Czech Chamber Music Society • Adam Plachetka

Five Songs from Evening Songs, Op. 5 (8')

Zdeněk Fibich

Zdeněk Fibich (1850–1900), a generation younger, selected poems with lyrical verses about love for musical settings from among the Evening Songs that Hálek had placed among the first thirty poems in his collection. In Fibich’s rich legacy of songs, the Five Songs from “Evening Songs”, Op. 5, represent his first cycle of songs to Czech texts. He composed the cycle between July and November 1871 after arriving in Prague, and he dedicated it to the wife of his supporter Ludevít Procházka, the singer Marta Procházková. She apparently had a particular liking for the last song (Přilítlo jaro zdaleka – Spring came flying from afar), singing it repeatedly at chamber concerts. The song, “full of lofty sentiment“ and raising “hopes of great promise” in the young composer, was praised in equally lofty terms by the period press. By age 21, Fibich had written dozens of songs with German texts, and yet to come would be a more mature outpouring of vocal works inspired mainly by Růžena Hanušová, Fibich’s fiancée and future wife. The Five Songs were published by Emanuel Wetzler in 1872.

Abendempfindung, K 523 (5')

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

While Hálek’s Evening Songs evoke evenings full of love, the compositions that follow are more darkly coloured. Abendempfindung, K 523, by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) reflects upon the passing of time and the inevitability of death and speaks of the tears of friends left behind and of graves. The sentimental text tends to be attributed to Joachim Heinrich Campe, a German writer, linguist, and translator of the Age of Enlightenment, but his authorship is not certain. A similar poem titled Abendempfindung an Lana (sic, recte: Laura) was published in 1781 in Vienna in an anthology of poetry of that era, compiled by Johann Friedrich Schink. Mozart composed Abendempfindung on 24 June 1787, at about the same time as the opera Don Giovanni and Eine kleine Nachtmusik, and he highlighted the composition’s calm restraint and contemplative mood by using a regular eight-note rhythm in the accompanimental piano arpeggios. In March 1789, the Viennese publisher Artaria published the song together with another, An Chloe, K 524, in an edition titled “Zwei deutsche Arien”.

Adam Plachetka

baritone

Adam Plachetka was educated at the conservatory in his native town of Prague. In addition to his many national competition victories, Adam won First Prize at the Antonín Dvořákʼs International Vocal Competition.

In 2005 he made his debut at the National Theatre in Prague, since when he has appeared in Prague as Don Giovanni, Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Nardo (La finta giardiniera), Argante (Rinaldo) and Guglielmo (Così fan tutte), among others.

In september 2010 Adam became a member of the Ensemble of the Wiener Staatsoper. After his debut as Schaunard (La bohéme), he moved on to roles such as Melisso (Alcina), Don Giovanni, Dulcamara (Lʼelisir dʼamore), Figaro, Guglielmo, Publio (La clemenza di Tito), Mustafá (LʼItaliana in Algeri) and Alidoro (La Cenerentola).

Adamʼs engagements include appearances at the Salzburger Festspiele, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Pražské jaro, Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Bruxelles, Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London, Musikverein in Vienna, Festpielhaus Baden-Baden, Glyndebourne Festival, Deutsche Oper and Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Carnegie Hall in New York, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Wigmore Hall in London and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

He has taken part in recordings for Arte, Arthaus Musik, Česká televize, Český rozhlas, Deutsche Grammophon, Mezzo, Naxos, Orfeo, ORF and Supraphon.

Adam performs under the baton of such conductors as Alain Altinoglu, Marco Armiliato, Daniel Barenboim, Ivor Bolton, Bruno Campanella, John Fiore, Asher Fisch, Valery Gergiev, Friedrich Haider, Daniel Harding, Patrick Lange, Louis Langrée, Marc Minkowski, Riccardo Muti, John Nelson, Tomáš Netopil, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robin Ticciati or Franz Welser-Möst.

David Švec

piano

David Švec studied piano and conducting first at the České Budějovice Conservatoire and then at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. In February 2000 he took part at conducting masterclasses under Sir Colin Davis in Dresden, and in 2002 he completed a study visit at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna (under Leopold Hager). In 2004 he won the Bösendorfer Preis in the opera coaching category at the Belvedere International Competition in Vienna.

Although he also appears regularly in concert halls (Bamberg Symphony, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc), David Švec profiles himself mainly as an opera conductor. Already as a student he was active at the Janáček Opera in Berlin, then in September 2003 he began working at Prague’s National Theatre, where he has had a full-time conducting engagement since 2011. Last year he became the chief conductor of opera at the South Bohemia Theatre in České Budějovice. He also makes guest appearances abroad at opera houses (Barcelona, Paris, Vienna, Ljubljana) and festivals (Glyndebourne). In 2014 for the publisher Bärenreiter, he made the new piano vocal score for Janáček’s opera Věc Makropulos, which was used for the first time for the production of the opera at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich.

He has been collaborating with the Prague Chamber Orchestra as a pianist since 1998, and he is in demand as an especially sensitive chamber music partner. He has also made many CD recordings for Czech Radio. He appears on stage regularly with leading Czech singers such as soprano Eva Urbanová, bass-baritone Adam Plachetka, and soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, with whom he has appeared, for example, at the Prague Spring Festival (2010 and 2015).