Antonín Reicha: Piano Quintet, Trio for Three Cellos Kocian Quartet, Jaroslav Tuma, Václav Bernášek, Michal Kanka, Petr Hejny

• Antonín Reicha (1770 - 1836): Piano Quintet in C Minor:
• 1 Reicha: Piano Quintet in C Minor: I. Adagio - Allegro 14:41
• 2 Reicha: Piano Quintet in C Minor: II. Lento poco andante 07:27
• 3 Reicha: Piano Quintet in C Minor: III. Allegro vivo - Menuetto 08:49
• 4 Reicha: Piano Quintet in C Minor: IV. Finale. Allegro 12:08
• Trio for 3 Cellos in E-Flat Major:
• 5 Reicha: Trio for 3 Cellos in E-Flat Major: I. Allegro 09:51
• 6 Reicha: Trio for 3 Cellos in E-Flat Major: II. Andante 05:40
• 7 Reicha: Trio for 3 Cellos in E-Flat Major: III. Menuetto. Allegro 05:19
• 8 Reicha: Trio for 3 Cellos in E-Flat Major: IV. Finale. Lento poco andante 06:48
• Total Runtime 01:10:43

Info for Antonín Reicha: Piano Quintet, Trio for Three Cellos

“Antonín Reicha’s music continues to inhabit the fringes of the active repertoire of everyone except perhaps wind quintets, which is a pity. Certainly Reicha was one of the most interesting and inventive composers of his era, and one of the few lesser-known personalities of the Classical Period aside from Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and Rossini whose music deserves to be revived and enjoyed. In 1826 he composed this enormous Piano Quintet, and there’s not a second of ‘dead’ music in any of its nearly 43 minutes. The sheer forward energy of the opening movement is truly extraordinary, with countless surprising turns of phrase, while the succeeding Lento poco andante offers some gorgeous experiments in texture (for starters, check out the central cello solo backed by pizzicato strings and graceful piano figurations). A scherzo that never goes quite where you think it’s going to (particularly in the central trio) yields at last to a finale that is the most formally regular of the four movements, but no less tuneful and expertly laid out for the ensemble.

The Trio in E-flat for three cellos is one of those tours de force of tone and texture that Reicha seemed able to toss off with astonishing ease. This also is a big work - 27 minutes - in four movements and delightfully euphonious while at the same time far more colourful than we have any right to expect from this particular combination. An earlier work dating from 1807, there’s more of Mozart and Haydn here than in the Piano Quintet, but certainly that’s no penance. The performances of both works leave little to be desired. In particular pianist Jaroslav Tůma plays a delightfully crisp-sounding fortepiano that offers a perfect foil to the more fulsome textures of the Kocian Quartet, and the three cellists match their tones extremely well. Best of all, the players have the energy and sheer stamina required to keep the music moving with the liveliness that characterizes all of this composer’s best work. Fine sound rounds off an excellent release that can only do Reicha’s reputation good.” (David Hurwitz, ClassicsToday)

Kocian Quartet
Jaroslav Tůma, pianoforte
Michal Kaňka, cello
Petr Hejný, cello

The Kocian Quartet
is a Czech classical chamber ensemble. Originally named the New String Quartet, it was founded in 1972 by three members of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Pravoslav Kohout.

Zemlinsky Quartet
Founded in 1994 while the members were still students, the ZEMLINSKY QUARTET has become a much lauded example of the Czech string quartet tradition. The Zemlinsky Quartet won the First Grand Prize at the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition in 2010. They have also been awarded top prizes at the Banff International String Quartet Competition (2007), Prague Spring International Music Competition (2005) and London International String Quartet Competition (2006), where they also received the Audience Prize. The Quartet was recipient of the Alexander Zemlinsky Advancement Award in 2008. Other notable prizes include Beethoven International Competition (1999), New Talent Bratislava (2003), Martinů Foundation String Quartet Competition (2004), and the Prize of Czech Chamber Music Society (2005). In the season 2016/17, Zemlinsky Quartet was appointed as the residential ensemble of the Czech Chamber Music Society.

While students at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts Prague, the ensemble was coached by members of renowned Czech string quartets including the Talich, Prague, Kocian and Pražák Quartets. The ensemble also took part in several master classes including ProQuartet, in France and Sommerakademie in Reichenau, Austria where they were awarded First Prize for the best interpretation of a work by Janáček. From 2005 to 2008, the quartet studied with Walter Levin, the first violinist of LaSalle Quartet. Their recent mentor has been Josef Klusoň, the violist of the Pražák Quartet.

Zemlinsky Quartet is named after the Austrian composer, conductor and teacher Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), whose enormous contribution to Czech, German and Jewish culture during his 16-year residence in Prague had been underrated until recently. His four string quartets (the second one being dedicated to his student and brother-in-law Arnold Schönberg) belong to the basic repertoire of the ensemble. Since 2005, the quartet has maintained a special relationship with the Alexander Zemlinsky Foundation in Vienna.

The Zemlinsky Quartet performs regularly in the Czech Republic and abroad (Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France, Monaco, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Great Britain, Ireland, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Canada, USA, Brazil, Japan, South Korea). Recent major appearances of the Zemlinsky Quartet include London’s Wigmore Hall, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Library of Congress, Place des Arts in Montreal, Prague Spring Festival, and their New York debut on Schneider/New School Concerts Series.

Their vast repertoire contains more than 200 works ranging from Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, and Dvorak to works by contemporary composers. The members of the ensemble also perform as soloists and are individual prize-winners of several competitions (Concertino Praga, Spohr International Competition Weimar, Tribune of Young Artists UNESCO, Rotary Music Competition Nürnberg,Beethoven International Competition, Kocian International Competition).

Between 2006-2011, the Zemlinsky Quartet were Assistant Quartet-in-Residence at Musikakademie Basel in Switzerland. Music education is an important part of their professional life and during their tours, the quartet is often invited to give master classes to students of any age. They also perform educational concerts for students. Recently, František Souček and Petr Holman have been appointed Professors at the Prague Conservatory.

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