The group was founded in 1951 in Prague by flautist and musicologist Milan Munclinger and his wife, pianist and harpsichordist Viktorie Švihlíková (she was later succeeded by Josef Hála). The original lineup also consisted of two prominent members of the Czech Philharmonic, cellist František Sláma and oboist Stanislav Duchoň (later succeeded by violinists Václav Snítil and Antonín Novák). From 1951 to 1956, Václav Talich collaborated with Ars Rediviva.
Orchestra, soloists
The band's repertoire consisted largely of chamber music, the works of J. S. Bach ranking high on the list. Depending on score requirements, the ensemble's size expanded regularly up to the chamber orchestra having mainly Czech Philharmonic instrumentalists as members (a complete string group with its section leaders, prominent wind-players, for example solo flautists Géza Novák and František Čech, solo oboist Jiří Mihule, solo bassoonists Karel Bidlo and František Herman, solo horn-players Miroslav Štefek and Zdeněk Tylšar, solo double-bass player František Pošta, etc.).
In 1954, the ensemble started giving season performances in Wallenstein Palace, later moving to Rudolfinum. At first they gave six concerts per year and eventually expanded to twelve. In four decades, several hundreds of compositions were introduced here, including scores of premiered archive pieces. Live recordings of Ars Rediviva performances in Rudolfinum are deposited in the Czech Museum of Music.
Jan Tausinger, Ivan Jirko, Ilja Hurník, and other Czech composers dedicated their neoclassical compositions to Ars Rediviva (e.g., Hurník's Sonata da Camera, Concerto for Flute and Chamber Orchestra.
References
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Kozák, Jan (1964). Českoslovenští hudební umělci a komorní soubory [Czech Music Performers and Chamber Ensembles] (in Czech). Prague: State Music Publishing. pp. 426–429, 454, 456, 469.
Kříž, Jaromír (1966). "Naši umělci a barokní interpretace" [Czech Musicians and Baroque Music Performance]. Hudební rozhledy [Music Observer] (in Czech). 19 (7). Prague: Svaz čs.skladatelů (Czechoslovak Composer Association): 207–208.
Lazarevich, Gordana (1977). "Reviews of Records". Musical Quarterly. LXIII (3). Oxford University Press: 446–450. doi:10.1093/mq/LXIII.3.446.
Mlejnek, Karel (April 1992), Hudba barokních mistrů. Ars rediviva [Baroque Music. Ars Rediviva] (in Czech), Prague: Czech Philharmonic/Czech Chamber Music Society
Pâris, Alain (1989). Dictionnaire des interprètes et de l'interprétation musicale au XXe siècle (in French). Paris: Laffont.
Pâris, Alain; Rudolf Kimmig (1992). Lexikon der Interpreten klassischer Musik im 20.Jahrhundert (in German). Kassel: Bärenreiter. ISBN3-7618-3291-5.
Schuhmacher, Gerhard (1974). "Schallplatten-Rezensionen (G.P.Telemann – Ars Rediviva)". Musica (in German) (3). Kassel: Bärenreiter: 293.
Šeda, Jaroslav (1992). "Ars rediviva jubilující" [Ars Rediviva's 40th anniversary]. Koncertní život [Concert Life] (in Czech) (4–5). Prague: Pražský symfonický orchestr FOK [Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK]: 12–16.
Sláma, František (2001). Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek ("From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again") (in Czech). Říčany: Orego. ISBN80-86117-61-8.
Vašatová, Jana (2001–2002). "Filharmonikové v souboru Ars rediviva (Ars Rediviva's 50th anniversary)". Rudolfinum Revue. 1 (1). Prague: Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic): 33–34.