Archaion Kallos festival: new pieces by Martin Klusák and Jan Trojan

It has become a tradition for the Prague Orthodox music festival Archaion Kallos to provide space also for young contemporary composers. This (8th) year, it was Martin Klusák (*1987) and Jan Trojan (*1982). Their pieces, Pnoi for solo clarinet and video projection (Klusák) and Refractions – sound interventions (Trojan), were performed on October 22 at the Gallery of … Read more

David Rejchrt: Psalm Songs (world premiere)

The penultimate concert of the 7th International Music Festival of F. L. Věk was dedicated to Czech songs. They were performed on October 22 in the palace of Nové Město nad Metují by the legendary Czech bass Richard Novák and pianist Jaroslav Šaroun. A part of the concert was a world premiere of Psalm Songs by … Read more

Matouš Hejl: Kaleidoscope (world premiere)

BERG Orchestra’s last concert so far took place on October 16, for the first time at Továrna, a former industrial building turned into an arts centre in Holešovice, Prague. A part of the programme was a world premiere of a new piece by composer Matouš Hejl (*1989). Kaleidoscope was written in 2015 as Hejl’s graduation piece, yet with plans of BERG … Read more

Ondřej Adámek’s Airmachine in the Czech Republic for the first time

The 9th year of MusicOlomouc festival culminated on October 15 in the Atrium of Palacký University’s Art centre with a composer portrait of Ondřej Adámek. On the occasion, Adámek presented for the very first time his self-made musical instrument Airmachine, which has been enjoying success abroad, to Czech audiences. Airmachine 2 (thus already a second one he constructed) … Read more

Essen: The Bartered Bride

On October 14, Aalto-Musiktheater opera in Essen, Germany, premiered a new production of Bedřich Smetana’s The Bartered Bride in which numerous Czech artists were involved. Apart from conductor Tomáš Netopil, who currently works as the general music director of the theatre, tenor Richard Samek starring as Jeník, scenographer Martin Chocholoušek and costume designer Simona Rybáková it was also … Read more

Miroslav Kubička: Jakub Jan Ryba (world premiere)

On October 14, J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň presented with great success a world premiere of Jakub Jan Ryba, first and as yet last opera by composer Miroslav Kubička (*1951). The piece is based on Josef Bouček’s successful 80s play The Shepherds’ Night about the cruel fate of the composer and schoolmaster who is today known often only as the … Read more

Jenůfa in Victoria, Canada

In co-production with Opéra de Montréal, Pacific Opera Victoria in the capital of British Columbia, Canada, presented a new production of Janáček’s Jenůfa. It was directed by the internationally acclaimed film director of psychological dramas Atom Egoyan, famed, among others, for Academy Award-nominated The Sweet Hereafter, Exotica (awarded a Golden Palm of Cannes) or the erotic thriller Chloe. Egoyan set the story … Read more

Petr Bakla: Last Piece (Mostly stepwise) – world premiere

The penultimate concert of this year’s MusicOlomouc contemporary music festival belonged to the Phace Ensemble (Austria). On October 9 in the Corpus Christi Chapel of the Art Centre of Palacký University, they performed five pieces including a premiere by Petr Bakla. Last Piece (Mostly stepwise) for clarinet/bass clarinet, violoncello and piano was written on the festival’s commission. The programme … Read more

Daniel Skála: Tickling (world premiere)

The fourth concert of this year’s MusicOlomouc festival took place on October 8 in the Corpus Christi Chapel of the Art Centre of Palacký University. It introduced Lichtzwang, Olomouc-based chamber ensemble founded last year, joined by Hungarian pianist Nóra Füzi. The concert presented the premiere of a new piece by Ostrava-based “classical” cimbalom player and composer Daniel … Read more

Marek Keprt: Hláskopelní a špitocudní (world premiere)

The second day of MusicOlomouc festival offered a concert of German chamber vocal ensemble AuditivVokal Dresden. Its members, in the Atrium of Art Centre of Palacký University, performed a program consisting exclusively of 21st-century music, including the world premiere of Hláskopelní a špitocudní by pianist, composer and the festival’s director Marek Keprt (*1974). Keprt wrote it especially for this ensemble. During … Read more