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Josef Špaček

Violin
Artistic Partner, Czech Philharmonic

  • Praised for his remarkable range of colours, his confident and concentrated stagepresence, his virtuosity and technical poise as well as the beauty of his tone, Josef Špaček has gradually emerged as one of the leading violinists of his generation. His performances of a wide range of repertoire demonstrate his 'astonishing articulation and athleticism' (The Scotsman) and 'a richness and piquancy of timbre' (The Telegraph).

  • Für seine beeindruckende Klangästhetik, konzentriert-packende Bühnenpräsenz und technisch-virtuosen Fähigkeiten gepriesen, erspielte sich Josef Špaček eine führende Position unter den Geigern seiner Generation. Seine Interpretationen des umfangreichen Violinrepertoires wurden für ihre „erstaunliche Artikulation und Athletik“ (The Scotsman) sowie „Fülle und Würze im Timbre“ (The Telegraph) gelobt. 

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  • Highlights in the 2024/25 season include debuts with the Gewandhausorchester and Orchestre National de Lille as well as returns to Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Dresdner Philharmonie, Bochumer Symphoniker, Berner Sinfonieorchester and to the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra.


    Previous debuts include the Bamberg Symphony, Deutsches Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Rundfunk- Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Kammerakademie Potsdam, the Radio Orchestras of WDR, SWR and hr, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. He collaborates with eminent conductors such as Thomas Adès, Jiří Bělohlávek, Anja Bihlmaier, Semyon Bychkov, Nicholas Collon, James Conlon, Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Eliahu Inbal, Joana Mallwitz, Tomáš Netopil, Petr Popelka, Kristiina Poska, Michael Sanderling, Thomas Søndergård, Krzysztof Urbański, and David Zinman.


    Josef Špaček equally enjoys giving recitals and playing chamber music, and is a regular guest at festivals and in concert halls throughout Europe (among others at the Rudolfinum in Prague, the Konzerthaus in Vienna, the Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam, the Kronberg Academy, the Verbier and Rosendal Festivals and at Schloss Elmau), Asia and the USA (among others at Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., 92Y in New York, La Jolla in San Diego, the ChamberFest Cleveland and the Nevada Chamber Music Festival).


    Supraphon released a highly praised recording of Dvořák and Janáček Violin Concertos, and Fantasy of Suk, with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. The Sunday Times wrote 'The violinist’s individual, deeply considered and virtuosic account of Dvořák’s solo part is the highlight of this keenly conceived programme', adding that 'in this repertoire, Špaček is second to none today.' It was the Recording of the Week of The Sunday Times, Recording of the Month & of the Year of MusicWeb International, and received ★★★★★ in Diapason. Other recordings to date are a recital disc with works for violin and piano by Smetana, Janáček and Prokofiev with pianist Miroslav Sekera on Supraphon, works for violin solo and violin and piano by H.W. Ernst on Naxos, and an early CD with the complete Sonatas for Solo Violin by Eugène Ysaÿe.


    Josef Špaček studied with Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School in New York, Ida Kavafian and Jaime Laredo at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, and with Jaroslav Foltýn at the Prague Conservatory. He was laureate of the International Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and won top prizes at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, the Carl Nielsen International Violin Competition in Denmark and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.


    Josef Špaček performs on the ca. 1732 “LeBrun; Bouthillard” Guarneri del Gesù violin, generously on loan from Ingles & Hayday.

    2024/25 season / 522 words. Not to be altered without permission.
  • Zu den Höhepunkten der Saison 2024/25 zählen Debüts mit dem Gewandhausorchester und dem Orchestre National de Lille sowie Wiedereinladungen zu den Hamburger Symphonikern, der Dresdner Philharmonie, den Bochumer Symphonikern, Berner Sinfonieorchester und mit dem Prager Rundfunkorchester in die Hamburger Elbphilharmonie.


    In den letzten Spielzeiten debütierte Špaček bei den Bamberger Symphonikern, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Deutschen Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, SWR-Symphonieorchester, hr-Sinfonieorchester, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Robert-Schumann-Philharmonie, Bochumer Symphoniker, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI Torino, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic  Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra und Shanghai Symphony Orchestra unter Dirigenten wie Manfred Honeck, Jakub Hrůša, Semyon Bychkov, Jiří Bělohlávek, David Zinman, Pietari Inkinen, Petr Popelka, Cristian Măcelaru, Krzysztof Urbański, Thomas Adès, Nicholas Collon, James Conlon, Michael Sanderling, Thomas Søndergård, Eliahu Inbal, Cornelius Meister oder Tomáš Netopil. 


    Auch mit Solorecitals und als Kammermusiker ist Josef Špaček sehr gefragt und konzertierte bereits im Wiener Konzerthaus, Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ in Amsterdam, Rudolfinum Prag sowie bei den Festivals in Évian, Verbier, Rosendal, Kronberg, Rheingau und Bad Kissingen. Außerdem war er Gast bei diversen Veranstaltern in Asien und den USA: darunter das Kennedy Center, Washington D.C., 92Y in New York, La Jolla in San Diego, ChamberFest Cleveland und Nevada Chamber Music Festival. 


    Mit der Tschechischen Philharmonie spielte er unter der Leitung von Jiří Bělohlávek die Violinkonzerte von Dvořák und Janáček, sowie die Fantasie von Suk ein (Supraphon) – „in diesem Repertoire ist Špaček heute unübertroffen,“ befand die Sunday Times. Weitere Einspielungen widmen sich dem tschechischen Violinrepertoire und bspw. sämtlichen Solosonaten von Ysaÿe. Aktuell arbeitet er an einer neuen Solo-CD mit Werken von Szymanowski, Martinů und Strawinsky und an einer Einspielung sämtlicher Violinkonzerte von Martinů mit dem Prager Rundfunkorchester unter der Leitung von Petr Popelka.  


    Josef Špaček studierte bei Itzhak Perlman an der Juilliard School in New York, bei Ida Kavafian und Jaime Laredo am Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia sowie bei Jaroslav Foltýn am Prager Konservatorium. Er war Preisträger des Internationalen Königin-Elisabeth-Wettbewerbs in Brüssel und gewann Spitzenpreise beim Internationalen Michael Hill Violinwettbewerb in Neuseeland, beim Internationalen Carl Nielsen Violinwettbewerb in Dänemark und bei den Young Concert Artists International Auditions in New York.  


    Josef Špaček spielt auf der Violine “LeBrun; Bouthillard” (ca. 1732) von Guarneri del Gesù, einer großzügigen Leihgabe von Ingles & Hayday. 

    2024/25 season / 426 Wörter. Not to be altered without permission.

Performances

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Concerto Repertoire

Adams: Concerto for Violin
Bach: Concerto 2 Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Bach: Concerto A minor, BWV 1041
Barber: Concerto for Violin, Op. 14
Bartók: Violin Concerto no. 2, Sz 112 (from Autumn 2022)
Beethoven: Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 61
Beethoven: Romance for Violin and Orchestra no 1 in G major, Op. 40
Beethoven: Concerto for Violin, Cello and Piano in C major, Op. 56
Berg: Concerto for Violin “To the memory of an angel” (from Spring 2022)
Brahms: Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 77
Brahms: Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor, Op. 102 "Double"
Bruch: Concerto for Violin no 1 in G minor, Op. 26
Bruch: Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 46
Dvořák: Concerto for Violin in A minor, Op. 53
Dvořák: Romance for Violin and Orchestra in F minor, Op. 11
Dvořák: Mazurek for Violin and Orchestra in E minor, Op. 49
Glass: Concerto for Violin no. 1
Fibich: Concert Polonaise
Janáček: Concerto for Violin “The Wandering of a Little Soul”
Korngold: Concerto for Violin (from Spring 2023)
Lalo: Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21
Martinů: Concerto for Violin no. 1, H. 226
Martinů: Concerto for Violin no 2, H. 293
Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin in E minor, Op. 64
Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin and Strings in D minor
Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin and Piano D minor
Mozart: Concerto for Violin no 3 in G major, K 216
Mozart: Concerto for Violin no 5 in A major, K 219 "Turkish"
Mozart: Sinfonia concertante for Violin and Viola in E flat major, K 364 (320d)
Nielsen: Concerto for Violin, Op. 33
Paganini: Concerto no 1 in D major, Op. 6
Pärt: Fratres
Piazzolla/Desyatnikov: Four Seasons of Buenos Aires
Prokofiev: Concerto for Violin no 1 in D major, Op. 19
Prokofiev: Concerto for Violin no 2 in G minor, Op. 63
Ravel: Tzigane
Respighi: Concerto gregoriano
Schubert: Rondo A major, D 438
Shostakovich: Concerto for Violin no 1 in A minor, Op. 77
Sibelius: Concerto for Violin in D minor, Op. 47
Stamitz: Symphonie Concertante for Violin and Viola in D major
Stravinsky: Concerto for Violin in D major
Suk: Fantasy, Op. 24
Tubin: Concerto no 1 in D major for Violin and Orchestra (1942) (from mid-2023)
Vieuxtemps: Concerto for Violin no 5 in A minor, Op. 37 "Grétry"
Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Violins in A minor, Op. 3 no 8/RV 522
Vivaldi: Concerto for 4 Violins and Cello in B minor, Op. 3, no 10/RV 580
Vivaldi: Concerto for 2 Violins and Cello in D minor, Op. 3 no 11/RV 565
Vivaldi: Concertos for Violin, Op. 8 no 1-4 "Le quattro stagioni"
Tchaikovsky: Concerto for Violin in D major, Op. 35
Tchaikovsky: Mélodie for Violin and Orchestra in E flat major
Tchaikovsky: Valse-scherzo in C major, Op. 34
Vaughan-Williams: The Lark Ascending
Waxman: Carmen Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra
Wieniawski: Concerto No 2 in D minor, Op. 22
Wieniawski: Polonaise brillante no 1 in D major, Op. 4

Conductors

Thomas Adès
Marc Albrecht
Petr Altrichter
Marco Angius
Giovanni Antonini
Anja Bihlmaier
Daniel Blendulf
Semyon Bychkov
Sylvain Cambreling
James Conlon
Martijn Dendievel
Maxim Emelyanchev
James Gaffigan
Domonkos Héja
Manfred Honeck
Eliahu Inbal
Pietari Inkinen
Jakub Hrůša
Lio Kuokman
Jahja Ling
Václav Luks
Gergely Madaras
Joana Mallwitz
Cristian Măcelaru
Cristian Mandeal
Jun Märkl
Cornelius Meister
Tomáš Netopil
Adrien Perruchon
Petr Popelka 
Kristiina Poska
Jiří Rožeň
Michael Sanderling  
Thomas Sanderling
Clemens Schuldt
Aziz Shokhakimov
Vassily Sinaisky
Steven Sloane
Thomas Søndergård
Nathalie Stutzmann
Leoš Svárovský
Michel Tabachnik
Gábor Takács-Nagy
Krzysztof Urbański
Christian Vasquez
Jan-Willem de Vriend
Joshua Weilerstein
Johannes Wildner
Kazuki Yamada
David Zinman

'...the soloist of the evening steals the show. Violinist Josef Špaček spices up Antonín Dvořák's Violin Concerto op. 53 with that pinch of musical exuberance that is so difficult to achieve...'

Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2021

'The sound of Špačekʼs Guarneri del Gesù filled the hall with a transcendent luster, achingly beautiful and touching to the point of tears'

Bachtrack, 2020

'With pure tone and a gutsy lower register, the cooly contained Špaček combined fluent technique with expressive finesse...'

The Guardian, 2015

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Intermusica represents Josef Špaček in Germany, Austria and Switzerland

Dennis Gerlach
Director, Munich
+44 20 7608 9919
dgerlach@intermusica.com

Hazel Park
Associate Artist Manager
+44 20 7608 9948
hpark@intermusica.com

All artists

Chansonnier

HK Gruber

Counter-tenor

Tim Mead

Harpsichord

Richard Egarr

Piano accompanist

Roger Vignoles

Saxophone

Jess Gillam

Contralto

Avery Amereau