Julius Fučík studied composition under Dvořák at the Prague Conservatory but was soon to emerge as one of the great ‘march kings’ of his time. He gained worldwide fame for his immortal Entry of the Gladiators, but after the composer’s death in 1916 his music collection was acrimoniously broken up by his family, with many scores subsequently lost. Half the contents of this album come from handwritten manuscripts preserved in Prague that have no known printed parts. Painstaking editorial work has been carried out allowing us to hear the full range of Fučík’s works in these premiere recordings.

Julius Fučík’s famous piece, the Einzug der Gladiatoren, op.68 (‘Entry of the Gladiators’) can be found in the Wind Band series on 8557545, a compilation of best-known marches: ‘Strike Up the Band! is a fascinating collection of marches that will delight the listener’ (BandWorld).

This album is conducted by Marek Štilec who has made numerous recordings of Czech music for Naxos – Wranitzky, Novák, Fibich, Koželuch, etc. – the Wranitzky and Koželuch recordings are also with the Czech Chamber Philharmonic Pardubice.

Czech conductor Marek Štilec is known as an interpreter of Classical orchestral repertoire and is a specialist in Czech Romantic and contemporary music. 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 including Czech Ensemble Baroque and Ensemble 18+. He is also the founder of the Wranitzky Kapelle and artistic director of Academy Prague Mannheim with Das Kurpfälzische Kammerorchester Mannheim. Since 2020 he has been the permanent principal choirmaster of the Czech Boys’ Choir, Boni Pueri.

The Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice is valued for its stylistic interpretations and the extraordinary quality of its orchestral sound, and it is rightly ranked amongst the world’s leading representatives of Czech musical culture. It often performs at the most prestigious festivals in the Czech Republic and venues throughout Europe such as the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, the Grosses Festspielhaus, Salzburg, the Herkulessaal and the Gasteig, Munich, the Musikverein, Vienna, the Brucknerhaus, Linz, and the Meistersingerhalle, Nuremberg among many others. Outside Europe the orchestra has performed in Japan and toured extensively around America.