Rejcha A. (1770-1836) Wind Quintets / Belfiato Quintet

Antonín Rejcha - Wind Quintet No. 2 E Flat major Op. 88

1. Lento - Allegro moderato 07:32

2. Menuetto. Allegro 04:25

3. Poco andante. Grazioso 07:43

4. Finale. Allegretto 05:43

Antonín Rejcha - Wind Quintet No. 1 E minor Op. 88

5. Introduction. Andante - Allegro, ma non troppo 08:27

6. Andante poco allegretto 04:24

7. Menuetto. Allegro vivo 03:18

8. Finale. Allegro 04:41

Antonín Rejcha - Wind Quintet No. 3 D major Op. 91

9. Lento - Allegro assai 08:32

10. Adagio 04:16

11. Minuetto. Allegro vivo 03:35

12. Finale. Allegretto 05:07

Belfiato Quintet: Oto Reiprich - flute, Jan Souček - oboe, Jiří Javůrek - clarinet, Ondřej Šindelář - bassoon, Kateřina Javůrková - horn

Following their critically acclaimed debut album (Foerster, Janáček, Haas; SU42302141; Musicweb International Disc of the Month, Tip Harmonie), the Belfiato Quintet have gone back a century in time, to the "father of the wind quintet" Antonín Rejcha's life was adventurous and turbulent indeed. When he was 10, he ran away from his Prague home, and would live in turn in Bonn, Hamburg and Vienna, before finally settling in Paris. He presented his first symphony at the tender age of 17. Rejcha became a friend of Beethoven's, who played the viola in the same orchestra, he made the acquaintance with Haydn, and his teachers included Salieri. A keen experimenter, he liked to write in quintuple time, was fascinated by Gypsy music with micro-intervals, playing with numbers and chords, polyrhythm, polytonality and counterpoint. Moreover, he was an accomplished theorist and a renowned teacher, also working as a professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. His students included Liszt, Berlioz, Franck and other distinguished composers. Rejcha was the first to write truly masterful wind quintets, making full use of the instruments' timbres and technical potential. Notwithstanding its being challenging to perform, his music comes across as bright, airy and gracious. The Belfiato Quintet selected three - the most beautiful and most engrossing - of Rejcha's 24 wind quintets, which they have recorded at the acoustically exceptionable Rudolfinum hall in Prague. It would seem that the virtuoso and passionate musicians have found in Rejcha a kindred spirit. It's one hell of a ride...

Wigs, hats and gloves off - this is (like) playing for life itself!

Po kritikou vřele přijatém debutu (Foerster, Janáček, Haas; SU4230-2; MusicWeb International Disc of the Month, Tip Harmonie) se Belfiato Quintet vrátili o století zpět, k samému "otci dechového kvintetu". Životopis Antonína Rejchy by vydal na napínavý film. V 10 letech útěk z domova, po Praze našel domov postupně v Bonnu, Hamburku, Vídni a Paříži. Svou první symfonii uvedl v 17 letech. Spřátelil se s Beethovenem coby violistou stejného orchestru, seznámil se s Haydnem, studoval též u Salieriho. V hudbě miloval experimenty, rád psal v pětidobém metru, fascinovala ho cikánská hudba s mikrointervaly, hra čísel, souzvuků, polytonalita a kontrapunkt. Zdokonalil hudební pedagogiku, stal se vyhledávaným učitelem, nota bene s titulem profesora Pařížské konzervatoře. K jeho žákům patřili mj. Liszt, Berlioz či Franck. V žánru dechového kvintetu jako první komponoval skutečně mistrovské skladby, jež plně využívaly barevné i technické možnosti nástrojů. I přes extrémní technickou náročnost z jeho skladeb vyzařuje průzračnost, lehkost a grácie. Z celkem 24 dechových kvintetů si Belfiato vybrali tři - ovšemže ty nejkrásnější a nejzajímavější, a natočili je v neopakovatelné akustice pražského Rudolfina. Zdá se, že tito virtuosní a vášniví hudebníci v Rejchovi potkali skutečného "parťáka" do hry. Je to jízda...

Paruky, klobouky a rukavičky dolů, tady se hraje (jako) o život!

(Supraphon 2019)