Václav Suk

Czech-born violinist, conductor and composer (b. 16 November 1861 in Kladno, near Prague; d. 12 January 1933 in Moscow), also known as Václav Suk, or Vyacheslav Ivanovich Suk (Вячеслав Иванович Сук).

Suk studied violin and counterpoint at the Prague Conservatory, and took private lessons in composition from Zdeněk Fibich (1850–1900). In 1880 he was engaged as the leader of an opera orchestra in Kiev, and from 1882 to 1887 served as a violinist in the orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. His conducting career began in 1885, and after touring widely in Russia and western Europe he became a conductor at the Bolshoi from 1906 (chief conductor from 1928 to 1933), and at the Stanislavsky Opera Theatre in Moscow from 1927.

Correspondence with Tchaikovsky

2 letters from Tchaikovsky to Váša Suk have survived, dating from 1888 and 1891, both of which have been translated into English on this website:

• Letter 3656 – 5/17 September 1888, from Frolovskoye
• Letter 4541 – 10/22 November 1891, from Moscow

4 letters from Suk to Tchaikovsky, dating from 1888, are preserved in the Klin House-Museum Archive.

Bibliography

• Вячеслав Иванович Сук. Материалы к биографий (1933)
• В. И. Сук (1951)

External Links

• Wikipedia