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FRANTISEK RAUCH (1910 - 1996)
Czech pianist
Frantisek Rauch studied at the Prague Conservatory where he eventually became a professor of piano. Among his students were the world renowned harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková, the pianists Valentina Kameníková, and Ivan Klánský. He enjoyed a successful career as a concert artist and recorded some 60 records largely for the Czech label Supraphon.
Frantisek Rauch was a champion of Czech composers from Smetana to Novák, with whom Rauch himself studied composition and whose lovely music is worth further investigation, to Petr Eben who had been his student and whose piano concerto as performed by Rauch can be heard on this page.
I adore Moura Lympany, yet I find Frantisek Rauch's performance of the Chopin Op 42 waltz to be more detailed and more satisfying. Lympany seems hurried and at times careless by comparison. In fact, I quite like all the Chopin I've hear him play.
Beethoven Piano Concerto in E♭ major, Op 73 "Emperor"
Karel Šejna conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
recorded ca1953
i Allegro
ii Adagio poco mosso
iii Rondo: Allegro
Chopin Piano Cncerto 2 in F minor, Op 11
Václav Smetáček conducting the Prague Symphony Orchestra
recorded ca1965
ii Larghetto
iii Allegro vivace
Chopin Scherzo 2 in B♭ minor, Op 31
Chopin Waltzes
recorded n the 1950s
1 in E♭ major, Op 18
5 in A♭ major, Op 42
Frantisek Rauch
03:34 ➢ Moura Lympany
6 in D♭ major, Op 64~1 "Minute"
Liszt Piano Concerto 2 in A major
Václav Smetácek conducting thr Prague Symphony Orchestra
Part I
Part II
Smetana "Sketches"
Op 4
1 Preludium
2 Idyll
3 Souvenir
4 Relentless Struggle
Op 5
07:57 ➢ 1 Scherzo-Polka
2 Melancholy
3 Cheerful
4 Rhapsody
Smetana 2 Polka in A minor from Czech Dances for Piano
Smetana "Reves" Six morceaux caractéristiques
1 Faded Happiness
2 Consolation
3 In Bohemia
4 In the Salon
5 Near the Castle
6 Harvest Home
Vitězslav Novák (1870-1949) Chansons des nuits d'hiver, Op 30
1 Chanson de la nuit de clair de lune - Andante amoroso
04:51 ➢ 2 Chanson de la nuit d'orage - Allegro tempestoso
07:11 ➢ 3 Chanson de la nuit de Noël - Andante misterioso
13:35 ➢ 4 Chanson de la nuit de Carnaval - Allegro burlesco, rubato
recorded in 1957
Vítězslav Novák 1 in C major "Spring" from Sonatinas, Op 54
i Allegro molto moderato "The Nightingale Darted Skyward And Rejoices"
ii Andante "The Forest's Greeting"
iii Allegro giocoso "Merry Company"
Vitězslav Novák from Jeunesse, Op 55
Clair de lune
02:27 ➢ Berceuse
recorded in 1970
Emil Axman (1887-1949) Piano Concerto (1939)
Josef Hrnčíř conducting an unidentified orchestra
Jaroslav Řídký (1897-1956) Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op 46 (1952)
Jaroslav Řídký conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
recorded ca1958
i Moderato assai
ii Adagio no troppo
iii Allegro risoluto
Petr Eben (1929-2007) Concerto for piano and orchestra (1961)
Karel Ančerl conducting the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
i Allegro risoluto
08:38 ➢ ii Tranquillo
18:40 ➢ iii Molto con brio
This concerto was dedicated to Frantisek Rauch who gave its first performance.
For those of you who enjoy murder mysteries, here is my first with a strong musical polemic as background
Murder in the House of the Muse
which is also available as an audiobook.
And this is the more recently published second mystery in the series:
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