Voříšek: Complete Works for Piano, Vol. 2

Featuring

Biljana Urban
Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek

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Album & Artwork

This album is the second volume of Biljana Urban's 'Complete Works for Piano' by Jan Hugo Voříšek, with the first volume recognized as one of the best albums of the year by Culture Catch.

Composer Biography

Voříšek achieved renown as a virtuoso pianist, met Beethoven, who highly regarded his compositions, and became a friend of Schubert.

Composer Biography

Jan Hugo Voříšek, the composer, initially studied law in Prague but left it to pursue music, taking piano lessons with esteemed Czech pianist Václav Jan Tomášek and later with Johann Nepomuk Hummel in Vienna.

Composition History

Voříšek's compositional career was short, with most of his works, including those on this album, created in his last six years.

Compositional Technique

The pieces Le désir, Op 3, and Le plaisir, Op. 4, are tone-paintings intended to evoke images of the galant French court and characterize specific emotions, using harmonic ideas similar to Schubert and foreshadowing Schumann.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Voříšek's time in Vienna allowed him to develop the incipient Romanticism in his work, with his pieces looking forward to and being part of the new Romantic surge.

Performer Biography

Biljana Urban, the pianist on this recording, has performed in renowned international concert halls and festivals, including the Dubrovnik Summer Festival and the Festival of Flanders.