Jan Bečička & Stanislav Hüttl & Petr Šefl was the second harpsichord workshop to be established in the Czech Republic. It was founded in 1997 in Hradec Králové, and builds top-class replicas of harpsichords. With the experience of their senior associate, Petr Šefl, the two younger craftsmen achieved European recognition from the outset. The company soon undertook the restoration of original historical instruments from the collections of the National Museum in Prague. Due to the growing interest in their craftmanship and increase in orders, the company was required to find larger premises. In 2008 they moved to the picturesque village of Bystřec in the Eagle Mountains. The company builds instruments for leading musical institutions, music schools and for prominent instrumentalists, as well as, for students and beginners on the harpsichord. The company also regularly partakes in music festivals, hires out instruments and provides a concert service. Leading Czech and foreign artists have given concerts and made recordings with the instruments. The company is fully equipped and performs not only routine repairs but also undertakes extensive restoration projects and the reconstruction of all types of keyboard string instruments, including rare historical originals (see section on restoration).
In August 2020 Jan Bečička and Stanislav Hüttl parted ways with Petr Šefl and continued as Jan Bečička & Stanislav Hüttl.
Jan Bečička /1974/
In the period 1989-1993 he worked at Petrof, as part of a musical instruments vocational course,
receiving an apprenticeship as a piano builder and a certificate of secondary education. In 1993 he entered the School of Applied Arts in Prague to study wood moulding and carving. He completed that course in 1997, whereby part of his final exam was building a replica of a pentagonal spinet, inspired by a Domenicus Pisaurencis instrument (Venice 1540), which he built in collaboration with his colleague Stanislav Hüttl.
During his studies, 1993-1996, he worked in the workshop of František Vyhnálek, where he helped to build harpsichords and restore historical instruments.
His first restoration project of significance was in 1997, when he restored a Conrad Graf hammerklavier of cca 1820, for the Kozel chateau in Western Bohemia owned by the National Heritage Institute in Plzeň.
In 1997 he started a restoration course at the Higher Applied Arts Vocational School in Prague. Unfortunately the course did not live up to his expectations, so in 1998 he accepted an offer from the Czech Museum of Music which is part of the National Museum and interrupted his studies in order to devote himself full time to restoring historical instruments being prepared for the „300 Years with the Piano“ exhibition held under UNESCO auspices in 1999.
In 1999 he and his colleague relocated to Trendelburg, Germany, where they took a specialist course with the outstanding German harpsichord maker Jürgen Ammer. Another important challenge for him was working on salvaging instruments from the collection of the Czech Museum of Music which is part of the National Museum, which were damaged during the disastrous floods of August 2002, and he took a major part in their restoration.
Jan Bečička is a holder of a licence from the Czech Ministry of Culture for cultural heritage restoration, specialising in the restoration of keyboard string instruments.
Stanislav Hűttl /1975/
Stanislav Hűttl started his career in 1989. From 1989 – 1993 he received an piano building apprenticeship at Petrof, as part of a musical instruments vocational course, and also received a certificate of secondary education. In 1993 he entered the School of Applied Arts in Prague to study wood moulding and carving. As part of his final exam, in 1997, he was required to build a replica of a pentagonal spinet, inspired by a Domenicus Pisaurencis instrument (Venice 1540), which he built in collaboration with his colleague Jan Bečička. During his studies (1993-1996), he worked in the workshop of František Vyhnálek, whereby he helped build harpsichords and restore historical instruments.
In 1997, he worked with his colleague Jan Bečička on the restoration of a Conrad Graf hammerklavier of cca 1820, for the Kozel chateau in Western Bohemia owned by the National Heritage Institute in Plzeň. In that year, the two joined forces in a workshop to build copies of harpsichords and restore keyboard instruments.
That same year, he started a restoration course at the Higher Applied Arts Vocational School in Prague, but decided to leave the course a year later in order to accept an offer from the Czech Museum of Music which is part of the National Museum to work full time restoring historical instruments for the exhibition „300 Years with the Piano“.
In 1999 he and his colleague went broad to Trendelburg, Germany, where they attended a specialist course with the outstanding German harpsichord maker Jürgen Ammer. Together, he and Jan Bečička also started to work on salvaging instruments from the collection of the Czech Museum of Music which is part of the National Museum, which were damaged during the disastrous floods of August 2002.
Stanislav is a holder of a licence from the Czech Ministry of Culture for cultural heritage restoration, specialising in the restoration of keyboard string instruments.