Prague Congress Centre (Kongresové centrum Praha)

Prague, March 2010The offer of classical music festivals set to take place in the Czech Republic in the coming months will satisfy even the most demanding audience. Great attention will be paid this year to the Czech native Gustav Mahler in connection with the 150th anniversary of his birth, while compositions of other greats will of course be heard as well. Each festival will have a truly varied programme, due also to the fact that in the Czech Republic classical music is often combined with other music genres.

International music festival Prague Spring (12 May-4 June 2010)

The work of Gustav Mahler will form one of the foundations of the festival's 65th year, while it should also be mentioned that a song cycle from the work of the composer's wife, Alma Mahler, will be presented as well. The two-year celebrations of the 120th anniversary of Bohuslav Martinů's birth also will culminate during the festival. Even before the official opening on May 9, people can look forward to a performance by the famous British ensemble The English Baroque Soloists and The Monteverdi Choir conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner. Other prominent celebrities include the world renowned violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, one of the most notable singers of today - Matthias Goerne, the conductors Herbert Blomstedt and Pierre Boulez, the conductor and pianist André Previn, as well as jazz singer Dianne Reeves. All this is yours to enjoy in a beautiful city whose entire historical centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

International music festival The music of thousands Mahler Jihlava (18 May-7 July 2010)

The 9th year of this festival, The Music of Thousands Mahler Jihlava 2010, is being held entirely under the banner of the Mahler jubilee celebrations. The organisers are placing greater emphasis on Mahler's orchestral works, with works of other composers being in the minority this year. Concerts will take place not only in Jihlava but also in Pelhřimov, Třebíč and Kaliště near Humpolec, and listeners can look forward to top Czech and foreign performers. On the jubilee day (7 July), a concert by one of the festival's stars, the renowned baritone Thomas Hampson, will be held in Gustav Mahler's house of birth in Kaliště near Humpolec. Other illustrious names include, for example, the mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková.

International music festival Janacek may (24 May - 13 June 2010)

In addition to Ostrava, Opava, Frýdek Místek and other Moravian towns also will host concerts. During this festival, as well, organisers will remind the audience of Mahler's important anniversary. What else can visitors expect? The festival's 35th year will be literally crammed with many fine concerts from the works of Bohuslav Martinů, Antonín Dvořák, Bandedřich Smetana, as well as compositions of other world greats. The programme includes 25 concerts altogether and will even feature various music genres and spoken word. The festival will feature a number of eminent personalities, including the phenomenal pianist Garrick Ohlsson and the world famous composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki, to name but two.

Smetana's Litomysl international opera festival (11 June-5 July 2010)

The centre of festival events is the magnificent premises of the UNESCO-listed Litomyšl Castle. The current 52nd year will host artists from the three largest Czech opera houses - the National Theatre Prague, the State Opera Prague and the National Theatre Brno. The audience can expect to see, for example, The Bartered Bride, Tosca and The Magic Flute. The theme of celebrations of the 700th anniversary since John of Luxembourg's accession to the Czech throne runs through the entire festival. This will be commemorated by, among others, the Luxembourg chamber orchestra Les Musiciens. Smetana's Limomyšl also will commemorate the jubilees of other influential composers. In addition to Mahler's jubilee, this year will mark 200 years since the birth of Frédéric Chopin and organisers also will commemorate Jacques Offenbach and Bohuslav Martinů.

Prague Proms international music festival (26 June-22 July 2010)

Even the name itself hints at the idea of the whole project. After all, "PROMS" stands for PROMENADES, and thus within the festival you may promenade from genre to genre and from concert to concert. This 6th year can once again boast names that grace world stages, the prominent example being the soprano Tiziana Fabbricini. The star of Prague Proms will be the film music composer Lalo Schifrin, who has composed music for dozens of Hollywood films and television series. In Prague, he will conduct a concert of the Czech National Symphonic Orchestra entitled Jazz Meets Symphony. The festival also will commemorate the music of the Beatles, Michael Kamen and Gustav Mahler and will feature jazz concerts as well.

International music festival Český Krumlov (16 July-21 August 2010)

This summer music show takes place in another UNESCO town, Český Krumlov. The festival offers a wide spectrum of music of various genres from the 15th to the 21st century performed by prominent Czech and foreign artists. This year will feature performances by 3 symphony orchestras, 12 chamber orchestras and ensembles, and over 20 artists from all over the world. There will also be a traditional opera performance which the audience will enjoy from the unique Revolving Auditorium in the chateau garden. The biggest stars of the festival's 19th year will undoubtedly include the world-famous tenor José Cura, violinists Gidon Kremer and Pavel Šporcl, jazz trumpeter James Morrison and musical singers from American Broadway.

Eva Tajanovská

CzechTourism, tajanovska@czechtourism.cz

The Prague Congress Centre (Feb 9 & 10) and Brno’s Janáčkovo Theatre (Feb 7 & 8) will witness a stunning show given by a troupe of Japanese drummers.

The YAMOTO troupe, who play traditional Japanese Wadaiko drums, have been touring the world for more than 10 ten years. Since its formation the troupe has given over 1,000 performances in Asia, Europe and America to more than a million people. During the breathtaking show, which blends drumming with traditional Japanese music and costume, several original Japanese drums are used (including the Odaiko made from a huge 400 year-old tree).

This year the whole world is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. January 12 2006 saw the beginning of a project comprising almost 250 concerts, operas, exhibitions and music festivals, which are being staged from January until December 2006 as part of the Mozart Prague 2006 project.

The Mozart Prague 2006 Association is made up of 17 institutions and companies. Thanks to support from the City of Prague it has been possible to organise this huge project which has been financed solely by the individual organisations and institutions.

An important event at the beginning of the year was the Gala concert which took place January 27, the day of what would have been Mozart’s 250th birthday, at the Estates Theatre. A live transmission from the concert was included in the world-wide ‘24 hours Mozart’ project and broadcast via the EBU network.

May 12 saw the beginning of the prestigious Prague Spring International Music Festival, which this year included some great performances of Mozart’s work.

We recommend the following events which are yet to take place as part of the Mozart Prague 2006 project:
22. 10. 2006, 19.30, Estates Theatre
Strings of Autumn
Don Juan in Prague
Agon Orchestra
Iva Bittová – Donna Elvíra
Adaptation and director: David Chambers
Arrangement and digital music: Matthew Suttor
Assistant conductor: Marko Ivanovič
Set: Darcy Scanlin
Costumes: Irina Kruzhilina
Video projection: Peter Flaherty
Conductor: David Levi
This modern adaptation of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni preserves Mozart’s original score and Da Ponte’s libretto while using digital technology – computer-generated music, graphics and video. A string quintet (made up of members of the Agon Orchestra) take part in the performance on the stage with the music they play digitally altered. This is a co-production between the National Theatre and The Brooklyn Academy of Music.

2. 11. – 26. 11. 2006 – THE PRAGUE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ME
Exhibition
The focal point of the exhibition, which will take place at the Clementinum, is the collection of priceless period hand-written copies and printed editions of Mozart’s works. Efforts to preserve Mozart’s memory at the Clementinum include bringing the collection to life, further development of the collection and adding to the body of knowledge about Mozart and his works including recording documents relating to Mozart accessible here and abroad. This is and has been the work of the Mozart Memorial, founded in 1837, 4 years before the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg.

21. 11. 2006 – 28. 1. 2007 – Mozart’S PRAGUE
Exhibition
This exhibition will take place at the Clam-Gallas Palace and serve as the climax to the celebrations to mark the 250 anniversary of Mozart’s birth. It will show the composer’s relationship to the capital of the Czech lands and its inhabitants; It will remember the ovations which the great composer enjoyed in Prague, but also the period context of the city’s cultural life, in particular in the fields of music and theatre, the major personalities of the time and other events of the period, such as the coronation of Leopold II. It is symbolic that the exhibition, set to end January 27 2007, Mozart’s birthday, is taking place at the Clam-Gallas Palace, a place closely associated with one of Mozart’s visits to Prague.

2. 12. 2006 – MOZART GALA CONCERT
At the large hall in the Prague Congress Centre a concert will take place featuring a selection of the best-known arias and choir pieces from Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, The Marriage of Figaro, La clemenza di Tito, Don Giovanni, Lucio Silla, The Magic Flute, Così fan tutte and Thamos, the King of Egypt in a grand song, choir and visual show. It will be performed by: Dagmar Pecková, Ivan Kusnjer, Alexandra Spurná, The Prague Chamber Choir and The Czech Chamber Philharmonic. Conductor – Vojtěch Spurný.

14. 12. 2006 – GALA Concert
Prague was the only city to bid Mozart farewell with a mass which took place at the Church of St Nicholas in the Malá Strana District December 14, 1791. Four thousand people came to pay their last respects to Mozart. At a concert 14. 12. 2006, the following Mozart works will be performed: Symphony No. 30 in D major, Bella ia fiamma - concert aria, Ch´io mi scordi di te? – for soprano, piano and orchestra and Symphony No. 39 in E major. Performed by: Eva Urbanová, The Prague Symphonic Orchestra, Conductor – Jiří Kout.

Just from this short list of the most interesting events taking place it is obvious that the second half of 2006 will feature some great performances of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.


More information:
press@mozartprague2006.cz
www.mozartpraha2006.cz
www.mozartprague2006.com