Programme
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet in F major, K 590
Karol Szymanowski
String Quartet No. 1 in C major, Op. 37
Antonín Dvořák
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81
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Czech Chamber Music Society • Belcea Quartet and Miroslav Sekera
Today, the Belcea Quartet is one of the finest chamber ensembles. Residing in London, the players are of diverse nationalities. Outstanding Czech pianist Miroslav Sekera became popular already as a child when he played young W. A. Mozart in the film Amadeus. Today, he is a regular on stages in this country and around the world.
Subscription series I | Czech Chamber Music Society
Performers
Belcea Quartet
Corina Belcea violin I
Axel Schacher violin II
Antoine Lederlin cello
Krzysztof Chorzelskiviola
Miroslav Sekera piano
Rudolfinum — Dvořák Hall
Price from 100 to 350 Kč
Tickets and contact information
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The programme for the 2021/2022 season was chosen taking into account the coming anniversaries of composers. Mozart’s String Quartet in F major is one of the three masterpieces of the genre that he dedicated to the King of Prussia, who is said to have been an excellent cellist. For this reason, the cello part is especially demanding. K. Szymanowski is among the composers with anniversaries this year. He was influenced by the music of Wagner, Richard Strauss, Chopin, and especially the great impressionists Debussy and Ravel. Dvořák’s Piano Quintet, Op. 81 reveals supreme compositional mastery. It was first heard on 6 January 1888 at one of the concerts of the Artists’ Association at the Rudolfinum in Prague. The work’s première met with very positive reviews from critics. For example, in the newspaper Národní listy, Josef Bohuslav Foerster called it: “a work of rare worth, fresh thematic material, and imposing depth of treatment. One cannot give preference to any of the movements, because the fervent Allegro and the poetic Dumka are just as captivating as the high-spirited Furiant and the carefree Finale. The sound of the composition also makes a lovely impression and the work contains many interesting and original instrumental effects, as we would expect from Dvořák.”
Performers
Miroslav Sekera piano
Miroslav Sekera, winner of the 2002 Johannes Brahms International Competition in Portschach, Austria, had already won prizes at many important competitions in this country and abroad (F. Chopin International Competition in Mariánské Lázně, YAMAHA Scholarship Competition, International Piano Competition in Gaillard, France). In 2016 he won a prize from the “Salon de Virtuosi” music society in New York.
He has two solo CDs to his credit, which have won awards on the website Pizzicato.lu; for Joseph Summer, a contemporary composer from Boston, he has recorded seven more CDs in the USA. He collaborates with Czech Radio and with leading Czech orchestras and festivals, including a solo recital at the Rudolf Firkušný Piano Festival at the Rudolfinum. He makes guest appearances abroad, especially in Japan and the USA.
He performs regularly with violinist Josef Špaček, mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková, and French horn player Radek Baborák.
He began playing piano at age three and graduated from the Prague Conservatoire (Eva Boguniová and Martin Ballý) and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (Miroslav Langer).
