I have just noticed this! https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/kovarovic-forgotten-czech-piano-concertos/hnum/11737628 (https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/classic/detail/-/art/kovarovic-forgotten-czech-piano-concertos/hnum/11737628). Shame about the couplings, but I can live with it. The Kovarovic concerto was one of many that Hyperion perhaps should have taken up! I did mention it several times to Mike Spring in years gone by, but he never seemed to be interested.
Good spot Martin! It's a fine concerto and deserves a quality commercial recording. I don't know the Borkovec concerto at all but Kaprálová's work is a compact single span work from 1935 which can be heard on YouTube here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KouU_TTrRs). It's not too aggressively 20th century for my ears at least.
QuoteThe Kovarovic concerto was one of many that Hyperion perhaps should have taken up! I did mention it several times to Mike Spring in years gone by, but he never seemed to be interested.
So did I, Martin. I even suggested he coupled it with the Novak, which at one time he seemed to be considering, and sourced the material for him. Alas, it was not pursued. I agree with Mark about the Kapralova - it's quite attractive, I think. I don't, I'm afraid, know a note of music by Pavel Borkovec. However, both his piano concerti can be heard on YouTube, the second here (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_oQAl2BuBM). Having just sampled both I can say that No. 2 is a bit like Shostakovich, without the tunes, and preferable (to my ears, at least) to No. 1, which I find quite spiky and unappealing.
An enterprising release - looks as though Supraphon have trumped Hyperion here.
The later works leave me cold,although I understand why they are there. But,if only they had paired the Kovarovic with the Synphony by Blodek! Moody,melodic,and melancholic,it is scandalously overlooked.
It's great, although Gareth's suggestion is the perfect one [A Slavic Spoon on YT had said that the Kovarovic and the V. Novak PC are the only pair of truly romantic PCs in Czechia ("traditional" one's, of course, since the existence of ones like Kapralova's)]. And I would love to hear another Kapralova PC, especially the Mov. I.
Ehm, there IS still Dvořák's concerto, of course...
Yes, indeed! I suppose it was an unspoken assumption that Dvorak's PC isn't unsung enough; the reality, of course, is that it's one of his 'cinderella' works that very few people know. There are even different versions of the piano part!
Napravnik's concerto symphonique is non-traditional but still Romantic... (and the composer is Czech/Russian, but still.)
Concerto-wise we could use a good recording of one particular Czech violin concerto, Josef Weber's...
Quote from: Ilja on Thursday 01 February 2024, 22:55Ehm, there IS still Dvořák's concerto, of course...
I checked out his words. He said "unmistakably grand romantic virtuoso style". And I suppose Dvorak PC is really more Classical...
Quote from: eschiss1 on Thursday 01 February 2024, 23:11Napravnik's concerto symphonique is non-traditional but still Romantic... (and the composer is Czech/Russian, but still.)
Yeah, I totally forgot about this one. This is definitely more romantic than the Classical-oriented Dvorak one. Though it gave me a lightweight impression.
QuoteAnd I suppose Dvorak PC is really more Classical...
Well, it's thoroughly romantic in style - as much so as any of his contemporaries' PCs. It's not
late-romantic as one might characterise the Kovarovic, but it'd make a fine coupling. And it's still not particularly well-known.
The Supraphon release is now out - and they've done very well by the Kovarovic, which is an attractive, melodious work in a broad mid-to-late romantic idiom. If you like Grieg, Rubinstein (PC4) or, say, Scharwenka, this will suit you down to the ground.