The BERG Orchestra ended this year’s season on 5 December with a concert in the St Salvator Church, Prague. They presented the Czech premiere of Circle for 4 trios, conductor and audience by the Chinese composer star, Oscar and Grammy winner Tan Dun. The second part belonged to the world premiere of a space composition shadows by day, Light by night by … Read more
Miroslav Srnka, the most successful Czech composer today, was the main star of DIALOGE 2017, contemporary music festival held by the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation. Forming the dramaturgical basis of the festival, his music was being performed several times over the 4 days – as the festival’s name suggests – in dialogues with other contemporary, classical, electronic or … Read more
As a part of the chamber cycle of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, Bohemia Saxophone Quartet gave a concert on November 23 at the Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia. It included the world premiere of Sherlock Holmes, a new piece by instrumentalist, multi-genre composer and FOK’s long-standing collaborator Martin Kumžák. The audience also had a chance to hear E. … Read more
On November 17 in the Mozart Hall of Reduta, Brno, Ensemble Opera Diversa introduced the first opera by Vienna-based composer and musicologist Lenka Nota I Am the Princess of Fools. It tells the story of Božena Němcová as written into the libretto by a famous Czech documentary director Olga Sommerová. “Božena is a friend of all Czech women who … Read more
On November 16 in the theatre hall of Metropol, České Budějovice, the South Czech Philharmonic gave world premiere to Lachian Pictures, a new piece by composer and clarinettist Aleš Pavlorek (*1971). This suite for small orchestra drew inspiration from the Lachian folklore, which is manifested also in the titles of its four movements – Lachian Janáček, Lachian Yodel Songs, … Read more
Less than three years since Jenůfa, Theater Aachen in Aachen, Germany, presented another of Leoš Janáček’s operas – Katya Kabanova. The premiere took place on November 12, led by the theatre’s current music director Justus Thorau. The production was created by the Czech-born director Tibor Torell who presents the story as chain of visions of the heroine, … Read more
On November 11, Theater Bremen, Germany, presented a new production of Dvořák’s Rusalka. Directed by Anna-Sophie Mahler, it became already the fourth opera featuring a strong female lead she staged in Bremen, following Carmen, Maria Stuarda and, five years ago, Janáček’s Makropulos Affair. Mahler set the plot into the rooms reminiscent of the socialist Czechoslovakia of the 70s and instead of on the … Read more
One of the guests of the 20. international festival of contemporary music and multimedia projects Meetings of New Music Plus, held between October 11 and December 6 in Brno, was the Prague-based ensemble MoEns. Their concert took place on November 9 at the Chamber Hall of the Faculty of Music of Janáček Academy of Music and Performing … Read more
Premiered this spring at the National Theatre in Prague, Jiří Kadeřábek’s opera No Man moved over to Bremen, Germany, native town of the production’s directress Katharina Schmitt. Here, it was performed twice, on November 7 and 8 as a special part of the festival of contemporary German literature Festival für grenzüberschreitende Literatur. No Man tells the tragic life … Read more
Opera povera ensemble introduced a second part of their experimental project Echo – Metamorphoses, subtitled “All that connects sound and space can become an opera.” It was created by Rocc (*1979), Slovenian opera director and opera povera’s art director, and composer and musicologist Vít Zouhar (*1966). “Content-wise, we tried to return to the original inspiration of the very … Read more
