoire, and far from all Czech pianists. So it was positively shocking that Eric Guo performed the solo part from memory.
What makes this Dvořák different from the symphonic creations of modern orchestras and soloists? Almost everything. Perhaps the biggest difference, which even a layman’s ear will notice, is the absence of vibrato, which usually helps the bows to achieve a heavier and rounder tone. Also, the soloist must take into account that the period piano will never match the modern one in strength, and involve other means to achieve effects.
It works, and Eric Guo can do it: clever work with accents, articulation, tempo. The instrument he had at his disposal came from the workshop of the proven contemporary American maker of modern copies and expert in piano construction, Paul McNulty. The bass on it played with all colors and it was sufficiently vocal in the upper position.
Nevertheless, this time he also showed his limits – the extreme movements of the soloist were often not heard through the dense orchestral score. In the wonderful slow movement, where the piano carries a long cantilena, the phrasing again seemed disjointed. Apparently, we need to get used to this completely different reading of Dvořák, appreciate the newly illuminated details and think about whether our listeners’ expectations are not just clichés.
Buoyed by applause on Sunday, the pianist added four more small pieces from his rich Chopin repertoire and demonstrated not only stunning technique but also spontaneity and musicality.
The evening full of discoveries continued with the performance of Symphony No. 7 in G minor by Jan Václav Kalivoda, a very prolific Czech composer, recognized in his time and completely forgotten today.
Kalivoda lived from 1801 to 1866. He is one of those who contributed to the concept of Czech musical history from the workshop of the former communist minister of education Zdeňek Nejedlý, who essentially erased everything between the Hussites and Bedřich Smetana. That Smetana and after him Dvořák relied on the musicality and tradition not only of the Czech music of previous generations, which was composed of perhaps “lesser”, but not uninteresting authors, should always be remembered.
With its ferocious flow, skillful work with themes and instrumentation, and with the passage of time, Kalivod’s symphony stands up to the commonly performed European works from the first decades of the 19th century. Thanks to the rousing performance of Collegio 1704, the entire Rudolfinum left the evening convinced.
A festival focused on a single composer, such as Dvořák’s Prague, has seemingly limited opportunities to surprise. It turns out, however, that even the work of the most famous Czech composer is not so thoroughly defended.
For example, the hymn to Vítězslav Hálk’s patriotic poem Dědicová Bílá hora, which brought Antonín Dvořák his first major recognition after its premiere in 1873, is a gem. It deserves to stand alongside his much more popular choral-orchestral opuses, but on recordings and stages to be seen.
On Sunday, the organizers selected the English version, which the composer ordered to be performed on English soil. Collegium Vocale 1704, the choral offshoot of the Václav Luks ensemble, achieved a powerful effect with 28 singers. A delicious, harmonically imaginative and effectively graded piece was the perfect end to an unusual concert.
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