This CD marks the first commercial release of recordings by the great Czech guitarist, Petra Poláčková. Producer David Starobin writes: "A few years ago I came upon some stunning video of the guitarist Petra Poláčková. Since then I’ve avidly followed her work, and have marveled at her passionate performances of repertoire spanning the centuries. What a pleasure it was to finally meet in 2024 for these recording sessions in New York City. Petra is a musician after my own heart - a deep player, who seduces the listener into the dreamworld of that consummate Romantic, J. K. Mertz. Hearing Mertz’s music as he performed it, on a “Romantic Guitar” with added basses, gives these small gems nearly symphonic range, without sacrificing their exquisite intimacy."
Reviews:
"“A true Poet of the Guitar, Petra Poláčková brings us Romantic guitar music of Mertz with more RPMs —revelations per minute—than any disc in recent memory. Don’t miss it.” — John Schneider, The Global Village Los Angeles
"Poláčková's lovely playing – on a nine-string romantic guitar made in 2014, based on a model from 1840 – is also apparent in Elegie für die Guitare, an expansive and serious work, and in Fantaisie Hongroise (the first of Trois Morceaux pour la Guitarre, Op. 65), whose themes and rhythms bear direct comparison to Liszt’s in some of his distinctly Hungarian-influenced works. Mertz’s music is uniformly well-made, lies and sounds very well on his chosen instrument, and in Poláčková's hands offers listeners an aural journey thoroughly packed with delight." — Mark J. Estren, Infodad.com
"(Mertz's) compositions for guitar represent some of the most sophisticated and expressive works of the Romantic repertoire...the icing on the cake is the selection of Schubert song arrangements...listen to the final piece, Ständchen to appreciate not just Mertz's achievements, but Poláčková's extraordinary artistry." — William Yeoman, Gramophone
"Petra Poláčková has long distinguished herself through a rare combination of focus, perseverance, and uncompromising artistic integrity. Unlike many of her contemporaries, she chooses repertoire for its substance rather than its effect, and her performances are mercifully free from the mannerisms and excesses that so often plague the guitar world today.
Her debut recording, released this spring by Bridge Records, was made in New York under the seasoned guidance of producer David Starobin, one of the most influential figures in shaping America’s classical guitar culture in the 20th century. The program is devoted to the music of J. K. Mertz, the Pressburg-born composer whose reputation once rivaled that of the great Romantic piano poets. Alongside original works, Poláčková includes Mertz’s Schubert song transcriptions, which she has refined over years of international concert appearances. She performs on a nine-string guitar, a meticulous replica of an 1830s instrument by N. G. Ries, built in 2014 by Jan Tuláček, producing a sonority of striking historical authenticity.
Mertz’s oeuvre can reasonably be viewed as a guitar analogue to Chopin’s piano music, and he remains the only guitarist from Central Europe to have achieved truly global significance. Poláčková proves herself a persuasive advocate for his legacy, illuminating the intimacy and lyricism at the heart of his music.
The album opens with the Élégie, where her interpretative mastery is immediately apparent. Brilliant passagework never lapses into empty display; instead, her playing is marked by stylistic refinement and an enviable control of tone. Her readings from Bardenklänge op. 13 are likely to set a new benchmark. If the introspective works reveal Mertz’s lyrical side, the Hungarian Fantasy op. 65 no. 1 evokes Lisztian brilliance, affording Poláčková ample scope to demonstrate virtuosity—though never at the expense of musical substance. The disc concludes with several Schubert transcriptions, music whose emotional breadth is seldom encountered in the guitar repertoire and which Poláčková delivers with rapt intensity.
It is perhaps regrettable that Slovak guitarists have not yet devoted a major recording to Mertz’s solo works. Nevertheless, in Petra Poláčková his music has found a worthy and eloquent champion. Bratislava, his native city, still lacks even a commemorative plaque in his honor (though the scholarship of Martin Krajčo and the long-running J. K. Mertz Guitar Festival stand as notable exceptions). At the very least, Slovak audiences may now encounter his music anew through this exceptional album.
As for Poláčková herself, this debut should secure her standing among the foremost classical guitarists of our time." — Ondrej Vesely, Hudobny zivot (Czech Republic)
BRIDGE 9598
