Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959)
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano n° 1, H 277
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano n° 2, H 286
Sonate pour violoncelle et piano n° 3, H 40
Variations pour violoncelle et piano sur un thème de Rossini, H 290
Variations pour violoncelle et piano sur une chanson traditionnel slovaque, H 378
Sept arabesques, études rythmiques pour violoncelle et piano, H 201
Suite miniature, sept petites pièces faciles pour violoncelle et piano, H 192
Pastorale, six pièces pour violoncelle et piano, H 190
Romance, H 186 bis
Nocturne, quatre études pour violoncelle et piano, H 189
Ariette, H 188 b

Vilém Vlcek, violoncelle
Denis Linnik, piano

In 1910, when the director of the Prague Conservatoire expelled Martinu from the school because of his “incorrigible negligence”, he assuredly had no idea the 20-year-old youth would become one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. Three years later, the young student sold his violin in Paris to be able to concentrate fully on composition. About his beginnings, the composer later declared that he was “simply unable to learn those things”, and instead had to “come up with my own feeling somehow”. Martinu devoted himself more to the cello than any other composer of his generation, writing both chamber works and concertos. The present recording of his complete works for cello and piano was made at the Musik Akademie Basel, just a few kilometres from Schönenberg, where Martinu spent the last years of his life. The works were mostly written for famous cellists who were often the composer’s friends (Frank, Cassadó, Fournier, Honegger, Piatigorsky, Sádlo etc.). He wrote five compositions in a lighter character in Paris between 1929 and 1931. The more serious works (three sonatas and two compositions in variation form) were written between 1939 and the end of the composer’s life; the Variations on a Slovak Folk Song became his last chamber work, and in it one hears unmistakeably his yearning for the homeland to which he could not return. The young Vilém Vlcek has enjoyed success at competitions (victory at the Penderecki Cello Competition in Krakow, the 2023 Markneukirchen International Instrumental Competition, the 2022 Rahn Musikpreis etc.) and has worked with top orchestras (the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra, the Basel Chamber Orchestra etc.), but above all, what wins over listeners is the expressive depth of his playing, inspired on this recording by the musicianship of the wonderful pianist Denis Linnik.