A second contribution to the exclusive Dvořák Collection series at this year's festival will again be a piano quartet - the second and final work that Antonín Dvořák created for this combination of instruments. While the First Piano Quartet showed Dvořák on the path towards a style of his own, the Piano Quartet No. 2 in E Flat Major (1889) shows him at the absolute height of his creative powers. That same year, the composer finished his Eighth Symphony, in two years he became a professor at the Prague Conservatoire, and after two more years he departed for the USA to serve as director of a conservatoire in New York. For this performance of Dvořák's chamber music masterpiece at the St Agnes Convent, the pianist Lukáš Vondráček, curator of the festival's Chamber Series, will again joining with violinist Josef Špaček, the violist Jakub Fišer, and the cellist Tomáš Jamník. Preceding their performance of Dvořák's quartet will be the String Trio in G Major by Ludwig van Beethoven and the String Trio by Alfred Schnittke. Beethoven's trio represents the period when the twenty-eight-year-old composer was creating a style of his own and preparing the way for his first six string quartets and the First Symphony. Schnittke dedicated his String Trio (1985) to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Alban Berg, and in it he graphically demonstrates his ability to combine several different styles and mould them into a single style of his own. In this case, he mixes Berg's harmonies with the rhythm of the tune Happy Birthday as if it were absolutely natural.

Praised for his remarkable range of colours, his confident and concentrated stage presence, his virtuosity, and technical poise as well as the beauty of his tone, Josef Špaček has gradually emerged as one of the leading violinists of his generation.

He has appeared with orchestras including the Orchestre de Paris, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, the Bamberger Symphoniker, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the WDR Sinfonieorchester, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, SWR-Symphonieorchester, and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.

Highlights in the 2023/24 season include debuts with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Nathalie Stutzmann, the Dutch Radio Philharmonic Orchestra with Tomáš Netopil, as well as a residency with the Residentie Orchestra The Hague with Anja Bihlmaier, and with Jun Märkl in his return to the prestigious Verbier Festival.

With cellist Timotheos Gavriilidis-Petrin and pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu, he completes the Trio Zimbalist.

In September 2023, Supraphon released Josef Špaček’s latest CD recording presenting orchestral and chamber works by Bohuslav Martinů: Concerto for violin, piano and orchestra, followed by Sonata No. 3 and Five short pieces.

Another remarkable CD recorded with cellist Tomáš Jamník features works for violin and cello by Janáček, Martinů, Schulhoff, and Klein, including a transcription of Janáček’s string quartet no. 1 for violin/cello duo. His previous Supraphon release is a highly praised recording of the violin concertos by Dvořák and Janáček, coupled with the Fantasy of Suk, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. The Sunday Times wrote: “The violinist’s individual, deeply considered and virtuosic account of Dvorak’s solo part is the highlight of this keenly conceived programme”, adding that “…in this repertoire, Špaček is second to none today.” It was the “Recording of the Week” of The Sunday Times, “Recording of the Month & of the Year” of MusicWeb International and it received 5* from Diapason. Other recordings to date include a recital disc with works for violin and piano by Smetana, Janáček, and Prokofiev with pianist Miroslav Sekera (Supraphon).

Josef Špaček studied with Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School in New York, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and with Jaroslav Foltýn at the Prague Conservatory. He was laureate of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels and won top prizes at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark, and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York. He served as concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra for nine concert seasons until 2019 and the orchestra named him “Associate Artist” in January 2016.

Josef Špaček performs on the ca. 1732 “LeBrun; Bouthillard” Guarneri del Gesù violin, generously on loan from lIngles & Hayday.

source: MAKROPULOS

Jakub Fišer is a graduate of the Prague Conservatoire and of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He studied violin under Prof. Bublová, Prof. Metelková, Prof. Foltýn, and Prof. Čepický. He has achieved success at numerous international competitions (incl. the Slovak competition Čírenie talentov, the Kocián Violin Competition, and Beethoven’s Hradec). In 2011 he won the Josef Hlávka Foundation Award. Jakub Fišer appeared several times as a soloist in the series “Josef Suk Presents Young Talents”, and he has given solo performances at concerts of the Prague Chamber Philharmonic, the Hradec Králové Philharmonic, and the Pilsen Philharmonic. He has participated at masterclasses with Shlomo Mintz, Semyon Yaroshevich, and Stephen Shipps. He has served as concertmaster of the Prague Chamber Philharmonic and as a guest concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic and the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern. At present, he is the first violinist of the Bennewitz Quartet. He also appears occasionally as a soloist. For example, at the Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně he joined with Jiří Bárta and Roman Patočka in playing Bach’s Goldberg Variations.

Tomáš Jamník is a Czech cellist, currently residing in Berlin and Prague. Recognized for his in-depth knowledge of each performed piece, attention to detail, and strong interest in bringing less-well-known music to a wider audience, Tomáš has established himself as a celebrated soloist in both classical and contemporary music.

In 2006 he won the Prague Spring International Music Competition and was awarded several special prizes, in 2011 he was also a finalist at the Pierre Fourniere Award in London. Since then, Tomáš has performed extensively with top international orchestras in Europe, the U.S., and Asia, including the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Prague Philharmonia, Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra London. He is also respected as a chamber musician.

In the 2022–23 season, Tomáš will appear at the Prague Spring International Festival with the Prague Symphony Orchestra performing Capriccio by Jan Novák. In June 2023 he will tour with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra performing Saint-Saëns Cello Concerto. During the season Tomáš will also give recitals and teach at the US universities (including the New York University and Juilliard School) thanks to the Fulbright-Masaryk scholarship.

Alongside his interpretational career, Tomáš is an enthusiastic educator and promoter of classical music. Since 2015, he has served as the artistic director of the Czech Chamber Music Academy, which cooperates with the German foundation Villa Musica, and in 2019 he became the artistic director of the Ševčík Academy, which focuses on advancing the teaching method of the legendary pedagogue Otakar Ševčík. In 2016, he founded the Vážný zájem (“Serious interest”) project, which helps organize classical music concerts in people’s homes.

Tomáš began his musical training in the Czech Republic under Mirko and Martin Škampa and graduated under Josef Chuchro at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He continued at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Leipzig under Peter Bruns and at the Universität der Künste Berlin under Jens Peter Maintz. He enriched his education at the Karajan Academy of Berliner Philharmoniker under Ludwig Quandt and at the Kronberg Academy under Steven Isserlis, Siegfried Palm, Young-Chang Cho and Pieter Wispelwey, as well as by participating in master classes given by Heinrich Schiff, Jiří Bárta, Gustav Rivinius and Truls Mørk.

Tomáš plays a violoncello made by Lorenzo Storioni in 1784, which was generously lent to him from the private collection of Mr. Aleš Voverka.

The indisputable winner of the Grand Prix at the 2016 International Queen Elisabeth Piano Competition, Lukáš Vondráček’s 2023/24 season highlights include a tour with Bamberg Symphony Orchestra and Jakub Hrůša in Boston, as well as returns to long term partners such as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and the Janacek Philharmonic.

Following recent appearances at the Flanders Festival, the “Le Piano Symphonique” Festival, and the Weiwuying International Festival in Taiwan, recital engagements have taken him to the ”Chopin and his Europe” Festival in Warsaw and the Piano Loop Festival in Split.

Over the last decade, Lukáš Vondráček has travelled the world working with various orchestras such as the Philadelphia and Sydney Symphony orchestras, the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra, the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic and the Netherlands Philharmonic orchestras under conductors such as Paavo Järvi, Gianandrea Noseda, Jakub Hrůša, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Marin Alsop, Christoph Eschenbach, Pietari Inkinen, Vasily Petrenko, Anu Tali, and Stéphane Denève, among many others.

Recitals have led him to Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Flagey in Brussels, Leipzig’s Gewandhaus, Wiener Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and to renowned festivals such as Menuhin Festival Gstaad, PianoEspoo in Finland, Prague Spring Festival, and Lille Piano Festival.

At the age of four, Lukáš Vondráček made his first public appearance. As a fifteen-year-old in 2002, he made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Vladimir Ashkenazy, which was followed by a major US tour in 2003. His natural and assured musicality and remarkable technique have long marked him out as a gifted and mature musician. He has achieved worldwide recognition by receiving many international awards, foremost first prizes at the Hilton Head and San Marino International Piano Competitions and Unisa International Piano Competition in Pretoria, South Africa, as well as the Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 International Van Cliburn Piano Competition.

After finishing his studies at the Academy of Music in Katowice and the Vienna Conservatoire, Lukáš Vondráček obtained an Artist Diploma from Boston's New England Conservatory under the tutelage of Hung-Kuan Chen, graduating with honours in 2012.

source: Harrison Parott

The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.