One might wonder whether these three piano concertos are known in Czech lands, but it is the Czech Republic's own
Supraphon
label that has designated them
forgotten Czech piano concertos
, and one can take them at their word. Perhaps the best-known composer is the tragically short-lived
Vít¿zslava Kaprálová
(1915-1940), who has received some attention from performers seeking to revive music by women. She wrote this
Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 7
, as a graduation piece when she was 20, and it is extraordinary. Sample the outer movements. which are largely in anything but D minor, and one may well agree that pianist
Marek Kozák
has done a real service by reviving it here (it has been recorded only once before, by a university ensemble). The
Kaprálová
is framed by concertos from
Karel Kova¿ovic
(1862-1920), whose
Piano Concerto in F minor, Op. 6
, is apparently receiving its recorded premiere, and
Pavel Bo¿kovec
(1894-1972).
Kova¿ovic
, a student of
Zden¿k Fibich
, offers a typically shaped late Romantic work into which the composer injects a high level of virtuosity, and the
Bo¿kovec
concerto of 1949
is a mixture of French neoclassicism and Russian styles, a heady evocation of those last days when Czechoslovakia could look toward the West. It was included on a pair of turn-of-the-century recordings by conductor
Karel An¿erl
but apparently hasn't been recorded since then. Nothing here is less than enjoyable, and the interactions among
Kozák
, the
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra
, and conductor
Robert Jindra
are confident and clean. The album made classical best-seller lists in early 2024. ~ James Manheim