Dvorak: 2 Serenades Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, Stanislav Vavřinek, Vahan Mardirossian

• Antonín Dvorák (1841 - 1904): Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22:
• 1 Dvorák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: I. Moderato 04:45
• 2 Dvorák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: II. Tempo di Valse 07:06
• 3 Dvorák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: III. Scherzo. Vivace 05:53
• 4 Dvorák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: IV. Larghetto 05:00
• 5 Dvorák: Serenade for Strings in E Major, Op. 22: V. Finale. Allegro Vivace 06:11
• Silent Woods for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 68:
• 6 Dvorák: Silent Woods for Cello & Orchestra, Op. 68 05:53
• Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44:
• 7 Dvorák: Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44: I. Moderato, quasi Marcia 04:19
• 8 Dvorák: Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44: II. Minutetto 05:49
• 9 Dvorák: Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44: III. Andante con Moto 08:39
• 10 Dvorák: Serenade for Winds in D Minor, Op. 44: IV. Allegro Molto 06:04
• Total Runtime 59:39

Info for Dvorak: 2 Serenades

New Czech recordings of perennially popular serenades from the pen of Dvořák at a turning point in his career, full of freshness, Bohemian charm and flowing melodies.

The Serenades for Strings and Winds never get old, and never lose their appeal, especially in the hands of musicians who feel this music in their bones. The opening of the Serenade for Strings issues the warmest welcome to a world poised between the 18th and 19th centuries, looking back in terms of its reassuring character as music for nocturnal entertainment, yet also unmistakably belonging to the Czech composer’s own place and time – Prague, 1875 – with its Bohemian turn of harmony and yearning cantabile.

Composed three years later as a counterpart, the Serenade for Winds marks a development in the composer’s technique – more elegant handling of counterpoint and melodic development – from the earlier work. At the same time, the Mozartian air of good-natured humour is even stronger. Both serenades relax into slow movements of poetry without pathos, and each of them was composed within less than a fortnight’s work, testifying to the inspiration felt by the composer as he worked at his material. The melodies seem to come, as Richard Strauss later said of himself, as easily as a cow giving milk.

The Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra Pardubice has made several albums of Czech repertoire for Brilliant Classics and Piano Classics, most recently the neglected Piano Concerto of Dvořák (PCL10272), as well as the complete piano concertante works of Chopin with Ekaterina Litvinseva, and the Cello Concerto of Dvořák (95696). The recording was made under studio conditions in the orchestra’s home concert hall, yielding a warm, transparent sound which is ideally suited to these intimate pieces.

Petr Nouzovsky, cello
Czech Chamber Philharmonic
Stanislav Vavrinek, conductor
Orchestra Pardubice
Vahan Mardirossian, conductor

Petr Nouzovsky
recognized as one of Europe’s eminent cellists of his generation, performs regularly on many prestigious concert stages, such as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Regentenbau in Bad Kissingen, the Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow, or the Herkules Saal in Munich. He has garnered enthusiastic acclaim for the consummate technical refinement of his performance, in conjunction with an original tectonic construction of his interpretation.

During the present concert season, Petr Nouzovský has appeared in numerous recitals as well as orchestral concerts throughout Europe, the U. S., and Asia. To date, he has performed with the Nagoya Philharmonic, the PKF—Prague Philharmonia, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno, or the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. He is a regular guest at the Prague Spring Festival, the Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, or the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival. In the past seasons, Petr Nouzovský performed in Germany, China, Japan, New York, Estonia, and Poland, in both solo recitals and chamber or orchestral concerts, e.g. with the Krakow Philharmonic, the Südwestfalen Philharmonic, or the Slovak Philharmonic. In 2024, he will embark on his first-ever orchestral tour of South Korea, as well as tours in Japan and China. Also, he is much looking forward to performing Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with the Slovak Philharmonic.

Petr Nouzovský cooperates with prominent conductors, such as Charles Olivieri-Munroe, Tomáš Brauner, Jakub Hrůša, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Petr Altrichter, Caspar Richter, Jan Schultsz, Andrew Parrott, Case Scaglione, or James Judd. He performs the standard cello concert repertoire (Martinů, Dvořák, Brahms, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Haydn, Schumann, Shostakovich, Penderecki, Bloch), as well as compositions less frequently heard owing to their extraordinary degree of difficulty (such as Prokofiev’s Symphony-Concerto, or Offenbach’s Concerto Militaire, Kraft Cello Concerto).

The cellist has made recordings for Dabringhaus und Grimm, Brilliant Classics, CUBE, Albany, Supraphon, and ArcoDiva. His CD ‘Vivat tango’, recorded with the accordionist Ladislav Horák for the Supraphon, has been declared the 2014 CD of the Year by the New York Violoncello Foundation. The recently published double-CD recording of Bohuslav Martinů’s complete works for cello and orchestra (with the Pilsen Philharmonic under the baton of Tomáš Brauner), issued by the prestigious German Dabringhaus und Grimm label, has won the 2017 Classic Prague Award and the 2017 Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik; glowing reviews have appeared in the Pizzicato Luxembourg and the Frankfurter Allgemeine. His most recent CD featuring works by Antonín Dvořák (with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice under the baton of Stanislav Vavřínek), issued by the Brilliant Classics, has been named the Album of the Weekend by the British Classic FM radio and garnered distinctions, such as the highest mark from the Pizzicato Luxembourg, five stars from the prestigious French Classica Magazine, or a unreservedly frenetic review in the Belgian Crescendo Magazine. According to the U. S. Fanfare Magazine, Nouzovský’s recording of Antonín Dvořák’s Concerto in B minor ranks as the best in history (Jerry Dubins, Fanfare Magazine, July/August 2022).

In 2020, Petr Nouzovský finished the first-ever complete recording of the cello compositions of Bohuslav Martinů, on five CDs. In this project, he was partnered by the Pilsen Philharmonic, the conductor Tomáš Brauner, and the pianists Gérard Wyss and Miroslav Sekera.

Petr Nouzovský studied at the Prague Conservatory, the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber in Dresden, and the Real Conservatorio Superior de Música de Madrid. In addition to repeated invitations to the Piatigorsky Seminar in Los Angeles, he attended master courses with Mstislav Rostropovich, Boris Pergamenschikow, and Lynn Harrell.

In 2014-2016, he was the ‘Soloist in Residence’ of the Pilsen Philharmonic.

Petr Nouzovský is very proud to be teaching at the Prague Conservatory, where he currently passes his experience to two students. He is also a faculty member at the NYU Prague, and he gives regular master courses in Třeboň and Pezinok (in Slovakia). He co-founded the Gustav Mahler Prize Cello Competition in Jihlava.

Petr Nouzovský has appeared in some 2.100 concerts in forty countries around the world.

His instrument is a Georg Rauer 1921 cello.

Booklet for Dvorak: 2 Serenades