Outside his homeland, Vítězslav Novák is not nearly as well known today as his compatriot and colleague Josef Suk, even though he also enjoyed great international renown during his lifetime. Like his friend Antonín Dvořák, who trained him, Novák was a composition teacher and later rector of the Prague Conservatory. He left behind a wide-ranging oeuvre that extends from chamber music to ballet and opera. Clear influences from national folk music, a humorous approach to “exotic” elements and a refined sense of sound characterise the language of this artist who began as a fervent post-Romantic. The juxtaposition of the piano concerto, composed in 1895, and the two ballet pantomimes, written some 35 years later, creates a field of tension that compels the listener to engage with this fascinating luminary.