Description

JAN KUBELIK (MICHLE, PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, 5 JULY, 1880 – PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC, 5 DECEMBER, 1940)

 

 

 

 

His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering the talent of Jan, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and Karel Ondříček. Aged eight he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševčík, of whose technique he became the most famous representative. As a child, he used to practice 10 to 12 hours a day, or “until my fingers started to bleed.” After 1898, he toured as a soloist, soon becoming renowned for his great virtuosity and flawless intonation, and his very full and noble tone. He played a Guarneri del Gesù and also two Stradivarius violins: he acquired the 1715 Stradivarius Emperor in 1910. After great success following his debut in Vienna, and in London (where he first appeared at a Hans Richter concert in 1900), Kubelík toured in the USA in 1901 for the first time. He made his first appearance for the Royal Philharmonic Society, London in the season of 1901-2, and in 1902 was awarded the Society’s Gold Medal (in succession to Eugène Ysaÿe). In 1902 he brought the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra to London, having assisted it financially in the previous year. In 1903 he married Countess Anna Julie Marie Széll von Bessenyö (born 1 March 1880 in Budapest), niece of former Prime Minister of Hungary Kálmán Széll, with whom he had eight children, five violinist daughters and three sons, among them conductor Rafael Kubelík. He wrote music, including six violin concertos, and continued to perform in public until his death, with a pause between the end of World War I and 1920, during which period he composed. In 1920 he resumed his concert career, but with the advent of Jascha Heifetz, his career dwindled somewhat. In 1917, he was elected as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia music fraternity by the fraternity’s Alpha Chapter at the New England Conservatory in Boston.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Berceuse, op. 56 (Drdla) 62574 xPh 4554 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-03-01

Cadenza del Concerto Paganini in D Major 74086 xxPh 4556 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Capriccio in G minor, Op. 1, no. 6 (Paganini) 74085 xxPh 4558 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Cavatina in D major, op. 85, no. 3 (Raff) 62036 xPh 2400 Fonotipia, Milano 1907-02-01

Danse Hongroise (Nachez) 39163 xPh 272 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Danzas Españolas no. 6 (Sarasate) 74083 xxPh 4305 Fonotipia, Milano 1910-04-10

Faust (Gounod-Wieniawski) Fantaisie brillante, op. 20 39164 xPh 273 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Kinderszenen, op. 15 – Träumerei (Schumann) 39194 xPh 285 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

La ronde des lutins – Scherzo fantastique, op. 25 (Bazzini) 39195 xPh 295 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Le cygne (Saint-Saëns) 62497 xPh 4557 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti arr. St. Lubin) Sestetto 69010 xxPh 283 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

 

Moto perpetuo (Nicolò Paganini, op.11) 39192 xPh 276 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Poème, op. 41, no. 14 (Fibich) 62573 xPh 4552 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Scherzo Tarantelle, op. 16 (Wieniawski) 39884 xPh 2231 Fonotipia, Milano 1906-11-01

Serenade (Drdla) 39193 xPh 284 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Sérénade de Pierrot (Randegger) 62603 xPh 4559 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Serenade, Op. 4 (D’Ambrosio) 39191 xPh 271Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Serenata Napoletana (Sgambati) 62496 xPh 4553Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30

Souvenir (Drdla) 39162 xPh 270 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Variations on the National Hymn ‘God save the King’, Op. 9 (Paganini) 69013 xxPh 275 Fonotipia, Milano 1905-05-01

Vision (Drdla) 62037 xPh 2401 Fonotipia, Milano 1907-02-02

Zapateado – Danza spagnola, Op.23-2 (Sarasate) 74083 xxPh 4305 Fonotipia, Milano 1910-04-10

Zephyr, op. 30, no. 5 (Hubay) 39925 xPh 2228 Fonotipia, Milano 1906-11-01

Zingaresca (Sarasate) 74084 xxPh 2405 Fonotipia, Milano 1911-05-30