A living legend, Josef Suk is rightly considered the most distinguished representative of the 20th-century Czech violin school. His peerless, rich and beautiful tone has been captured on countless other albums. In the year in which Suk celebrated his eightieth birthday, Supraphon released his splendid new recording, featuring some of the chamber works of the artist’s grandfather and great-grandfather, respectively Josef Suk and Antonín Dvořák (SU 3976-2). Suk has taken great care to preserve the artistic legacy of his two celebrated ancestors throughout his life.

In a sensitively remastered form, this CD brings the legendary recordings of Dvořák’s Concerto in A minor and Suk’s Fantasy from the golden era of the soloist and of Vaclav Neumann’s Czech Philharmonic Orchestra alike. Not even Joseph Joachim, the most famous violinist among Dvořák’s contemporaries, ventured to perform the concerto. Yet the recording that originated almost one hundred years later demonstrates that the work ultimately found the most competent hands and heart it could possibly find.