MILAN MUNCLINGER 100

On 3rd July, we commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the flutist, conductor and music organizer Milan Munclinger (1923–1986). He was an important figure in the field of historically informed interpretation of early music. According to experts, Munclinger was also an example of an enthusiast who attracted the general public to Baroque music with his personal charm and artistic authenticity.

The native of Košice came from an artistic family. His father Josef František Munclinger was an important singer and opera director, his mother was a founding member of the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava. Munclinger studied flute, conducting and composition at the Prague Conservatory and then at the Academy of Performing Arts, as well as musicology, aesthetics, philosophy and oriental studies at Charles University. In the years 1946–1948, he was one of Václav Talich's assistants in the Czech Chamber Orchestra.

In 1951, together with his wife, harpsichordist and pianist Viktorie Švihlíková, Munclinger founded the ensemble Ars rediviva, which started its subscription cycle at the end of 1954. He also became a co-founder of the Czech Society for Early Music, performed at international symposia dedicated to the interpretation of pre-classical compositions. He also devoted himself to jazz improvisation, discovering modern authors for the Czech audience, for example the French composer André Jolivet. He founded the ensembles Munclinger's Wind Quartet and Aulos and taught at the Prague Conservatory.

In the Supraphon archive, we can find a whole range of his important and internationally acclaimed recordings. Among them, Bach's flute sonatas, first released on record in 1969 and now, on the 100th anniversary of his birth, being released digitally for the first time. Get the album here: https://supraphon.lnk.to/MunclingerBachSonatasForFlute