From Reviews

In the opening Sonata, Dušek was able to demonstrate his virtuosity in his approach to both traditional and unconventional piano arrangements.

Pianist Jan Dušek began Janáček's 1912 composition energetically, with a soft touch and interpretative confidence. Dušek performed the opening Andante with its characteristic short melodic lines naturally, balancing the stronger dynamics with delicate phrasing in the Molto adagio, which sounded truly ‘Janáček-esque’. The pianist presented his expressive range in the charming Andantino with its song-like sequences, melodic fragments like cries reminiscent of a period of sadness and misunderstanding. The careful performance was occasionally burdened by pedalling, which detracted from the impressionistic delicacy, but the excellent Presto did not deny the pianist's mastery. The four-part cycle In the Mists is one of Janáček's core compositions, in which he recounted his intimate experiences and feelings, and it is also his last major piano composition. Jan Dušek approached this work with skill, refined technique and understanding, and the audience's applause was clearly his reward.

Jan Dušek provided excellent accompaniment throughout the song cycle, offering clear support for each song in capturing the conflicting inner feelings of two young people.

Jan Dušek, who turned Christ's age this year, wrote, at the initiative of Lukáš Vasilek, a non-Christmas Christmas composition for soloists, mixed choir and small instrumental ensemble Carmen ad cunas, a beautiful song based on the words of Jan of Jenštejn, Archbishop of Prague at the end of the 14th century. Mr Dušek could perhaps be described as a ‘traditionalist’, which would probably be perceived negatively by many of his generation, for whom musical installations, collages, video mapping and the negation of anything that smacks of tonality are ‘in’. (However, it would be interesting to find out whether the seekers of the musical Holy Grail of the 21st century would be able to process the Christmas message.☺) Dušek's creative take on the text ‘The Virgin Mother dwells in the stable, singing wedding songs... Glory to God in the highest’ is discreetly jubilant, unpretentious, free of all connotations and very, very melodic.

The encores included two Christmas songs, both arranged by Jan Dušek. Of course, the ‘Christmas anthem’ Narodil se Kristus Pán (Christ the Lord is Born) had to be played, but my favourite, Byla cesta, byla ušlapaná (There Was a Road, It Was Trampled), delighted me immensely. The arrangements were so sensitive and yet free in all respects that I couldn't help thinking how good it would be if Jan Dušek didn't stop at these two and created a modern yet traditional contribution to the versions by Luboš Fišer, Jaroslav Krček and Jiří Pavlica, for example.

Dušek composed the Christmas song Carmen ad cunas (Song Above the Cradle) based on a Latin text by Jan of Jenštejn from the 14th century. In it, a mother sings the praises of her newborn child, gives him advice for the future, prophesies his greatness and exceptionality, and admires his beauty and physical perfection. Like any proud mother standing over a cradle... Nowhere does the name of the child Jesus or Mary appear, and so the work has not only a festive spiritual content, but also a deeply human dimension. The music of the premiered song is gentle, appealing to the listener, natural and stylistically unpretentious. It is not modern, but neither does it strive for archaism, which the lyrics might suggest. At the beginning, there is a short quotation from the song Chtíc, aby spal (To Sleep) by Michna z Otradovic, but otherwise you will probably not notice any other striking references to musical history.

Jan Dušek wrote a short Christmas cantata entitled Carmen ad cunas, Song Above the Cradle, commissioned by the choir. It was premiered at the concert. He set the Latin verses of Jan of Jenštejn to music in a very rewarding, accessible, pastoral style, without resorting to pandering or arranging the language. The composition begins and ends with the exclamation Gloria, quietly ringing in the introduction and solemnly at the climax of the finale. It uses two flutes, an oboe, an English horn, two bassoons and a discreet triangle, giving the choir the opportunity to employ a wide dynamic and expressive range. The composer does not quote Christmas carols, but only hints at a few, and in his own words, he perceives the text not only as a hymn to the Virgin Mary and Jesus, but as the song of any mother who bends over her cradle and for whom her child is the most beautiful and best thing in the world. The choral song, which lasts less than ten minutes, can therefore be perceived not only as spiritual music, but also as more generally lyrical, intimate music. However, in this case, it was impossible to avoid the Christmas context given by the programme of the entire evening.

The author's own performance featured Jan Dušek's (born 1985) composition Movements, which is intended for a slightly prepared piano, sound track and live projection. The combination of Dušek's music, at times intensely expressive, at others melancholic or nostalgic, with Radek Dočkal's live projection was very impressive. However, the music itself has a powerful charge, created by the interaction of several contrasting musical layers. The foundation is formed by an ostinato bass figure, perhaps ‘borrowed’ from Astor Piazzolla's song, which is quoted later in the composition, but played on the prepared strings of the piano. Although the bass figure disappears in several places, the composition retains the distinctive ringing sound of the prepared strings throughout. Another layer of this multi-layered composition is formed by rapid descending atonal runs or leaps from higher registers, another by the aforementioned Piazzolla song Balada para un loco, and yet another by gentle rustles, the sound of plucked strings or playing harmonics inside the piano – resulting in the most emotional piece of the evening.

We literally immerse ourselves in Ullmann's musical soul with each song, thanks in part to Jan Dušek's sensitive and thoughtful accompaniment.

Jan Dušek, on the other hand, confirmed the qualities that Irena Troupová spoke about in our interview before the concert. He brought out many interesting harmonic progressions from the piano parts. I also appreciated that he kept the grand piano open in such a small hall for piano accompaniment, yet managed to control the sound of the instrument in such a way that it supported Irena Troupová's voice and helped to create a vivid sound impression.

She was fortunate to be accompanied by Jan Dušek, who is an outstanding artist and can empathise with the spirit of music.

Dušek's performance revealed a deep understanding of the delicate tenderness that the composer wove into the work. This is hardly surprising, as the pianist has extensive experience with Karel's work and records his compositions for Czech Radio.

On the other hand, one cannot help but praise the pianist's emphasis on the jazz elements of the work, which he brought to the fore with appropriate accents, momentarily making one forget the original musical connotations of the piece. The musician also deserves praise for allowing all the conclusions to resonate until the very end, a practice that, surprisingly, is not entirely commonplace.

As on several recent occasions, Jan Dušek proved himself once again to be a discreet yet supremely competent and reliable partner to the soloist. His solo performances in compositions by Rudolf Karel and, in particular, Pavel Haas – as well as his ongoing interest in the piano works of Czech composers of this generation – also deserve great recognition.

However, it was good that the programme gave pianist Jan Dušek the opportunity to showcase his outstanding skills as a piano virtuoso, thanks to two piano compositions by Pavel Haas and Viktor Ullmann.

In Speinshart, pianist Jan Dušek focused on a composer who also ended up in the gas chambers of Auschwitz. In Pavel Haas' Suite Op. 13, he brought to life the mysterious world of Pavel Haas in ‘Praeludium’ and ‘Con molta espressione’ through to the joyful moments of ‘Danza’. The sparkling piano playing continued with Ullmann's Piano Sonata No. 3. The audience was enchanted by the fascinating Allegro grazioso and finally delighted by Mozart's variations in Allegro grazioso.

In my need to perceive the meaning of the text set to music, I was fully satisfied by Jan Dušek's six songs Chalomot jehudi´im. These are excellently constructed soprano parts with comprehensible accompaniment, audibly inspired by Middle Eastern melodies. To my ears, everything sounded natural and logical, and I also experienced feelings of beauty because I could follow the composer's wonderful engagement with the verses and their very intimate musical expression. Perhaps my only criticism would be that I would not have wasted so much contrast within the small sections in favour of contrast between the seven parts. The last words of the last song refer to a feeling of happiness. Yes, I felt happy.

After the intermission, the world premiere of Jan Dušek's Chalomot jehudi'im (Jewish Dreams) followed. The song cycle for soprano, wind and string instruments, and string orchestra, based on texts by Israeli poet Jehudi Amichai, was the highlight of Thursday's concert. The seven-part composition has the motto Love - loss of a loved one - death, war - peace, hope - despair. The composition has a pulsating rhythm, which to me personally is sometimes vaguely reminiscent of tango or a slow march, with the cantilena passages of the soprano alternating with occasional recitation or whispering. The composer uses sonic harmonies and clusters in the orchestra, and the whole piece is very impressive. The composer has succeeded in combining the music with the text and orchestrating it very well. All the soloists and the orchestra gave a performance worthy of praise - Alena Kellerová sang the soprano part excellently, as did I. Venyš on clarinet and J. Lupták on cello.

Pianist Jan Dušek is both fervent and incisive in the Quintet.

Jan Dušek pleasantly surprised me with the diversity and inventiveness of his music, based on polytonal combinations of fifth chords and colourful instrumentation.

Pianist Jan Dušek is also excellent, playing the music with excellent feeling, which helps quite a bit.

Jan Dušek is her well-attuned colleague, who has few opportunities to indulge in postludes but sticks to the singer like glue.

Troupová's equal partner was the technically masterful pianist Jan Dušek, who also performed solo.