Piano Concerto, Signorina Gioventu, Nikotina

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Outside his homeland; Vitezslav Novak is not nearly as well known today as his compatriot and colleague Josef Suk; even though he also enjoyed great international renown during his lifetime. Like his friend Antonin Dvorak; who trained him; Novak was a composition teacher and later rector of the Prague Conservatory. He left behind a wide-ranging oeuvre that extends from chamber music to ballet and opera. Clear influences from national folk music; a humorous approach to "exotic" elements and a refined sense of sound characterise the language of this artist who began as a fervent post-Romantic. The juxtaposition of the piano concerto; composed in 1895; and the two ballet pantomimes; written some 35 years later; creates a field of tension that compels the listener to engage with this fascinating luminary.