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Lukáš Vondráček (born 21 October 1986) is a Czech pianist. Noted by The Chicago Tribune for his "considerable tenderness of tone" and "expressive impact" and by The Washington Post for his "astonishing delicacy", Vondráček won the first prize in the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2016.[1]Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).[2]
Early life and education
Vondráček was born on 21 October 1986 in Opava, to professional pianist parents. He played his debut concert at the age of four, and gave his first international tour at ten years old. He studied at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music with Andrzej Jasiński, University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna with Peter Barcaba, University of Ostrava with Rudolf Bernatik,[3] and at the New England Conservatory of Music with Hung-Kuan Chen, where he earned an Artist Diploma with Honors.[4]
Career
In 2002, at the age of fifteen, Vondracek debuted with the Czech Philharmonic conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy. Ashkenazy has said of Vondracek: "Such a pianist is born once in thirty years."[5] This debut was followed by a major US tour in 2003. Reviewing a concert at Chicago's Symphony Center (the closing concert of the tour), Vondracek's performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 1 was described by John von Rhein of the Chicago Tribune as "the hit of the evening".[6]
In 2009, Vondracek was the recipient of The Raymond E. Buck Jury Discretionary Award at the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. The following year, in 2010, he won the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.[7]
In 2016, Vondracek won the Queen Elisabeth Competition, becoming the first Czech musician to do so in the competition's history. His performance in the final round, which included Claude Ledoux's A Butterfly's Dream and Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 3,[8] led to a standing ovation.[9]
Vondracek has continued to achieve considerable critical acclaim for his performances. Writing in The Boston Globe, Jeremy Eichler wrote about Vondracek's 2022 debut with the Boston Symphony Orchestra under Jakub Hrůša: "his playing stood out most in its glittering, featherweight passagework and in its overall command of the work’s [Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2] dark, rhetorical drama."[10] The same year, his return appearance with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under Marin Alsop was hailed by WTTW as a "galvanic performance", adding: "Vondracek ... rendered the extraordinary work with a superb mix of both titanic power and surprising lyricism."[11][12]
Vondracek is currently recording all of the Rachmaninoff piano concertos with the Prague Symphony Orchestra.[13] His discography includes releases for such labels as Two Pianists,[14] Triton,[15] and Musicom (where he recorded Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy).[16]
References
- ^ "BSO offers literature-based music and a blockbuster piano concerto". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "NEC's Tchaikovsky Competition Finalists". necmusic.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Vondracek Wins Unisa". necmusic.edu. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Event Details". Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Česká filharmonie, Kristjan Järvi & Lukáš Vondráček — Pražské jaro". festival.cz. 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Czech Philharmonic ends tour in style". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Lukáš Vondráček". www.sarasotaorchestra.org. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Lukáš Vondráček wins 2016 Queen Elisabeth Competition". Rhinegold. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Lukáš Vondráček is the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition". www.mzv.cz. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ Staff, Jeremy Eichler Globe; February 4, Updated; 2022; Comments, 5:17 p m Share on Facebook Share on TwitterView. "At BSO, a Czech conductor's bold return - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
{{cite web}}:|first4=has generic name (help);|last3=has numeric name (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "A Rachmaninov Piano Concerto (and More) Rocks Orchestra Hall as Marin Alsop Conducts the CSO". WTTW News. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Pianist Lukáš Vondráček performs Nov. 4 at OSU". Life at OSU. 2018-10-26. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Vondráček, Lukáš | Chicago Symphony Orchestra". Experience the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ "Lukáš Vondráček plays Haydn, Rachmaninoff & Prokofiev". Presto Music. Retrieved 2022-08-14.
- ^ Lukas Vondracek, Prodigy, retrieved 2022-08-14
- ^ Rachmaninov / Vladimir Ashkenazy / The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra / Lukáš Vondráček - Segej Rachmaninov, retrieved 2022-08-14
Category: 1986 births Category: Living people Category:Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition Category:Czech classical pianists