Review: Josef Suk's Remarkable Early Recordings

This six-disc set contain chamber music recordings by the great Czech violinist made between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s. Aside from the usual culprits (the Franck and Brahms sonatas, and of course Dvořák and Suk--the violinist's great-grandfather and grandfather respectively) there is a lot of very valuable and interesting repertoire: pieces by Respighi, Martinu, Kodály, Honegger, Janáček and many others. In short, a splendid retrospective of a major artist.

[musicianinseattle]

Ah, the wonderful Josef Suk... he played the second Martinů concerto with our orchestra years ago...great player, and a lovely gentleman.

[LyleFrancisDelp]

Supraphon. While in college, I happened upon a record of trumpet and trombone concerti with orchestral accompaniment at Sound Warehouse in Houston. As trombone solo records were very rare, I snatched it up. Zdenek Pulec playing a few classical era trombone concerti. The playing was very good and the recording quality was excellent. To this day, it's one of my favorite trombone albums. (Yes, the trumpet tunes are equally fine.). But it opened my eyes to the Supraphon label, and I started looking for other LPs. Soon, I discovered Karel Ancerl, Vaclav Talich, and many others...plus the amazing sound of the Czech Phil. Funny how our varied paths take us to discover new things in music.

[gavingriffiths]

Suk performed a great set of Bach sonatas and partitas on have never been rereleased, alas! (I'm pretty sure...)