MIROSLAV LANGER
5. 5. 1945 Prostějov – 28. 10. 2010 Prague
Miroslav Langer was an acclaimed Czech pianist and educator. As an active performer, he was featured in a large number of concerts, and recorded numerous sessions for the Czech National Radio, Czech TV, as well as the Radio France-Musique. His extensive repertoire did not focus exclusively on a single style or period. Nevertheless, his admitted favourites included, above all, the Romantics (Liszt), as well as the French Impressionists and piano compositions by Janáček and Dvořák. (He recorded his CD of Slavonic Dances and Legends, as transcribed by the composer for piano four hands, using Dvořák’s actual period instrument.) Many will never forget his performances interpreting the two concertos by Beethoven (No. 2 in B-flat major and No. 4 in G major), or the Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor by Camille Saint-Saëns, Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor by Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No.1 in D-flat major by Prokofiev, and more.
Miroslav Langer started his music education at the school of music in his home town of Prostějov. During 1960–1965, he proceeded to the Brno Conservatoire, a major music center in then Czechoslovakia, as a pupil of František Schäfer, and more importantly, Inessa Janíčková, herself a graduate of the Leningrad Conservatoire under Professor Pavel Serebryakov. She utilised the methods of the Russian piano school in the instruction of her pupils. In 1965, still just a student at the Brno Conservatoire, he was awarded an honorary diploma at the 7th International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition, Warsaw. Afterwards, his education continued at the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, as a pupil of Josef Páleníček. That was an exceptionally fortunate encounter, because he formed a special rapport with his teacher based on the closeness of their personalities, and felt a deep respect towards him that endured throughout his life. It was Páleníček who opened the door to the world of French music and culture for him. His greatest competition achievements came in 1968, with an award from the Vianna da Motta Competition at Lisbon, and again in 1972, when he won the UNESCO International Music Council Competition. After his graduation in 1972, Langer stayed at the MFAPA as a postgraduate student of fine arts until 1976. The next two years (1976–1978) spent as a postgrad student at the Conservatoire Supérieur in Paris under Vlado Perlemuter and Suzanne Roche had an immense influence on his further career. The government of France awarded him the scholarship for his victory at the 1972 competition. The time spent in France further intensified his admiration and affection towards France, the French culture and language, in which he became admirably proficient.
A significant portion of Langer’s life is linked to his work as an educator. He started teaching at the MFAPA in 1978 as a lecturer. In l991 he achieved the academic rank of Senior Lecturer and was to remain at the school until the end of his life, except for a short period in 1988–1990, when he taught at the conservatoire in Jyväskylä, Finland. He was very much in demand as an educator and he helped foster the talents of dozens of young pianists, many of whom have gone on to become leading performance artists. Later on, he sat on the juries of numerous music competitions (including the Prague Spring, Concertino Praga, and Amadeus).
Besides his accomplished professionalism, he enjoyed educating his students on world literature, fine arts and history, on which he had a wealth of knowledge. In 2000, health concerns forced him to discontinue his performance career, and he fully focused on his education work. Working with his students and young graduates had always been an important mission for him, but during the last ten years it became a source of genuine fulfilment of his life.