Václav Talich

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Hugo Boettinger : Josef Suk , Václav Talich and Vítězslav Novák (1903)

Václav Talich (born May 28, 1883 in Kroměříž , Austria-Hungary , † March 16, 1961 in Beroun , Czechoslovakia ) was one of the most important Czech conductors of the 20th century. He was also active as a violinist and teacher; his students include Charles Mackerras , Karel Ančerl , Ladislav Slovák, Václav Kašlík, and Milan Munclinger .

Professional background

He came from a family of musicians, his father was a music teacher, his brother a cellist.

At the suggestion of Antonín Dvořák , he received a scholarship at the Prague Conservatory , where he studied with Otakar Ševčík . After graduating, he first worked as a violinist: in 1903 he was hired by Arthur Nikisch as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic . Soon afterwards he went to Odessa and Tbilisi , and later he also worked in Prague , Ljubljana , Lublin and Pilsen . At Arthur Nikisch's invitation, he then completed his studies in Germany : he became Nikisch's assistant and at the same time studied composition with Max Reger . Another study trip took him to Milan . After returning home, he worked with his friend Josef Suk in the Czech Quartet .

Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic

In 1918 he became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , which he made into one of the most renowned European orchestras and with which his fate remained closely connected forever. Under his direction, the Philharmonie made concert tours to Rome , Turin , Naples , Milan, Berlin , London , Liverpool , Paris , Vienna as well as Norway and Finland . In the 1920s and 1930s, Talich also conducted the Royal Orchestra in Stockholm .

The collaboration with the International Society for Contemporary Music as well as the first performances of Josef Suk's orchestral works and other modern compositions (e.g. Leoš Janáček ) established Talich's international reputation (he signed an exclusive contract with the His Master's Voice label ). But he also conducted works by Bedřich Smetana , Antonín Dvořák , Johannes Brahms , Ludwig van Beethoven , Franz Liszt , Richard Strauss , Hector Berlioz , the French impressionists and Russian composers and - like Karel Ančerl later - took care of the repertoire of the Czech Philharmonic most deserves.

At the beginning of the Second World War he made a guest appearance as a conductor in Germany and later achieved that some works that were banned or mutilated by the National Socialists could be played again in the Czech Republic, such as the symphonic poems Tábor and Blaník from Smetana's cycle Mein Vaterland . In 1941, however, he gave up his post in the Czech Philharmonic in the face of the increasing oppression of human rights (closure of Czech universities, executions and deportations of many intellectuals to concentration camps); his successor was Rafael Kubelík .

Post-war years

In 1946 he came under suspicion of a passive collaboration with the protectorate authorities and was arrested, especially because of his letter to a protectorate minister in which he desperately asked not to close the Prague National Theater. After protests by the orchestra players and other artists, he was released a few weeks later.

Soon afterwards he founded the Czech Chamber Orchestra with students from the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts . B. Pierre Fournier or Germaine Leroux presented to the Prague audience.

In 1948 Václav Talich was again banned from public work in Prague. He was only allowed to conduct the Prague Radio Orchestra and occasionally continue to work with the Czech Philharmonic on recordings. However, he declined all foreign engagement offers and stayed in Czechoslovakia.

As early as 1949 he was one of the founders of the Slovak Philharmonic (together with Ludovít Rajter ) , of which he was the first chief conductor until 1952. From 1954 he conducted the concerts of the Czech Philharmonic again, but was only able to work with the orchestra until 1956 due to serious health problems. Nevertheless he made a number of unique recordings for the Czechoslovak Radio and Supraphon .

There was also a film recording of his last complete recording of Antonín Dvořák's Slavonic Dances , directed by Talich's pupil Václav Kašlík .

meaning

Talich's grave in Beroun

Talich's orchestral direction characterized a complete knowledge of the score as well as precise and at the same time inspirational work with the orchestra, which he formed into a homogeneous organism (very often he worked not only with groups of instruments, but also with individual instrumentalists). His immense musicality and imagination, his sense of the overall aesthetic image as well as meaningful details and timbre and, last but not least, his charismatic effect on the orchestra, which he was able to repeatedly stimulate to outstanding performances, were also characteristic. Yevgeny Mravinski said he always saw a tense expectation in Talich's eyes that turned to the inside of every player and helped him meet Talich's maximum demands.

Talich was the initiator and co-founder of the Prague Spring music festival (1946) and the Czechoslovak Jeunesses Musicales .

In 1928 he became a member of the Stockholm Academy of Music, in 1936 a member of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and Arts. In 1957 he received the highest Czechoslovak honor, the title of national artist.

Talich's name is borne by the Talich Quartet and other musical ensembles. Important composers such as Bohuslav Martinů dedicated works to Talich.

In 2002 an asteroid was named after Václav Talich: (11201) Talich .

literature

  • František Sláma : Z Herálce do Šangrilá ( From Herálec to Shangri-La ). Orego, Říčany 2001. ISBN 80-86117-61-8
  • Milan Kuna: Václav Talich . Prague 1985
  • Václav Holzknecht: Česká filharmonie, příběh orchestru ( Czech Philharmonic, History of an Orchestra ). SHV, Prague 1963
  • Stefan Jaeger: Conductors' Atlantis Book, an encyclopedia . Atlantis Musikbuchverlag, Zurich 1985
  • Československý hudební slovník ( Czechoslovak Music Lexicon ), vol. 2. SHV, Prague 1965

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ František Sláma archive
personal data
SURNAME Talich, Vaclav
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czechoslovak conductor, music teacher and violinist
DATE OF BIRTH May 28, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Kroměříž
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1961
Place of death Beroun