Czech violinist Jaroslav Svecený to perform at the Calcutta School of Music

FAMOUS CZECH VIOLINIST Jaroslav Svecený will be in town with a special concert, where he will be performing classical music pieces by Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Frideric Händel and Jean Marie Leclair.

This will be his third trip to India, where he had earlier come to perform with Czech guitarist Lukáš Sommer last year. His first visit to India, however, was twenty years ago, when he had performed at the Zubin Mehta Foundation in Mumbai.

A native of Hradec Králové, Jaroslav Svecený trained under famous violin virtuosos like Nathan Milstein and Gidon Kremer and was the first Czech violinist to record a CD with Sony Classical. He has recorded forty-four music CDs so far, with native and foreign musicians, and has travelled the world with his performances. In the year 2010, he also received the Golden Plaque from the Czech President at Prague Castle.

“I will be performing Jazzperanto, Paganindiada, Strings for NewYork, and Church Phantasy for solo violin performance, and will be presenting my compositions with a new bow technique, plus fresh musical energy this time,” says Jaroslav, with a smile.

Vivaldianno MMXII, his most famous and ambitious project, is a collaboration with rock musician Michael Dvorak and combines 12 tracks, consisting of peppy numbers like Libertango, along with slower and deeper ones like Call of Shades. All of them are composed by Dvorak, with Jaroslav as the lead solo of the orchestra.

“It’s my journey around the world and the historical buildings that inspire me to compose new pieces. There’s some amazing energy about the ancient historical structures and old violins,” says Svecený.

“Violin is a musical instrument that has an amazing history in itself, and its endurance is incredible. You can play with a 300-year-old violin and it will still sound fantastic and will be top-notch in quality,” he informs, adding- “The only possible disadvantage of the instrument is that if you don’t practice it diligently, it sounds horrible!” Very few people know that Svecený has also authored a book on violins, called Famous European Violins, which has been published and circulated in 62 countries.

It was his first concert in Mostar, (an entity of Bosnia and Hercegovina), after the Yugoslavian War, which remains the most memorable one for the maestro- “It was overwhelming to see so many people come together to listen to my compositions,” he says.

“The violin is my way of communicating with the world and my entire life can be summed in my journey with this instrument. Dvorak, Smetana, Beethoven and Brahms music are some of my favourites, because of their melody and harmony,” offers the composer.

Among his numerous future projects is Famous European Violins — where he will be seen introducing a collection of 17th-20th-century violins with a different composition on each instrument.

At Calcutta School of Music, Sandre Hall. June 22. 7 pm.