"With God's help and favour, I will one day be a Liszt in technique, a Mozart in composing," so wrote Smetana in his diary in January 1843. This sentence reflects the sheer determination and confidence in his own talent that compelled the 19-year-old composer - in defiance of his parents - to leave for Prague so as to continue his studies and eventually become one of the best-known Czech music creators. The beginning of his journey was fraught with tough, uncertain material conditions, and the young Smetana had to be tenacious indeed. Jitka CechovÃ¡'s new recording features early pieces written in 1845 and 1846, years of intensive study and the outset of Smetana's independent artistic career. Many of them are being released on CD for the very first time; some of them were used by the composer in his later works or revised. The pianist Jitka CechovÃ¡ has completed the seventh instalment of the currently most comprehensive recording of Bedrich Smetana's piano works. Owing to her zest and faultless interpretation, we now have the opportunity to savour this remarkable and still underestimated layer of Smetana's oeuvre within the context of the greatest 19th-century composers of piano music.

Tracklist:

Polka In E-Flat Major
Notturno In E-Flat Major
Rondo In D Minor
Rondo In A Minor
Rondo In C Major
Rondeau In F Major
Variations On A Theme Of Bohemian Folk Song
Andante In F Major
Piece In C Major
Vivace In F Major
March In C Minor
Ländlicher Marsch In B-Flat Major
March In F Major
Kriegermarsch In D Major
Trauer Marsch In F Minor
Figuration In E Minor On The Chorale "Gott Sei Uns Gnädig Und Barmherzig"
Sonata In G Minor: I. Sostenuto - Allegro
Sonata In G Minor: II. Adagio
Sonata In G Minor: III. Scherzo - Vivace
Sonata In G Minor: IV. Finale - Molto Vivace
Four-Part Fugue In D Major
Piece In C Major II
Four-Part Fugue In C Major
Three-Part Fugue In E Minor
Piece In C Minor
Four-Part Fugue In A Minor
Etude In C Major "In Präludienform"
Etude In A Minor In Liedform
Sonatenform In C Major
Sonatenform In B-Flat Major
Sonatenform In A Major

UPC: 099925384722
Label: Supraphon
Release Date: 2.10.15
Format: CD

Smetana / Cechova - Pno Works 8 (2 CD)