Antonín Stamic (Anton Stamitz): Viola Concerto in B Flat Major, Josef Koďousek (viola)

Anton Stamitz - Concerto for Viola and Orchestra in B-Flat Major, Josef Koďousek (viola), Suk Chamber Orchestra, Hynek Farkač (conductor) I. Allegro – 00:00 II. Romance – 07:09 III. Rondo – 14:27 Anton Thadäus Johann Nepomuk Stamitz (Jan Antonín Stamic, November 1750 – c. 1798–1809) was a German composer and violinist. Anton was born during a family visit to Deutschbrod, and baptised there on 27 November 1750. The youngest son of the Mannheim maestro Johann Stamitz (1717-57) and a younger brother of Carl (1745-1801), shares his family’s fame as a virtuoso violinist and and his brother Carl received their first violin instruction from their father Johann. After their father’s death in 1757 they were taken on as students by Christian Cannabich, who had been a student of their father’s. Anton became violinist with the Mannheim orchestra in 1764 and participated in its development. Anton moved with Carl to Paris from Mannheim in 1770, and remained there even after Carl left for England in 1777. Between 1782 and 1789 he played in the King’s court orchestra in Versailles, and obtained the title “ordinaire de la musique du roi”. He was the violin teacher of Rodolphe Kreutzer. His biography after the French Revolution in 1798 is not known, but he probably died in Paris or Versailles. He may have died as late as 1809. He composed at least three sets of symphonies (1783–1793), at least four concertos, in B-flat, F (1779), G and D, for viola d’amore, now also performed on the viola, about twenty violin concertos, several flute concertos, a concerto for two flutes in G, four concertos for two clarinets or clarinet and violin, several string quartets and symphonies. Many of his concertos were originally written for his own use. The Viola Concerto clearly reflects Anton’s Mannheim heritage in his idiomatic treatment of the strings, dynamic effects, an overall homophonic texture, and contrasting thematic ideas within a movement. Yet his years in Paris fostered his more cosmopolitan approach, as revealed especially in the lyrical melodies, the ease of melodic flow, and his preference for rondos.