Ouverture, op. 17
Andante, poco maestoso. Allegro molto 10:57
Romance & Finale for violin and orchestra
Romance. Andante 07:32
Finale. Allegro con spirito 11:53
Milan Al-Ashhab – violin
Symphony E minor, op. 49
I. Andante. Allegro molto 14:30
II. Adagio 09:06
III. Allegro 05:51
IV. Allegro assai 07:34
The name of Václav Jindřich – Wenzel Heinrich Veit (1806–1864) is known today practically only to specialized music historians, and a few enthusiasts for ancient music. The name of this Czech-German composer, pianist, publicist and organizer of musical life in Bohemia in the first half of the 19th century is probably completely unknown to the wider audience. And yet Veit was in his time an important and popular composer, whose work was respected abroad – especially in German speaking countries. Veit was of German nationality, but he was an avid Czech patriot, as it was usual in his time. Therefore, placing him in Czech musical culture is entirely appropriate. With the arrival of Bedřich Smetana, Veit's prestige receded, which happened to other composers of the "pre-Smetana" period too. Smetana overshadowed the personalities of Veit's format both naturally and also due to the rising Czech music journalism and historiography measuring the values of Czech national music by the genius of Smetana, and thus causing a gradual loss of interest in Czech pre-Smetana music. For a long time, the last in-depth treatise on Veit was written by the music writer Artuš Rektorys. It was published in four sequels in Dalibor magazine on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Veit's birth in March 1906. In the following period, Václav Jindřich Veit was mentioned only briefly in various general treatises on the history of Czech music and, of course, in publications on Smetana. It was not until the 100th anniversary of Veit's death (1964) that a regional researcher and a music writer Karel Fiala published a small monograph. This was followed by a brief entry in the Czechoslovak Music Dictionary of Personalities and Institutions (1965) and then only a rather brief replica of it in the year of the 210th birth anniversary (2016) in the online Czech Music Dictionary.cUp to now the period of Czech Early Romanticism is generally considered a fallow period without significant musical achievements, on whose barren ground the creative personality of Bedřich Smetana miraculously sprouted. Of all the composers of this period, František Škroup is the one who is mentioned most often, but usually only as the author of the song Kde domov můj. These days such a perspective is completely untenable. This period is significant not only for the crucial musical and historical facts, such as the founding of the Prague Conservatory (1811) and the organ school (1830 – from which, not the conservatory, three of the most important composers and Smetana’s followers – Dvořák, Janáček and Foerster- emerged), but also for composers who prepared the ground for Smetana himself. And our Václav Jindřich Veit is one of them. Veit is an author of a relatively large work spanning almost all genres (except for opera – although he thought about it as well, but in the end he did not carry out his plans). His vocal compositions are written mainly (and naturally) on German lyrics, but Veit's national patriotism also made him publish a large number of songs and male choirs on Czech lyrics (Chmelenský, Vacek Kamenický, Šmilovský, folk lyrics). In his time, he established himself mainly through chamber music (string quartets, string quintets, compositions for solo piano, etc.). His orchestral works, although scarce, also achieved international recognition in his time – this is especially true for his only Symphony in E minor op. 49, premiered with a positive response at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in October 20, 1859 and in September 29, 1859 in Prague (under the baton of František Škroup). Until Dvořák’s symphonies Czech music is relatively poor in this respect, and Veit's symphony is definitely an important deed in this field. Therefore, it is naturally part of this recording dedicated to Veit's orchestral work.
The Czech violin virtuoso Milan Al-Ashhab is dazzling audiences with his musical sensitivity and his technical virtuosity. In March 2018, Milan Al-Ashhab was unanimously awarded the First Prize at the New York Concert Artists Worldwide Auditions. To make the year even more successful this was followed in September 2018 by Milan’s First Prize at the Fritz Kreisler International Violin Com etition in Vienna. Milan Al-Ashhab made his US concert debut in August 2018 with renowned Czech pianist Adam Skoumal at the Kaufman Music Center in New York City. In 2019 he performed his debut recital at the Chamber Music Hall of the Berlin Philharmonie as well as at Prague Spring International Music Festival in a sold out concert at the Dvorak Hall of the Rudolfinum. As one of the highlights in 2019 he was awarded the coveted Prague Classical Award in the category ”Young musician of The Year ”. Besides his busy recital schedule, Milan Al-Ashhab has performed with orchestras both in the Czech Republic and abroad. Important moments in his career were performances of the Shostakovich violin concerto with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and the RSO Radio Symphonie Orchestra Vienna at the Wiener Musikverein. He has also garnered prizes at a number of prestigious violin competitions like Tchaikovsky, Spohr, Kocian and Teleman and received further musical influences in masterclasses of Shlomo Mintz and Ida Haendel. Milan studied with Květoslava Hasilová at the Conservatory Teplice and at the Prague Academy of Music with the Czech Republic’s leading violin teacher Ivan Štraus. After finishing his studies in Prague he undertook postgraduate studies at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Peter Schuhmayer. Milan performs on a Nicolo Amati violin, on loan from the Maggini Stiftung in Langenthal, Switzerland. His repertoire ranges from Shostakovich Violin Concertos No.1 and No.2, Prokofiev Violin Concerto No.1 and No.2, Bartok Violin Concerto No. 2 to the Violin Concertos of Tchaikovsky, Sibelius, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn and Mozart’s KV 219.
Chamber Philharmonic L'Armonia Terrena is a stable music ensemble comprising top Czech instrumentalists who specialize in solo, chamber and orchestral music. The concertmaster Jan Valta (among others a member of Herold Quartet) is a regarded and inspiring leader of the ensemble. The orchestra was founded by Zdeněk Klauda in 2014 on the occasion of recording Simona Šaturová´s solo album “Decade” which contains classicist opera pieces by Josef Mysliveček and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and was published by Nibiru Pulishers in 2014. Since 2016 the orchestra has been regularly invited and has participated in several prestigious festivals. It specializes in music of Czech masters from the 18th and 19th centuries. Members of prominent Czech chamber orchestras, such as Czech Philharmonic Quartet, Baborak Ensemble, Herold Quartet, Sedláček Quartet, Doležal Quartet, Hans Krása String Quartet, members of Czech Philharmonic and National Theatre as well as young soloists take part in the projects of L'Armonia Terrena and help to build its brand name. The musicians play the modern instruments, however, always with respect to the authentic interpretation of the particular repertoire. That was one of the reasons why the recording of Ryba´s Stabat Mater was awarded a prestigious prize Diapason Découverte. Stabat Mater will be performed in 2022 in the Church of Saint Simon and Jude in Prague as a part of Chamber Music Cycle of FOK Prague Symphony. In 2019 Nibiru Publishers released two CDs of L´Armonia Terrena, the first one was Antonín Rejcha´s Requiem released in September 2019 and the second one was Jakub Jan Ryba´s Missa Solemnis in C per Festo Resurrectionis released in December 2019. In December 2020 Nibiru Publishers released a CD of L´Armonia Terrena with Jakub Jan Ryba´s instrumental pieces "Concertos".
Conductor Zdeněk Klauda is a versatile and complex musician. Apart from being a conductor, he leads musical renditions in the National Theatre Prague and he is the dramaturgist of Jakub Jan Ryba Festival. He started his career in 2008 when he was invited to take part in the rendition of Dvořák´s Rusalka at Salzburg Festival. Since then he has worked in a number of European opera houses (Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Semper Opera in Dresden, State Opera in Vienna, National Opera in Paris). In 2012 he participated in the rendition of Janáček’s The Cunning Little Vixen for a festival in Glyndebourne and the following year in the rendition of Mozart´s The Marriage of Figaro for the same festival. In 2012 Klauda received third prize in a conducting contest in Constanta in Romania. As an assistant he cooperated with distinguished conductors, such as Franz Welser-Möstem, Kirill Petrenko, Vladimir Jurowski and Tomáš Netopil. Zdeněk Klauda is a founder and conductor of his own orchestra Chamber Philharmonic L´Armonia Terrena which collaborates with top Czech instrumentalists. So far, they have recorded six CDs for Nibiru Publishers and all of them got rave reviews. The first recording “Decade” with a soprano Simona Šaturová contains music of Mozart and Mysliveček. The second one is the world première of Jakub Jan Ryba´s Stabat Mater which received a prestigious award Diapason Découverte. In September 2019 Antonín Rejcha´s Requiem was released and a few months later in December 2019 Jakub Jan Ryba´s Missa Solemnis in C per Festo Resurrectionis came into existence. In December 2020 Nibiru Publishers released a CD with Jakub Jan Ryba´s instrumental pieces „Concertos“. Zdeněk Klauda frequently cooperates with Czech orchestras (South Czech Philharmonic, Hradec Králové Philharmonic, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice), Czech opera houses (National Moravian-Silesian Theatre in Ostrava) and significant Czech festivals (St. Wenceslas Music Festival) as a guest conductor. He regularly accompanies famous Czech and foreign singers, such as Simona Šaturová, Adam Plachetka or Veronika Dzhioeva. In January 2018 Klauda made his debut as a conductor in Novaya Opera Theatre in Moscow. In the same year he presented the world première of Augustýn Šenkýř oratorio Dies Numini et Principi conducting the National Theatre Prague Orchestra. In January 2019 he participated in the rendition of The Bartered Bride in The Semper Opera House in Dresden, he made his debut in The Slovak State Philharmonic Košice and in February 2019 he debuted Mozart´s Magic Flute in The National Theatre. In November 2019 Zdeněk Klauda and his orchestra performed as a guest ensemble of the Czech Chamber Music Society in the Czech Philharmonic concert season. In the season of 2020/2021, Klauda conducted Mozart´s Don Giovanni in The National Theatre Prague.
Futher recordings by L'Armonia Terrena & Zdeněk Klauda:
