Nápravník, Eduard 

Eduard Francevič Nápravník – 2 Pièces Espagnoles

(b. Býšť, 24 August 1839 – d. St. Petersburg, 23 November 1916, ).

No. 1 Romance
No. 2 Fandango

(orig. 1890 for piano)

Preface
Eduard Francevič Nápravník is one of the most important conductors in Russia. The Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg owes its steep rise to him, and it was through him that a significant number of the Russian operas performed today were launched. His prolific work as a composer, however, is usually overlooked: Nápravník wrote four operas (a fifth is thought to be lost), four symphonies, six works for soloists with orchestral accompaniment (three for violin, two for piano and one for cello) and about a dozen purely orchestral works; in addition, there is a large selection of pieces for various chamber music ensembles, piano and organ. Why these works never achieved widespread fame is anyone‘s guess, especially since he received active support from several well-known fellow composers, most notably from Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1840-1893). Nápravník hardly advertised his works and performed them himself only in exceptional cases and with a certain discomfort.

The Repertoire Explorer series has so far published his Third Symphony op. 18 „Démon“ (SKU 1987), and the Beyond the Waves series will release various of his chamber works in early 2022.

Eduard Nápravník‘s early rise to high positions was due to the fact that he had to fend for himself already as a teenager. At the age of fourteen, the death of his father František Nápravník (1796-1853) made him an orphan, his mother Barbara Nápravník née Clanner von Engelshofen (1816-1850) having died three years earlier. Eduard‘s uncle Augustin Svoboda then got him a job as an organist in Pardubice, which at least guaranteed him a roof over his head and sufficient food. After about a year, however, Nápravník moved on to develop his musical skills: In Prague he attended the local organ school, whose director Carl Franz Pitsch (1786-1858) took care of him. Furthermore, two years later he trained in composition with Jan Bedřich Kittl (1806-1868), the director of the Prague Conservatory, and took piano lessons with Peter Maydl (1817-1896), the founder of Maydl‘s Music Institute, where Nápravník himself taught piano shortly afterwards. …

Full preface / Komplettes Vorwort > HERE