Classical music

At the beginning of August the Summer Refectory of the Strahov Monastery, including ceiling frescoes where all the nations roister at a heavenly feast, begin to dance alla Polacca. The Wrocławska Orkiestra Barokowa with conductor Jarosław Thiel will arrive there to perform baroque compositions, in which the Polish soul slumbers: Telemann’s Concertos, arias from Hasse’s opera Zenobia and Vivaldi’s Concert for a Prince of Poland.

Letni slavnosti stare hudby – Alla Polacca
Polish folklore in the instrumental works of G. Ph. Telemann
Wrocławska Orkiestra Barokowa (Poland)
Jarosław Thiel – artistic director
Friday, August 8, 2008 at 8.00 p.m.
Summer Refectory of the Strahov Monastery, Strahovské nádvori 1, Prague 1

It is Called: Hudba na habsburském dvoře. Karel VI. v Praze, Neapoli a Barcelone – Music at Hapsburg courtyard. Charles VI in Prague, Naples and Barcelona. The prestigious Spanish set La Real Cámera created together with an excellent singer Raquel Andaluzea the programme, connecting music tradition of Baroque Bohemia and Spain.

The programme of the second concerto refer to relation of Houses of Habsburg during the region of Charles the VI. The pieces that are going to be played that evening are the same ones that were performed during Charles VI in Prague.

The concert is organized in cooperation with Spanish Embassy.
Tickets: 280,- czk, students: 150,- czk. The tickets are also valid for an exhibition at the Prague Castle, but not for the permanent exhibitions of the Castle.

Event: 9th September 2008, Rudolfova galerie of the Prague Castle

The Biedermeier Arts and Culture in the Bohemian Lands exhibition is the first ever to present the wealth of art made in the Bohemian Lands in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Supporting concerts to the Biedermeier exhibition take place in the Riding Schoool of the Prague Castle.

Concerts are going to be focused on two musical attitudes or trends of the Biedermeier period. The summer ‘ambulacrum’ or ‘mall’ concert of selections of Wienna Waltz will continue into the phenomena of cultural lounges of nineteenth century.

17th July 2008 at 18:00 ‘Gingham promenade’ at the Jízdárna Pražského hradu (Riding School of Prague Castle)

21st September 2008 at 18:00 ‘Intimate lounge’ Smetana Tryo at the Jízdárna Pražského hradu (Riding School of Prague Castle)

Tickets to the concets can be purchased in the Infocentre SPH on the second coutryard of the Prague Castle

The summer season of the Opera Mozart at The Estates Theatre has been the highpoint of Prague’s cultural life for nearly a decade. During that time, there has been a revolution against the overly conservative opera productions of the 1980s, leading to the birth of a professional artistic ensemble that, in spite of having given thousands of performances, is still maintaining an avant-garde approach to creation and to non traditional productions, and its continually giving many young artists the opportunity to confront classical opera and the opera world’s leading personalities.

The list of productions has included not only such world famous operas as Don Giovanni, Die Zauberflöte, or Cosi fan tutte, but also lesser-known, rarely Mozart’s operas like la clemenza di Tito and Il re pastore (Czech premiere – Opera Mozart, 15th August 1999).

Thanks to the universality of the operatic genre and the attractiveness of Mozart’s operas, as well as to the professionalism of the organisation behind Opera Mozart, the company has made a stable place for itself in the world of the arts. Online tickets at Ticketportal, performances every day.

The concert cycle “Music of the Prague Castle” is a continuation of three preceding cycles which took place at Prague Castle in the past three years. During the whole of the last year it was obvious that Prague audiences began to view this concert cycle as a permanent part of the Prague classical music scene, and were coming in ever-increasing numbers.

The programmes of this year´s cycle endeavour to continue in this trend by presenting yet more quality and audience-friendly works. Beside the traditional places, such as the Spanish and Rothmayer Halls, the Ball Game Hall and the Basilica of St George, the concerts will also take place in some of the lesser-known parts of Prague Castle, such as the Rozmberk Hall or the Roman Cellars. The concerts take place on Tuesays at 7:30pm.

The unifying idea of the cycle lies in its focus on early music which well matches the historical premises of Prague Castle. There will also be a special concert in June which will bring together artists from different cultural backgrounds: a joint project of the Japanese monks of the Tendai school and the vocal ensemble Schola Gregoriana Pragensis (“Intimate Voices from Far Away”.) Contrary to the preceding cycles, four concerts this year will feature foreign artists.

Apart form concerts of early music, the cycle is based on appearances by great Czech musicians, such as violinist Vaclav Hudecek and pianist Ivan Moravec. The concert cycle will reach its peak in a recital by the world-renowned star Magdalena Kozena, whose appearance at Prague Castle will also be this year´s Concert for the First Lady.

Event: 19.02.2008 – 12.11.2008
Venue: Rothmayer Hall
Concerts begin at 7:30pm.
Tickets: CZK 280
Reduced price: CZK 150

The ticket for the concert is valid also for entrance to one exhibition of your choice held by Prague Castle Administration eight days after the date of the concert (does not apply to permanent expositions: Prague Castle Picture Gallery, The Story of the Prague Castle).

The Austria violininst Benjamin Schmid (b. 1968) will unexpectedly perform on a concert Symphonic orchestra of Cesky Rozhlas (Czech Broadcasting Company) which takes place on Monday 17th March in Dvorak’s Hall of Rudolfinum.

The young artist is going to play instead of Roman Valek, who is ill, and his concert will be Violin concert by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. This piece was delivered by Schmid in 2004 on the Salzburk festival with Vienna Philharmonic, live record was released on CD.

He owns many prestigious awards, like Mozart’s and Beethoven’s prize or the Salzburg town Prize

The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra has enjoyed unprecedented success for a number of years now. It became the focus of attention on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Antonin Dvorak, who conducted its first ever concert and is currently the best known Czech composer worldwide. The Czech Philharmonic continues to give proof of its artistic excellence and the distinctive nature of its sound.

Cycle K6-07 M. DE FALLA: Spanish suite for violin and piano.

MARTINU: Tree Czech Dances for piano
L. JANACEK: Sonet for violin and Piano
B. SMETANA: Concert etude “On the Seashore”
E. GRIEG: Sonet for violin and piano no. 1
A. DVORAK: Mazurek e-moll for violin and piano

violin Bohumil Kotmel
grand piano Jiří Kollert

Sukova Hall, Thursday, 25th March 2008, 19:30, Rudolfinum, Alsovo Nabrezi 12, Praha 1

If you are looking for a city that offers opportunities to listen to good classical music, Prague is the city for you. The concert in Rudolfinum, advised here, is just one of many concerts Prague Rudolfinum offers. Check their web pages for more.

Afternoons in Rudolfinum with Zdeněk Mácal. B. Smetana – From Czech Forests and Meadows, symphonic poem. P. I. Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 4 in F minor Op. 36 “Fate” Performed by : Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor: Zdenek Mácal. Approx 1hr 30mins, start 26th April 2008 – 15:00

Czech National Symphony Orchestra was established in 1993 by a trumpet player Jan Hasenöhrl. The orchestra made its debut appearance on 10th November at the Dvorak Hall in Rudolfinum in Prague, with a conductor Vladimir Valek. The orchestra is made up of about eighty experienced musicians. The main founder of the orchestra is the legendary conductor Zdenek Kosler, who gave them his wide-ranging artistic knowledge. He also recorded CDs with them. The American Paul Freeman took over as a Chief Conductor in 1996 and currently he is the Music Director. Libor Pesek was appointed the conductor this year.

The 15th concert season starts on 18th October.

Do you want to know MORE?

The first concert begins at 7:30pm and you can hear Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Te Deum, Preludium, Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto for violin and oboe in D minor, BWV 1060 and Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, the Romantic Symphony.

Lovers of classical music can visit the international festival of young musicians, called “Young Prague” (Mlada Praha), which has started yesterday.

The festival takes place at various attractive venues in Prague: in the Waldstein Palace and Waldstein Garden, in the Villa Bertramka, in the Dvorak Hall in Rudolfinum and other places. The musicians are mostly from the Czech Republic, Japan or Russia.

You can hear for example compositions by W. A. Mozart or Antonin Dvorak at the festival Young Prague. It lasts from 26 ^th August to 11 ^th September. Tickets are available at Ticketpro, BTI, Via Musica and at the venues, 1 hour before a concert starts. Information centre of the festival is in the Hungarian cultural center, Rytirska Street 25, Prague 1.

The most important young Czech violinist Pavel Sporcl will release a new album and then tour various towns across the Czech Republic. He is regarded as an exceptional talent and he is even included in Henry Roth´s book Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21 ^st century.

The new album by Pavel Sporcl will include Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and it will be released in the beginning of November.

Pavel Sporcl will also tour a number of Czech towns with Antonin Dvorak´s music. You can hear him for example in Kutna Hora, Vimperk, Sychrov or Trebon. The tour is called “Sporcl hraje Dvoraka” (Sporcl plays Dvorak) and it will last from 2 ^nd September to 4 ^th November.

Prominent solo opera singers from the National Theatre and State Opera in Prague together with outstanding violin virtuosos perform in a musical play about famous Czech music composer Antonin Dvorak.

The musical play with many famous compositions by Dvorak takes us to the saloon of Prague bohemians about 100 years ago when Antonin Dvorak was at the peak of his creative power.

The performance called Kouzelny Dvorak takes place in the Museum of Antonin Dvorak (Ke Karlovu 20) every Tuesday and Friday at 20:00 until the end of October. Tickets can be arranged on telephone number 235 518 045 or 281 932 662, or via email at ohdp@volny.cz or booking@centrum.cz.

Every Thursday until 20th September you can visit one of the concerts held within the 12th International Organ Festival in Prague. Concerts take place in St James’s Church in the Prague Old Town (Mala Stupartska 6).

The forthcoming concert will present the works of Dupre, Mozart, Eben, Bach and Vierne performed by Gunther Rost from Austria. St Jame’s Church is considered one of the most beautiful churches in Prague and it’s surrounded with several interesting legends.

Tickets are available via Ticketportal (www.ticketportal.cz) and Via Musica (www.viamusica.cz) network or one hour before the concert in front of the church. Information can be obtained on the telephone number +420 604 208 490. For more information about the programme click here.

Prague summer offer a wide range of music festivals, mostly held in famous Prague monuments and concert halls. One of them, held between 20th and 25th August, is Prague Music Festival.

For the fourth time it will present the works of world famous artists, such as Smetana, Dvorak, Bach, Janacek, Suk, Berlioz or Beethoven. The concerts will be held in the foyer of the Municipal House, in the Spanish Synagogue and in Dvorak’s Hall in the Rudolfinum.

Concerts in the foyer of the Municipal House are for free, the tickets for the concert in Spanish Synagogue cost 300 CZK and in Rudolfinum the price vary between 350 CZK and 600 CZK. For more information about the concert click here.

If you want to enjoy great Jewish music performed by the leading Jewish singer in beautiful spaces of Spanish Synagogue in Prague’s Jewish quarter, visit Svetlana Portnyancky’s concert “Favorite and Famous – the great Jewish and International Masterpieces”.

Svetlana Portnyansky is a successul solo Jewish singer born in Russia and currently living in the USA. She’s been giving concerts all over the world, bringing the Jewish culture, music and tradition to the whole international Jewish community.

Her Prague’s concert, the first one in the Czech Republic, will take place in Spanish Synagogue (Dusni 12 / Vezenska 1) in Prague on Tuesday 14th August 2007. Tickets can be bought via Ticketpro for 1,500 – 1,000 CZK.

Carmina Burana Open Air Opera on the Czech largest floating stage will tell the medieval story of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and Polovetsian Dances by Alexander Bordin.

The 350 m2 floating stage can be found near Strelecky Island on the Vltava river in the historical centre of Prague. The show will present the performance of the Czech Symphonic Orchestra, vocal and ballet soloist, VUS choire of the Charles University, the historical dance group Saltatio Vitae or the historical fencing and fireworks show by Spitfire Pyro Prague.

The performances will be held every day at 20:30 from 28th July to 26th August 2007. Tickets for 1,200 CZK can be bought via Ticketportal and Tickepro.

Four concerts of classical music will resound the III courtyard of Prague Castle and will offer a great atmosphere as well as good acoustics. The concerts are held under the auspices of the First Lady Livia Klausova.

The first and the last concerts will be performed by Prague Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jiri Kout. The first concert (28th – 29th June 2007) will present the composition by Carl Orff Carmina Burana, the last one (9th September 2007) Dvorak’s Symphony No. 9 “From the New World” (Op. 95).

The Philharmonic of Hradec Kralove conducted by Ondrej Kukal (25th July 2007) will perform Smetana’s Vltava and Vysehrad and Dvorak’s Slavonic Dances. The third concert (21st August 2007) will commemorate the 21st August 1968 (occupation of the Czech Republic by armies of the Warsaw Pact). The Czech Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra of Pardubice conducted by Leos Svarovsky will play Schubert’s Symphony No. 6 in C Major and Mendelsohn – Barthody’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major “Italian”.

As the weather forecast promises a rainy weekend in Prague we bring a short review of concerts of classical music that will take place in unique concert halls or churches in Prague worth seeing.

On Saturday 2nd June villa Bertramka will offer compositions of Mozart and Beethoven (start 17:00), St Nicholas Church in Old Town Square will host beneficial concerts from 14:00 and 18:00, the Music Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts organizes a concert (Bach, Eben, Stanley, Buxtehude) in the Lichtenstein Palace in Lesser Town Square (at 19:30). The Loreto will resound with organ mini concerts (at 15:00 and 15:30).

The concert of ‘F. Schubert: Ave Maria’ in the Church of St Francis in the Knights of the Cross Square will start On Saturday and Sunday at 20:00. ‘Music walks’ can be heard in the Fata Morgana greenhouse in Prague Botanical Garden (at 17:00) or in Troja Chateau (at 15:00). Besides these concerts you can visit one of the concert of the Prague music festival Prague Spring.

In occasion of the celebrations of 75th birthday of Czech cardinal Miloslav Vlk, you can visit a gala concert in St Vitus Cathedral. It starts today at 19:00 and it’s for free. The concert will present compositions of Bohuslav Martinu, Antonin Dvorak, Leos Janacek and Petr Eben.

On the same occasion, the Prague Archbishopric organize a thankful services in St Vitus Cathedral at 10:30 tomorrow. You can come and take part in joint prayer which start an hour before the services.

Cardinal Vlk has been the highest representative of the Catholic Church in the Czech Republic for 16 years. Before that he also worked as a shop-window cleaner because he was prohibited by the Communist regime to do any public sacred activities. He was also present at the conclave in Vatican to elect the Pope.

It’s been 400 years since the first premiere of an opera in the world. Opera Europe organises special celebrations in many countries in Europe. The National Theatre in Prague joins the celebrations as well in a special way.

Today and the next two days Prague Theatre will offer Aida by Verdi, Don Giovanni by Mozart or Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky. This time not on the stage but on a large screen on the fourth floor of the functional building of the National Theatre. The shows are for free.

All those who want to hear famous melodies of their popular composers can enter a big heated tent next to the National Theatre. The music can be heard there from 9 a.m. till 6 p.m. The tent is big enough for 60 people and there is a free entrance.

Admires of operas can also visit an exhibition of opera costumes and walk through the historical and the functional buildings of Prague National Theatre.