The second of the ten concerts held by the Treasures of the Broumov region festival (12th year, Jul 1 – Sep 2) was dedicated to pieces deposited in the musical archive of the Broumov monastery. They were performed by Musica Braunensis ensemble which was established with the objective to play specifically this, often unknown or long-forgotten … Read more
The 59th year of the Smetana’s Litomyšl music festival (Jun 16 – Jul 6) thought about its youngest spectators, too. It was for them that the festival staged a children opera performance Rusalenka by a well-known singer, pedagogue, and directress of the Prague children’s opera Jiřina Marková-Krystlíková (*1957). Commissioned by the festival, the work is based on Dvořák’s most famous opera. The … Read more
Less than two weeks after the Brundibár premiere in Staatstheater Kassel, a new production of this children opera by Hans Krása was put on on another German opera scene, namely the one of Theater Trier in Rhineland-Palatinate. The piece, performed more than 55 times with the deported children in the Theresienstadt ghetto where the author eventually died, was … Read more
Staatstheater Kassel presented a new production of Hans Krása’s famous Brundibár. The 1938 opera, once sung by children of the Theresienstadt ghetto, was rehearsed by a children choir Cantamus where the soloists were recruited from, too. They were accompanied by the TJO, Theater-Jugendorchester, which is an ensemble formed by talented instrumentalists aged 12-20. The show is a solo debut by … Read more
Held on June 15 in the traditional venue of St Lawrence Church in Prague, the last pre-summer concert of the Konvergence composers’ association was one of a very intimate atmosphere. The chief performers were Simon and Felix Nagl brothers (cello, piano), whom the evening’s dramaturges and founding Konvergence members Tomáš Pálka and Michaela Pálka Plachká, met in … Read more
The last but one week of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK’s 82nd season carried itself in the spirit of jazz. On June 7 and 8 in the sold-out Smetana Hall of the Municipal House in Prague, the orchestra played a programme consisting of two pieces by George Gershwin (overture to musical Oh, Kay! and the highly popular American … Read more
Symphony No. 25 “The Angel Was Sent to You” by the recently deceased composer František Gregor Emmert (1940-2015) received its premiere on June 1 at the St. Augustine Church in Brno. It was performed by Ensemble Opera Diversa conducted by Ondrej Olos together with Jarmila Balážová (mezzosoprano), Milan Paľa (viola) and Marek Paľa (organ). Emmert … Read more
Petr Wajsar (*1978) is a highly popular author at the Prague Spring festival. This year only, the festival gave world premiere to two of his compositions – besides Harpsycho, the compulsory piece for the 2nd round of the cembalo competition, it was The Rest Is Song, performed on June 1 at The Trade Fair Palace by … Read more
This year’s topic of The Beauty of Today, the contemporary music concert cycle organized by PKF – Prague Philharmonia, was Dualism in the Czech 21st Century, or, the relationship between a living, active composer and his (former) teacher or mentor. On the last of this season’s concerts, which was held on May 30 at the Experimental Space NoD, … Read more
As already a couple of times in the past, this year of the Prague Spring festival, too, decided to hold one of its concerts at the National Technical Museum. In collaboration with the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague, it presented a programme consisting of four pieces by contemporary composers, all of … Read more
