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The Czech pianist, Michal Mašek, has covered a long and successful distance in music. His musical talent was discovered early in his childhood. At the age on 3 he was able to interpret melodies of folk songs that he had heard and then immediately played on his children’s piano. They were particularly folk songs played in all keys that accompanied Michal in his beginning, and influenced his musical development. As an eight years old pianist he was fascinating his audience with a brilliant playing of folk songs and theatre melodies composed by Jaroslav Ježek for Osvobozené divadlo in Prague. In 1991 he started to study with Professor Petr Slavík of Teplice Conservatory. When he was 14, he started at its zero class, and a year later he won the School piano competition. As a student of professor Slavík he obtained important musical awards at several international musical competitions.
Michal Mašek became the first Czech who has ever won the prestigious international piano competition Virtuosi Per Musica di Piano Forte in the third category and became an absolute winner. Several months later he won the international piano competition of Ludwig van Beethoven at the town of Hradec and Moravicí as a youngest participant in its long history. Michal Mašek's extraordinary interest in the music of Bohuslav Martinů led him to Professor Emil Leichner of AMU in Prague who became his teacher at Prague Conservatory where Michal began to study in October 1996.
17 years old Michal Mašek was the first Czech pianist who performed J.S. Bach's famous Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) on a single-keyboard instrument - on the piano, which comprises also a record made in Český rozhlas (Czech Radio) and in Domovina Studio in 1997. The Lotos Publishing Company published a CD with Goldberg Variations (BWV 988) together with a complete of inventions for two voices (BWV 772-786). In 1998 appeared his second Bach CD containing Partitas No. 5 and No. 6 together with Concerto in D minor accompanied by Prague Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek. In 1999 he was granted a prestigious award called “CLASSIC 98” in “The Talent of the Year” category. This success was appreciated also by the Czech president Václav Havel in Prague Castle on the occasion of October 28 celebrations.
After a two-years illness that interrupted Michal Mašek's successful career but allowed him to see the life from a different perspective, he has returned to the world of music. In December 2001 he was invited by Josef Suk to participate in a TV Advent concert, and Michal also accompanied Josef Suk at the funeral of Czech well known football player Josef Bican. Within the framework of musical festival of Prague Castle for Music (Hradčany hudební), in April 2002, appeared a CD under title “Josef Suk and three pianists”, where Michal together with Igor Andrašev and Marián Lapšanský accompanies Josef Suk on the piano.
Michal will continue in the study of piano playing at AMU (Academy of Performing Arts) in Prague in the class of Professor Emil Leichner from October 2002. |
