Czech, please!

On this week’s “Music from Marlboro,” it’s an all-Czech affair.

Legendary pianist Rudolf Firkušný, born in Moravia in 1912, was a living link to composers Leoš Janáček and Josef Suk (the pupil and son-in-law of Antonin Dvořák). Firkušný studied with both and with pianists Alfred Cortot and Artur Schnabel. What a pedigree!

Despite a very long and remarkable career, Firkušný was likely recognized by more Americans because of an unlikely venture – selling Nike sneakers alongside David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs:

Firkušný was 78 years-old at the time of his television “15 minutes-of-fame” in 1990. He was about to make his triumphant return to Czechoslovakia, which he had fled ahead of the Nazi occupation in 1939 and then shunned during Communist rule. Firkušný had not performed in his homeland since 1946. He has been described by author, radio personality, and noted pedagogue David Dubal as “the preeminent Czech pianist of the 20th century.”

We’ll hear Firkušný at the 1982 Marlboro Music Festival, performing Janáček’s “Concertino,” a chamber concerto of sorts, written in 1925. He’ll be joined by violinists Elena Barere and Mei-Chen Liao, violist Steven Tenenbom, clarinetists Cheryl Hill (E-flat) and Steven Jackson (B-flat), bassoonist Stefanie Przybylska, and hornist Robin Graham.

Then we’ll turn to Dvořák’s String Quintet No. 2 in G major, Op. 77. Dvořák’s quintet is unusual in several regards. First, rather than doubling the violas or cellos, as you’ll find in most quintets for strings, Dvořák adds a double bass. Second, the piece originally included five movements, two of them slow. The composer second-guessed its length and removed one of them, which he later reworked as his “Nocturne for Strings” in B major.

Dvořák dedicated the quintet, a competition winner, “To my Nation.” It was originally composed in 1875, then slightly revised and published in 1888.

We’ll hear it performed at the 1985 Marlboro Music Festival by violinists Isidore Cohen and Ralph de Souza, violist Benjamin Simon, cellist Astrid Schween, and double bassist Peter Lloyd.

That’s music by Janáček and Dvořák on this week’s “Music from Marlboro.” Czech it out, this Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST, on WWFM The Classical Network and wwfm.org.

Marlboro School of Music and Festival: Official Page

Firkušný knows… Nike and Janáček