Suk / Bělohlávek

The total number of performances of compositions by
Josef Suk: 185

The three most performed works

The statistical data compiled, published and shared by Alexander Goldscheider © Citing from his book Jiří Bělohlávek: A Life in Pictures. [ 1 ]

Together with Bohuslav Martinů, Josef Suk was a composer who Bělohlávek spent his whole career promoting successfully among international orchestras. Especially during the years when he was the guest and chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Josef Suk was one of the Czech composers Bělohlávek “discovered” for (not only) the English audience.

Suk’s works had been part of Bělohlávek’s repertoire since his school days. As a cellist, he explored Suk’s chamber repertoire – in March 1964 he even performed Suk’s Ballade and Serenade for Cello and Piano with his wife-to-be Anna Fejérová in a concert in Košice, and later as a conducting student he proceeded to work on larger orchestral works.

Suk was on the programme already at concerts with the State Philharmonic Orchestra in Brno and with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. First recordings were made at this time, too. In 1979 and 1980, Bělohlávek recorded Suk’s Fairy Tale and Fantastic Scherzo at the Rudolfinum. The violin solos were played by the composer’s grandson Josef Suk. Both compositions were released on a Supraphon LP in 1981.

Bělohlávek together with the Czech Philharmonic contributed substantially to the Suk discography. In the early 1990s during his collaboration with the British Chandos label, he recorded the Fantastic Scherzo that was released on a CD together with works by Martinů and Janáček. In 1992, he recorded Suk’s Asrael and, on another disc, The Fairy Tale and Serenade for Strings. He received the 1993 Annual Award of the Czech Music Fund for his Asrael recording.

During Bělohlávek’s second term with the Czech Philharmonic (2012–2017), Josef Suk’s works were included in the recording dramaturgy of the orchestra, too. In 2014, he recorded the Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra in G minor, with Josef Špaček, the then concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic. It was released on a Supraphon CD in 2015, together with two more concertos – Janáček’s Wandering Soul and Dvořák’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor. Bělohlávek was very happy that he released this CD and that Josef Špaček took Josef Suk’s legacy on: “I think that Suk’sFantasy is truly a beautiful work and I am very happy that Josef carries Suk’s legacy on and turns it into a listener’s delight.” [ 2 ]

Bělohlávek’s last recordings of Suk’s work was Asrael, recorded live at subscription concerts at the Rudolfinum in October 2014, and Fairy Tale, recorded a year later at the same venue. Both pieces were released on CD and digitally by the Decca label in 2019.

Bělohlávek had plans to record other important works by Suk with the Czech Philharmonic, such as Ripening. Unfortunately, this did not happen in the end. However, Bělohlávek’s student Jakub Hrůša took over his endeavour to propagate Suk’s work and performs it abroad as the chief conductor of Bamberger Symphoniker. Moreover, as the principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, he intends to record all of Suk’s orchestral works.

In 1996, Bělohlávek recorded Suk’s Serenade for Strings with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia for the Supraphon label. It appeared on the Dvořák – Suk: Serenades album.

When working with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the work of Josef Suk was Bělohlávek’s focus second only to Bohuslav Martinů as far as presentation of Czech music was concerned. “We began by the Serenade for Strings and the Fairy Tale, and then we went on to present Suk’s larger scores. It started with Asrael, which was included in the recording projects of the Chandos company, later we did Ripening and Symphony in E major and most recently Praga and A Summer’s Tale. Suk had been something completely new and unknown to them.” [ 4 ]

Bělohlávek recorded the above-mentioned Ripening and Symphony in E major with the BBC SO and New London Chamber Choir (2010) for the Chandos label and in 2011 they recorded Praga and A Summer’s Tale (released on CD in 2012). This recording received the prestigious Gramophone Award in the orchestral category.

In 2008, Bělohlávek and the BBC Symphony Orchestra gave two concerts at the Prague Spring Festival, the first of which was opened by Suk’s Asrael. This concert was recorded live and released on CD on the Supraphon label in 2012 together with Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem.

Suk’s work was also heard at the Last Night of the Proms in 2012. The BBC Symphony Chorus and Orchestra performed the orchestral-vocal piece celebrating the Sokol movement, the gymnastics organization, entitled V nový život (Towards a New Life). The inclusion of the composition had both sport connotations - the Olympics were held in London that year - and personal connotations - Jiří Bělohlávek was about to enter a new professional stage as the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.