JIŘÍ VODIČKA AND DAVID MAREČEK

Supraphon released a remarkable double album with Antonín Dvořák’s complete works for violin and piano played by Czech Philharmonic concertmaster Jiří Vodička and sensitively accompanied by pianist David Mareček, the CEO of the Czech Philharmonic. Listeners who have already heard the concert series of these compositions can now look forward to a studio recording. “Our complete set is unique worldwide; the double album truly contains all of the chamber music for violin and piano. We are enormously pleased with it”, says Jiří Vodička, and David Mareček adds: “It is not without reason that Dvořák is the most successful Czech composer. Thanks to that, there is constant interest in our programme of Dvořák’s compositions, and not only at home; we also have concerts planned abroad.”

We met with the new recording’s two protagonists for a short interview just before the album’s release.

Dvořák did not repeat himself, creating a different musical world in every work. It would be hard to find another composer offering such a diversity of works within a single musical genre. While making the recording, which composition interested you the most personally, and why?

Jiří Vodička: Personally, Dvořák is my favourite Czech composer, and not only because he wrote some of the key works of the violin repertoire (Violin Concerto, Romance, and Mazurek). Also like his symphonic works. The musical language that he speaks resonates with my soul as an artist. As far as learning the chamber works heard on this double album is concerned, I was surprised by the unusual instrumentation of the Nocturne. The very technically difficult Capriccio is yet another interesting composition. Last but not least, I was surprised by his Sonata, which is very seldom played. I admit that I, personally, did not know it, and I will now definitely be programming it for concerts because it is a composition that deserves to be played.

David Mareček: For me, the biggest discovery was the Sonata, which conceals incredible musical wealth for interpretation. Each movement is completely different, and as a whole it creates a unified image of Dvořák as a man and as a composer. It contains intimate lyricism, spiritual depth, and the elemental rhythm of the dance. Of the shorter compositions, I was excited by Dvořák’s own arrangement of his Slavonic Dance No. 2, which sounds far superior to the arrangements of other composers.

How did you feel about the recording sessions in Prague at the Rudolfinum’s Dvořák Hall?

Jiří Vodička: The Violin Sonata we mentioned was definitely hard work; we really had to build it from the ground up. That means not only learning it technically, but also rehearsing the work, somehow coming to understand it, and getting a grasp of it musically in order for it to be as meaningful and logical as possible for our interpretation.

David Mareček: The hardest thing was finding enough time for the whole programme to ripen for the concert stage. Thanks to the fact that Jiří and I managed to arrange for a series of concert performances all around the Czech Republic before making the recording itself, getting ready for the recording also turned out to be the greatest pleasure both thanks to contact with the public and because we both could observe how the individual pieces were progressing and growing musically.