František Sláma (musician)

Infobox musical artist
Name = František Sláma
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Birth_name = František Sláma
Born = birth date|1923|11|19|mf=y
flagicon|Czechoslovakia Herálec, Moravia, Czechoslovakia
Died = death date and age|2004|5|5|1923|11|19|mf=y
Říčany, Czech Republic
Instrument = Cello, viola da gamba
Genre = Classical
Occupation = Cellist
Years_active = 1946-1997
Label =

František Sláma (November 19 1923 Herálec, Moravia – May 5 2004 Říčany near Prague, Czech Republic) was a significant Czech chamber music performer. He was the first Czech cellist who focused on Early music.

Biography

He was born in Moravian Highlands. Until the age of 18 he worked in the quarry. His meeting with the famous Czech cello pedagogue K. P. Sádlo proved to be a turning point in his life. Sádlo supported him, introduced him to the cello (1941) and tutored him for the Conservatoire (1942-1948, cello with K.P.Sádlo, chamber music with Václav Talich). Between 1948-52 Sláma completed his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. By this time he had already been a member of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra (1948 - 1981, since 1962 sub-principal cello and cello section leader).

The legendary conductor Václav Talich encouraged Sláma's enthusiasm for chamber music and had, alongside with K.P.Sádlo and later Milan Munclinger, a lasting influence on Sláma's musical development. During the next 45 years Sláma performed with leading chamber ensembles in Czechoslovakia. In 1946 he was a founding member of Talich's Czech Chamber Orchestra, between 1953-1976 the viol da gambist of Pro Arte Antiqua (one of the oldest European ensembles focused on medieval and Renaissance music) and between 1954-1997 a member of the ensemble Ars Rediviva, whose performances and recordings played an important role in the revival of the Baroque music in Czechoslovakia.

With these ensembles he made a large number of recordings (with Supraphon, Panton, Columbia, DGG, Ariola, Nippon, etc.), which received several awards both in Czechoslovakia and abroad (e.g. Grand Prix du Disque). He participated also in first performances of modern compositions (e.g. Ilja Hurník: "Sonata da camera", Jan Tausinger: "Evocations").

Pedagogue and publicist

Since the 1970s he was a teacher at the Conservatoire in Prague. He also wrote about music and musicians, cooperated with Czech Radio (e.g. introduced Jordi Savall to the Czech audience).
In 2001 his book "Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek" (“"From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again"”) was published - reminiscences about the Prague music scene between the 1940s and the 1990s as well as about Sláma's musical colleagues, conductors (Talich, Barbirolli, Cluytens, Karajan, Kleiber, Klemperer, Kletzki, Kubelík, Maazel, Mackerras, Markevitch, Matačić, Mravinsky, Münch, Pedrotti, Rozhdestvensky, Sawallisch, Stokowski, etc.) and other personalities whom he had met (e.g. Adorján, André, Fournier, Honegger, Mainardi, Menuhin, Milhaud, Navarra, Nureyev, Oistrakh, Rampal, Richter, Szeryng, Sudek, Tortelier).

František Sláma Archive

František Sláma archive collection donated to his native village Heralec consists of more than 5000 negatives and photos, over 150 hours of authentic recordings and documents about Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Václav Talich, Milan Muclinger, Ars Rediviva, etc. Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are also deposited in the Czech Music Museum (see: External links).

External links

* [http://www.frantisekslama.com/en/ František Sláma Archive]
* [http://www.frantisekslama.com/diskografie-ars-rediviva Ars Rediviva Discography]
* [http://www2.rozhlas.cz/archivy/index.php?query=&naz=&aut=&int=Franti%B9ek+Sl%E1ma&dat_od=&dat_do=&poc_na_str=20 Czech Radio: František Sláma's recordings]
* [http://www2.rozhlas.cz/archivy/index.php?query=&naz=&aut=&int=Ars+Rediviva&dat_od=&dat_do=&poc_na_str=20 Czech Radio: Ars Rediviva recordings]
* [http://www.musicologica.cz/slovnik/hesla.php?op=heslo&hid=1475 Czech Music Dictionary]
* [http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/search?q=Franti%C5%A1ek+Sl%C3%A1ma&fq=s0%3A40000000&qt=facet_s0%3A WorldCat Libraries] (November 2007)

ee also

* Sláma, František: "Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek". Říčany: Orego, 2001. ISBN 80-86117-61-8
* [http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000027W3 "The Art Of Jean-Pierre Rampal"]
* [http://www.abc.net.au/classic/daily/stories/s1923775.htm ABC Classic FM, 11 June 2007]
* [http://www.jsbach.org/munclingerbrandenburgconcertos.html J.S.Bach Home Page, Recordings, Ars Rediviva, "Brandenburg Concertos"]
* [http://www.jsbach.org/munclingerartoffugue.html J.S.Bach Home Page, Recordings, Ars Rediviva, "The Art of Fugue"]
* [http://www.jsbach.org/munclingerthemusicaloffering.html J.S.Bach Home Page, Recordings, Ars Rediviva, "The Musical Offering"]
* [http://www.nm.cz/ceske-muzeum-hudby/hudebne-historicke.php The Czech Music Museum]

References

* cite journal
last = Koláčková
first = Ivetta
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = František Sláma
journal = Rudolfinum Revue
volume = 4
issue = 1
pages = 47
publisher = Česká filharmonie
location = Praha (Prague)
date =2004-2005
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate =

* cite journal
last = Vašatová
first = Jana
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Filharmonikové v souboru Ars rediviva (Ars Rediviva's 50th anniversary)
journal = Rudolfinum Revue
volume = 1
issue = 1
pages = 33–34
publisher = Česká filharmonie
location = Praha (Prague)
date =2001-2002
url =
doi =
id =
accessdate =

* cite book
last = Tyler
first = Sean
coauthors =
title = "International Who's Who in Music and Musicians. Sixteenth Edition"
publisher = IBC
year = 1998
location = Cambridge
pages =
url =
doi =
id =

* cite book
last = Pâris
first = Alain
coauthors = Jean-Yves Bras, Pierre Breton
title = "Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l´interprétation musicale au XX siècle"
publisher = Laffont
year = 1995
location = Paris
pages =
url =
doi =
id =
isbn = 2 221 08064 5

* cite book
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = "Československý hudební slovník osob a institucí, II"
publisher = State Music Publishing|SHV
year = 1965
location = Praha
pages =
url =
doi =
id =

* cite book
last = Kozák
first = Jan
coauthors =
title = "Českoslovenští hudební umělci a komorní soubory"
publisher = State Music Publishing|SHV
year = 1964
location = Praha
pages = 427, 454, 479
url =
doi =
id =