21 June, Villa Tugendhat, Brno Music Day in Villa Tugendhat VII Daniel Forró: 100 Shapes of the Czech National Anthem (world premiere) Brno Contemporary Orchestra, conductor: Pavel Šnajdr
Led by their artistic director Pavel Šnajdr, the Brno Contemporary Orchestra on 31 January in Besední dům, Brno, presented the first of the two concerts commemorating and celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Czechoslovakia. It was named FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA and the programme consisted of new pieces by Petr Bakla, Luboš Mrkvička and Marián Lejava … 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 … 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
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 first … Read more
The 49th year of Brno-based music festival Moravian Autumn commissioned a new piece by a great Czech composer Marek Kopelent (*1932). The premiere took place on October 16 in Besední dům’s concert hall as a part of the concert of Ensemble Berlin Prag. Amor vincit (“Love Conquers”) is a trio for soprano, oboe and cor anglais written on a medieval Latin … Read more
National Theatre Brno opened this year’s season by releasing Rules for Good Manners in the Modern World, an original Czech opera by composer Michal Nejtek and librettist Jiří Adámek, who is also the director. The piece is based on Jean-Luc Lagarce’s (1957-1995) drama for a solo actress, which introduces the spectators to the etiquette rules, as established in the … 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
Held on 6th February in Reduta, this year’s first orchestral concert by the Brno-based Ensemble Opera Diversa not only celebrated Miloš Štědroň’s 75th birthday but also served as a unique display of music by contemporary Czech and Moravian composers. Led by Gabriela Tardonová, the ensemble performed 6 pieces for strings, none of which was written more than twenty … Read more
MoEns ensemble who specializes exclusively in contemporary music played a concert on November 8 at the Gallery of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. This time, they gave world premieres to four compositions by their members or related artists – Marek Kopelent, Hanuš Bartoň, Michal Nejtek and Kamil Doležal. Comprising of Doležal (clarinet), David Danel (violin), … Read more
