PROGRAMME OF JANÁČEK AND LUHAČOVICE FESTIVAL

Monday, 15 July 2019

After successful premiere of his first opera “The Brandenburgers in Bohemia”, Bedřich Smetana decided to compose a national opera. He set a task to create a new type of comic opera, trying to give it a full national character. Along with Karel Sabina, a writer, they chose a topic based on Sabina’s humoristic novel Eternal Groom. The story begins in a Czech village, where Jeník and Mařenka live, two young people loving each other. However Mařenka is to marry a son of a rich landowner Mícha, to whom her father owes a debt. The journey to the final form of the opera was however very long. Smetana was calling his opera a “toy”, but the work has gone through a complicated creative process. The composer had been trying to find the optimum form of some musical scenes for a long time. The Bartered Bride is the most often staged Czech comic opera.

Tuesday, 16 July 2019

Julie Svěcená is considered as one of the most talented promising young violinists. She is the winner of the international radio contest “Concertino Praga”, she performed many concerts in Europe, Asia and USA. Julie Svěcená had solo performances for example with the Symphonic Orchestra of the Czech Radio, Chamber Orchestra from Lausanne or Plzeň Philharmonic. In August 2017, Julie was awarded with 3rd Prize at the Tibor Varga International Violin Contest in Switzerland. She cooperated with prominent musicians of the world, such as Semyon Bychkov, Gabor Taka´cs-Nagy, Sir Mark Elder, Trevor Pinnock, Y. P. Tortelier and others. Recently Julie Svěcená has graduated from Royal Academy of Music in London, where she continues her postgraduate studies with Professor Rodney Friend.

Chamber orchestra Virtuosi Pragenses was founded by the prominent Czech violin virtuoso and conductor Libor Hlaváček in 1970. The members of this renowned musical ensemble are the top Prague musicians. Reviewers best appreciate their sense of music, cultivated sound and precise performance of the compositions.

Besides the extensive domestic concert activity, including performance in the Prague Spring Festival, the orchestra has performed on the eminent foreign stages, cooperates with the leading domestic and foreign soloists, and made a great number of radio and TV recordings of the highest artistic quality. The chamber orchestra’s repertoire includes all outstanding works, from baroque to the 20th century music.

Wednesday, 17 July 2019

Moravian Chamber Choir was established at the beginning of 1998, following up the rich traditions of choir singing in Ostrava region, and the professional artistic standard of Ostrava Philharmonic Choir. MCC is a mixed singing ensemble, whose forty fundamental members include renowned singers from professional choirs and semi-professional associations.

The flute player Simona Pingitzer comes from Bratislava, and belongs among the most distinctive personalities of the young artistic generation. Since 2009 she has been the first flute player of the Prague Symphonic Orchestra (FOK). Since the concert season 2013-2014, Simona has been the first flute player in the Slovak Philharmonic. She also performs as a soloist and chamber player, and since 2016 she has also been working as a flute pedagogue at the conservatoire in Bratislava.

During her studies, Simona took part in master performance workshops led by such prominent musicians as Jean-Claude Gérard, Carlo Jans, Peter-Lukas Graf, Gaby Pas-Van Riet, Felix Renggli, Wally Hase, Marianne Henkel, Carine Levine, Ladislav Brunner, Vincent Cortvrint or Václav Kunt, and she actively participated in both domestic and foreign competitions, where she won many prizes.

As a soloist, she performed with renowned orchestras, and in her chamber performance, she collaborated with leading string quartets and ensembles. She was a member and cofounder of Nielsen Wind Quintet. In 2014, Simona Pingitzer was a jury member at the international competition Concertino Praga. In 218, she recorded the Flute and Orchestra Concerto by Alexander Moyzes for Slovak Radio, accompanied by the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Suk Chamber Orchestr was established in 1974, i.e. in the year of 100th anniversary of Josef Suk’s (1874-1935) birthday. Until 2000, the composer’s grandson, the violinist Josef Suk was the artistic leader of the orchestra. He assigned the artistic leadership to the violinist Martin Kos, a concert master and soloist of Suk Chamber Orchestra.

The programme structure of the concerts is rich, dramaturgically colourful, and the response to both domestic and foreign concerts is extraordinarily positive among professional public. Success of any artist is usually measured by the number of performances abroad, performances at prominent festivals and musical recordings. Only a few Czech orchestras have so rich itinerary of tours. In 2002, Suk Chamber Orchestra was the first Czech orchestra performing in the city of Incas – Cusco. The same primacy they had in the Philippines. In 2002, Suk Chamber Orchestra was awarded with the prestigious “Antonín Dvořák Prize” for propagating the tradition of the Czech performing art, for sound recordings, and many years of representation of the Czech Republic abroad.

Thursday, 18 July 2019

Prague Cello Quartet is a unique Czech ensemble of four cellists, offering concert shows that include not just pieces by famous masters of chamber music, but also popular movie scores, or jazz, pop and rock hits. All that is performed in original versions for four cellos and their players. PCQ strive to introduce classical music to listeners of all ages, and to simultaneously entertain and inspire the audience. They share jokes, gags and surprising adaptations of less traditional pieces in their concerts.

Friday, 19 July 2019

Barbara Maria Willi studied in Freiburg and Strasbourg –harpsichord and fortepiano, and historical performance practice at Mozarteum v Salzburg, and graduated in 1995. In the same year she was awarded with “Prix d’encouragement – special mention” prize at the International Harpsichord Competition in Bruges. In 2002, the doctor title was conferred upon her by the Department of Philosophy of Masaryk University in Brno for her thesis “About Figured Bass Style in 17th Century“. Now she works as an associate professor at Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno. As a dramaturge, Barbara Maria collaborates with Concentus Moraviae festival. As a top harpsichord player she cooperated with such artists as Magdalena Kožená, Martina Janková, Erich Hoeprich, Erich Hoebarth, Sergio Azzolini, Christian Leiterer, etc. Barbara Maria Willi performs concerts on prominent stages, such as Zürich Opera, Konzerthaus in Viena, philharmonics in Krakow, Essen, Wroclav, at Bratislava castle, or in Rudolfinum Prague. She established Visegrad Baroque Orchestra and a baroque ensemble Capella Apollinis. Her recordings (“Intrada di Polcinelli”, “Salve mater”) have been awarded with numerous prizes (prize of German music reviewers, choc du monde de musique, “CD of the Month” of “Harmonie” and “Klassik Heute” magazines). The television broadcast from Concentus Moraviae festival, where she performed along with mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená and contra tenor Thierry Grégoir, has been awarded with the prestigious prize for the best TV concert recording at Golden Prague 2000 festival. In 2002, she became a dramaturge of the 7th International Music Festival of 13 cities – Concentus Moraviae, which was the largest event in the field of ancient music in Central Europe. Along with C.E.M.A. agency, she established a new series of ancient music concerts in Brno under the name “Barbara Maria Willi presents…”

In 1960, Slovak Chamber Orchestra was established as a part of the Slovak Philharmonic. Bohdan Warchal (1930-2000), an excellent violin player of Silesian origin was one of the founders. Since its establishment, the orchestra has become of the most popular ensembles performing classical music in Slovakia.

The Slovak Chamber Orchestra participated in prominent music festivals, and performed at the most prestigious stages in the world - in Europe, South and North America, Australia and Asia, cooperating with leading performers. Bohdan Warchal in the position of an Artistic Director had been leading the orchestra for 40 years. During a gala concert held on the occasion of 40th anniversary of the Slovak Chamber Orchestra he said his wish was that Ewald Danel, of Silesian origin too, would become his follower. So Ewald Danel became the Artistic Director in January 2001.

After completing his studies of violin playing and conducting at the Academy of Music in Ostrava and Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, Ewald Danel was working as a concert master in the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and in the Slovak National Theatre orchestra. Since 1985 he has been a concert master in the Slovak Philharmonics, with which he also cooperates as a soloist and a conductor. Ewald performed at many concert halls in many European and overseas countries (Japan, Korea, Egypt, Panama, Brazil, USA). In addition to conducting and soloist activities, working with various orchestras and performing in solo recitals, he has a rich experience also in chamber music, particularly acquired as the first violinist of the Slovak Quartet since 1986, and since 1987 as a co-founder of the Slovak Piano Trio. Ewald Danel participated in establishing Kubín Quartet, and for several years he has also been performing in the Musica Aeterna Ensemble. Ewald Danel takes part in various projects in chamber ensembles in his homeland and also abroad. In 2012, he won Sebastian Award for extraordinary contribution to the legacy of J. S. Bach.