Press release
5th INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL
SUMMER FESTIVITIES OF EARLY MUSIC
under the auspices of
the Mayor of the City of Prague Pavel Bém
and the Mayor of the District of Prague 1 Vladimír Vihan
Prague, 9 July – 6 August 2004
The festival is a part of the project Czech music 2004.
Bohemia and Europe
The 5th international music festival Summer Festivities of Early Music is going to take place from 9 July to 6 August 2004. It is organised by a cultural and educational institution Collegium Marianum – Týnská Higher School and the City of Prague as co-organiser.
The aim of Summer Festivities of Early Music is to enrich today‘s cultural life with the music of previous centuries. The concert repertories feature high-quality works which have been hidden from the audience and are thus performed in their modern premieres. The attempt of the festival is to spread awareness of European music history by means of emsembles of historical instruments. One of the valued strengths of the festival is the location of the concerts in Prague‘s unique historical halls. Experience has shown that such locations and their acoustics make for the singular atmosphere that is created by playing early music on period instruments. The audience‘s interest in previous years has shown that in the short time of their existence, the Summer Festivities of Early Music have become an inherent component of Prague‘s summer music scene and in a way even an event with international reputation that helps the City of Prague to be ranked a significant European cultural centre.
Taking into account this year‘s celebration of Czech music the festival programming has focused on works of old Czech masters, which are going to be shown in their European context. Top international and Czech artists privy to the principles of period interpretation are going to present works of the artists whose anniversaries we are to celebrate this year: J. D. Zelenka, F. I. Tůma, Fr. X. Richter, H. I. F. Biber and B. M. Černohorský. Their works are going to be presented alongside works of important European authors that were active in Bohemia or whose works have reached our country and are present in Czech archives (A. Corelli, A. Lotti, A. Vivaldi, J. J. Fux etc.).
The nature of the festival also reflects the multinational character of musical Europe of the previous centuries. Therefore the audience is going to be given the chance to compare how Czech music is perceived by Czech musicians and international ones, how Italians interpret Italian music, the Austrians their music, etc. It is definitely going to be interesting to hear the “jewels of Kroměříž archives”, written by a Czech, a German, an Austrian and an Italian presented by a Belgian ensemble, or to listen to Biber’s Rosary sonatas written in Salzburg as they are going to be interpreted by an Englishman. The presentation of multinational musical Europe is going to be crowned by the final concert where the Baroque Orchestra of the European Union is going to present the works of a Czech, two Germans, a Frenchman and a Germanized Frenchman.
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The opening concert on 9 July in the Troja Chateau is going to present arias from secular cantatas and operas of the Venetian “red priest” Antonio Vivaldi dedicated to a male high-pitch voice – castratos then, countertenors nowadays. This virtuoso part is going to be sung by the rising star singer French countertenor Philipp Jaroussky with the ensemble l´Artaserse.
The concert Grandi maestri on 11 July in Dvoøák Hall in Rudolfinum promises a unique experience. The star of the concert, where the works by various international artists are going to be performed by an ensemble of international musicians, will definitely be the Dutch bass Peter Kooij, a specialist on the vocal works of Johann Sebastian Bach and his contemporaries. These have been chosen for the Prague concert: the Dresden composer of church music and one of the most famous musicians of his times Jan Dismas Zelenka, the master of instrumental concertos and vocal music Antonio Vivaldi and another Venetian Antonio Lotti, who worked in Dresden for two years alongside with Zelenka. The concert is going to be topped by the rendering of Bach‘s spiritual cantata “Ich habe genug“ where the famous baroque oboe player Martin Stadler is also going to star. The outstanding German violinist Anton Steck has studied the concert with the Collegium Marianum ensemble.
This year we celebrate the 300th anniversary of the death of Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644 – 1704), born in Stráž pod Ralskem. Biber was one of the most notable violinists of the 17th century and a significant composer – especially the author of technically demanding and improvisationally inventive violin sonatas which are even today the core part of the repertory of top violinists. He was in the service of the Kroměříž bishop and the Salzburg archbishop and thanks to his violin mastery he was ennobled by Emperor Leopold I and given the “von” mark of nobility. The renowned British violinist Andrew Manzee alongside the harpsichord player Richard Egarr aregoing to present Biber‘s Rosary sonatas in the Theresian Hall of the Břevnov monastery on 12 July.
Italy in the 17th and 18th centuries was an inexhaustible treasury of musical styles and repertoire and it influenced musical development in all of Europe. Even the Czech Lands, which lacked their own musical centre at that time, had connections to Italy through Vienna, some noblemen and church orders. Many aristocrats showed interest in Italian musical novelties and they were in contact for example with Italians employed at the emperor‘s court, or they invited Italian personalities for short-term visits to Bohemia (e.g. Tartini, Tessarini, Albrici, Lotti and Vivaldi). The concert programme La Suave Melodia is composed of works by famous as well as less-known Italian artists of the 17th – 18th centuries and offers a representative choice of Italian vocal and instrumental repertory. At the same time the authors of the compositions are going to introduce us to all important Italian musical centres of those times: Vivaldi Venice, Corelli and Kapsberger Rome, Rossi, Cazzati and Scarani Mantua, Falconieri and Ortiz Naples, Storace Messina and Ucellini Parma. The listeners can look forward to 13 July to the courtyard of Nostic Palace to hear the riveting performance of the Austrian ensemble Oman Consort. The richness of the bass section (harpsichord, viola da gamba, colascione, baroque guitar and theorbo) lets the specific sound of the recorder which is mastered with bravado by the artistic director Michael Oman stand out.
The concert Music of Kings is dedicated to the lovers of medieval music. Spanish music as it was played at European courts from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance is going to be presented there, such as troubadour songs, traditional Andalusian music, ballads and romances. The Spanish ensemble Mudéjar plays unique medieval instruments restored after extensive research both in Europe and the Arabic world – e.g. psalterium, quanún, the Arabic lute, viheula da arco or viuela de mano. The artistic director Begoña Olavide has gained international recognition as virtuoso on psalterium. The concert is going to take place on 17 July in the St. Martin in the Wall church at Staré Město (the Old Town).
The Czech Lands of the 18th and 19th centuries did not have either a distinct centre or big aristocratic courts that would provide Czech musicians with quality employment. Many monastic orders provided them with exquisite musical education but they had to seek a use for it elsewhere. Thus a large number of good musicians searched for employment in Vienna or outside the Austrian monarchy. This way LeopoldKoželuh and Vojtěch Jírovec made Czech music famous in Vienna, František Bendain Berlin and Potsdam, František Xaver Richter in Mannheim and Jan Ladislav Dusík all over Europe from England to Russia. The classicist piano trio Capella Apollinis is going to present the works of these Czech masters on 20 July.
The performance “Chess” by the renowned Polish poet Jan Kochanowski is going to represent an ideal connection of dance, pantomime and the spoken word. A poem about chess has become the optimal basis for this original performance. Using the technique of renaissance dance with original choreographies of the 16th century in Italian and French style, the performance shows scenes in the period convention, introducing thus the specific character of the court ballet. Expressive scenes from a game of chess accompanied by fanciful costumes and masks enable the spectators to enter the fairy-tale world of chess. The presence of the spoken word in the recited passages alongside the period music enliven the show which depicts Kochanowski’s work in all forms of art. The outstanding Polish dance company Ardente Sole is going to play the performance on the open-air stage in the courtyard of the Nostic Palace under the direction of Pawel Winsczyk and with the choreography of Romana Agnel.
The last big festival of baroque Bohemia was the celebration of the canonization of St. Jan of Nepomuk in 1729 whose 275th anniversary we are celebrating this year. The whole world could envy Prague and the whole Czech nation its status connected with the veneration of the new saint, who had become a national and international symbol.Such a unique festival was crowned by many (monastic) order plays based on Jan of Nepomuk’s life and deeds. Part of the play from 1729 named Fama Sancta with dramatic scenes, accompanied by the sounds of trumpets, processional songs, sermons and Šimon Brixi’s music is going to be performed on 25 July under Blažena Hončarivová’s direction in the courtyard of and in the church of Jan of Nepomuk at Hradčany.
Most composers of today‘s programme were connected by their origin or career to the Central European region, the majority of which was under the Habsburg rule in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its main centres are represented here by J. J. Fux, A. Caldara, F. I. A. Tůma (Vienna) and J. Brentner (Prague), the Hungarian part of the Habsburg monarchy is represented by the duke Pál Esterházy. Close to the border of the monarchy, Dresden was a great treasury of repertory and it is represented by the music of J. A. Hasse and J. D. Zelenka. Another noteworthy personality from the Habsburg empire was the Czech B. M. Černohorskýwho worked in Italy. Hungarian artists, namely the soprano Noémi Kiss and the ensemble Affetti Musicali, are going to play the spiritual works of these composers in concert on 28 July.
The programme of the concert of Bohemia medievalis concentrates on the repertory that mirrors the identity of home tradition of liturgical chants. Schola Gregoriana Pragensis conducted by the artistic director David Eben is going to perform the chants dedicated to Czech saints St. Wenceslas, St. Adalbert and St. Ludmilla and to other saints who enjoyed great respect in Bohemia, then we are to hear the repertory connected with mariolatry that came to Bohemia in the 14th century. King Charles IV and the Prague archbishop Arnošt from Pardubice were also devout Maria worshippers. The late medieval tradition of celebrating the festival of Corpus Christi, the main theme of which is the veneration paid to the Eucharist, is going to be revived in the relevant chants. The concert is going to take place on 29 July in St. George‘s Basilica at Prague Castle.
The concert on 31 July is going to take us to Kroměříž of the times of Bishop Karel Liechtenstein-Castelcorno (1664-1695). He formed there an ensemble whose quality and repertory were beyond compare in the Czech Lands of the 17th century. The ensemble was formed by the trumpeter and Jesuit pupil Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, the great violinist and composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber was employed there for two years. The collection of the works in the ensemble’s repertory has been preserved and is a unique representative source of works of mostly Italian and Viennese authors, including Schmelzer and Bertali. The proof of high quality of the compositions from the Kroměříž archives is the incessant interest of both Czech and foreign musicologists and musicians in their revival. It is certainly going to be interesting to discover the hidden treasures in the interpretation of foreign artists. The listeners can look forward to thetop-ranking performance of the Belgian vocal ensemble Currende and the Dutch instrumental ensemble In Stil Moderno conducted by Erik Van Nevel in the Church of St. Simon and Juda.
The European character of the final concert Harmony of Nations is going to be presented in the international set-up of both the Baroque Orchestra of the European Union conducted by the outstanding conductor Lars Ulrik Mortensen and the repertory. The latter is composed of works of Czech, German and French composers whose biographies and careers include Europeanism in today’s sense of the word. Each of them worked at various positions which altogether include almost the whole European region. J. D. Zelenka left Prague for Dresden, G. F. Händel spent his youth in Italy, later on he left Hannover for London, G. Ph. Telemann‘s musical style mixes features of Italian and French music and he himself often traveled to Paris from his German whereabouts. The Frenchman M. A. Charpentier studied in Rome and was influenced by Italian music, G. Muffat worked in his German homeland, but also in Paris and Salzburg. The festive concert is going to take place on 6 August in the Knight‘s Hall of Valdštejnský (Wallenstein) Palace.
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The 5th year of the festival is organised with the kind support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic, the Czech-German Fund of Future, the Flemish Government, the Embassy of the Low Countries, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport of Spain, the Embassy of Spain, The British Council, the French Cultural Institute in Prague, the Sablé Festival, the Polish Institute in Prague, the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague, the Hungarian Cultural Centre, the Direction of Air Transportation Centre of the Czech Republic, the Škoda Auto, joint-stock co., the Raiffeisen Building Society, the Calamarus printing house, the Sprint Servis printing house, the Holiday Inn Prague Congress Centre, the Mövenpick Hotel, the Grand Hotel Bohemia Prague, the Hilton Hotel.
Media partners of the festival are: MEZZO – classic, jazz TV, Czech Radio 3 VLTAVA, Harmonie – the magazine for classical music, jazz and world music, Respekt, The Prague Post, Postgraduální medicína – specialized magazine for doctors, Věci veřejné (The Public Domain) and Přehled kulturních pořadů vPraze (Prague Cultural Listings).
Admission fee to concerts is 200 CZK, the events on 25 July and 6 August are for free, students receive a discount.
For further information about the festival please contact:
PhDr. Markéta Semerádová, festival director (+420-604208244)
Mgr. Daniela Furthnerová, production manager (+420-606466131)
e-mail:
The only festival of early music in Prague.