Petr Nouzovský / cello, Martin Sadílek / harp, Martin Kasík / piano

Petr Nouzovský / cello
Martin Sadílek / harp
Martin Kasík / piano

Program:
Bedrich Smetana
From the homeland, two duos for violin and piano (arr. for cello A. Březina)
Leoš Janacek
A fairy tale for cello and piano (original version)
Bohuslav Martinů
Variation on Slovak folk song H 378
Václav Trojan
The Emperor's Nightingale
Marek Kopelent
Cantus rogans for solo cello
Pavel Novák Zemek
Variations on "Incantations" by B. Martinů for cello, piano and harp
Bohuslav Martinů
Sonata No. 3 for cello and piano H 340

If a classical grand piano has up to 230 strings (some of its 88 keys sound 2-3 strings when struck by a hammer) and a cello has four, then by adding another 47 harp strings we get to a number exceeding 300! Bohuslav Martinů loved the combination of harp and piano, and this was one of the reasons why this year our festival asked leading Czech composer Pavel Novák Zemek to create a paraphrase of his Piano Concerto No. 4 "Incantation". This metamorphosis thus transforms the sound of the orchestra and the solo piano into a chamber ensemble of three instruments. Smetana's two duos Z domoviny belong to the basic repertoire of Czech violinists, but they sound no less convincing on the cello. Janáček's Fairy Tale for cello and piano underwent a different metamorphosis, which today is performed almost exclusively in the second final version. In the context of this year's program, we are of course interested in Janáček's original version. In his Variations on a Slovak folk song, Bohuslav Martinů transformed the Slovak folk song Keby ja vedela (also known from Hungarian collections, including Béla Bartók's). And finally, the breathtaking Emperor's Nightingale by Václav Trojan originally came from the music for Jiří Trnka's puppet film, but it also became independent as a concert number. The concert will be complemented by the magnificent Sonata No. 3 by Bohuslav Martinů and the intimate Cantus rogans (song of supplication) by the recently deceased classic of Czech music of the second half of the 20th century, Marko Kopelent.