This is the sixth volume in our series featuring orchestral music by Paul Wranitzky (1756–1808) in authoritative performances by Marek Štilec and the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Parbudice. Both conductor and orchestra are well represented in the Naxos catalogue, not least for their much admired interpretations of music by contemporaries of Wranitzky – including Leopold Koželuch (1747–1818) and Franz Ignaz Beck (1734–1809) – helping us to appreciate the wealth of superb yet neglected works that complemented the music of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.
Vienna’s music scene at the end of the 18th century was home to many renowned composers, including Paul Wranitzky, who was a respected colleague of Mozart and Haydn and was frequently tasked with providing incidental music for the considerable number of newly written plays. The three pieces heard on this album demonstrate not only Wranitzky’s compositional diversity but a gift for symphonically conceived works featuring battle music, solemn polyphonic elements, and the popular Turkish style with its characteristic janissary percussion.
Czech conductor Marek Štilec is known both as an interpreter of Classical orchestral repertoire and as a specialist in Czech Romantic and contemporary music. He has collaborated with orchestras the world over. A prolific recording artist, he has made over 30 albums for labels including Naxos, ArcoDiva, cpo and Supraphon. In the field of historically informed performance, Štilec has collaborated with ensembles that include the Czech Ensemble Baroque and Ensemble 18+.