V.J. Tomášek : Koncerty pro klavír a orchestr C dur op. 18 a Es dur op. 20

Václav Jan Tomášek (1774-1850), also known in German as Wenzel Johann Tomaschek, was the most significant Prague musician and widely respected authority of the Prague music scene in the first half of the 19th century. In his apartment on Tomašská Street in the Lesser Quarter he received such significant artists as Hector Berlioz, Niccolò Paganini, or the young Richard Wagner. Most acclaimed out of his prodigious output were his solo piano works - eclogues, rhapsodies and dithyrambs - and songs on German and Czech texts. His first concerto for piano and orchestra in C Major, Op. 18 was probably written between 1803 and 1805, as was his second concerto in E flat major, Op. 20, originally subtitled Grand Concerto for Pianoforte and Large Orchestra. Both concertos remain well within the commonly accepted boundaries of Classical style around 1800 in their overall formal structure, technical demands and conception of the solo and orchestra parts. This recording with pianist Jan Simon represents their modern premiere.