Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra | Josef Špaček

Leoš JANÁČEK / arr. Tomáš ILLE: The Makropulos Affair, suite from the opera
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra, H 337
Vítězslav NOVÁK: Slovak Suite for small orchestra, Op. 32

Josef Špaček (violin)
Tomáš Netopil (conductor)
Czech Philharmonic

Principal guest conductor Tomáš Netopil has prepared one of the season’s purely Czech programmes with the world premiere of a suite from Leoš Janáček’s opera The Makropulos Affair arranged by Tomáš Ille. The rest of the programme is original as well, with Josef Špaček appearing, unusually, as a viola soloist in Bohuslav Martinů’s Rhapsody-Concerto.

Concerning the suite, the conductor Tomáš Netopil says “I hope that by performing it, we will be expanding Janáček’s rich, highly original musical legacy. I’m also pleased about collaborating in a new way with Josef Špaček as a viola soloist, and I fully understand his desire to play this extraordinary concertante work by Bohuslav Martinů, which was also once recorded by the legendary Czech violinist Josef Suk. Supplementing the evening of Czech music will be Vítězslav Novák’s delightful Slovak Suite, a work I have loved since my days as a student.”

More information: https://www.ceskafilharmonie.cz/en/event/27470-josef-spacek-czech-philharmonic/