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The sixth year of New Opera Days Ostrava grew to a length of six days, thus running a little longer than usual: as if the festival wished to make up [...]

Contemporary Czech opera faces challenges in competing with other forms of entertainment and maintaining resources. The strong tradition of Czech opera dominates the musical landscape, but many operas are only presented once and may not meet global standards. However, exceptional productions like "Here I Am, Orlando" and "Quo vadis" explore themes of tolerance and totalitarianism. Festivals like Opera Nova and New Opera Days Ostrava provide platforms for both established and inexperienced composers, although they struggle to attract influential managers and promoters. Notable performances include "The Sell-Out," "Impact," and "Russolo's Bitter End," and upcoming premieres include "Malfunction on the Nautilus," "Small Bang," and world premieres by female composers at the Janáček Brno festival. [Extracted from the article]

Starting out as an oboe player in an operatic orchestra, Pavel Zemek Novak arrived at his own compositional style, one that programmatically renounces any external lustre. His compositions bear no [...]

THE LIFE OF CONDUCTOR KAREL ANCERL (1908-1973) WAS HEAVILY MARKED BY THE LIBERATED THEATRE (OSVOBOZENE DIVADLO), NAZI CONCENTRATION CAMPS, THE COMMUNIST DICTATORSHIP, AND, FINALLY, EMIGRATION. THE BIOGRAPHY OF ONE OF [...]

Mark' Ivanovic; Monument This year was so hard for artistic life that the Czech cultural scene will need years to recover. Among the postponed and irreversibly cancelled events, however, we [...]

'God, what a horrible noise! Give me some beautiful Schonberg...' This is one of the comments on a YouTube video which shows pianist Miroslav Beinhauer performing Alois Haba's Six Compositions for Sixth-tone Harmonium. These are the only solo works composed for this remarkable instrument, and despite the terrified commenter, they sound more soft than horrible, as Beinhauer emphasises. Haba finished the Six Compositions for Sixth-tone Harmonium or String Quartet op. 37 in 1928, but it was only this spring that the cycle was finally recorded--by Miroslav Beinhauer. In our interview, we spoke about his interest in Haba's music, the difficulties in moving from piano to a sixth-tone instrument, how long it takes to begin hearing mistakes in this unusual system, and the possibilities for the creation of modern compositions., How did you arrive at an interest in Haba's music, and what's more, in the most difficult part of his oeuvre? And why does a pianist begin learning to play [...]

One might not even have noticed that this year's Ostrava Days festival was the tenth anniversary edition. This biennial focusing on world and Czech premieres first took place in the [...]

Years ending with an 8 have a magical aura in the Czech Republic. 1918 saw the creation of an independent Czechoslovakia, while 1938 was the year in which crucial steps were taken towards its dissolution in the form of the Munich Agreement. Forty years of communist dictatorship began in 1948, while in 1968, the country was occupied by the armies of the Warsaw Pact. Among these crucial moments in history, 1928 is often forgotten - the year of Leos Janacek's death. Janacek is currently without a doubt the most successful operatic composer in the history of Czech music, and one of the most distinctive composers in the history of western music., For this reason, 2018 became The Year of Leos Janacek - at least for Czech Radio Vltava. In 2018, it will broadcast all nine of Janacek's operas, including the virtually [...]

A recording by a leading symphony orchestra, a chamber performance from a classical music festival, or a student piece for piano. All this and much, much more can be found [...]

Prague Modern is an ensemble that combines expert performance with a passion for contemporary works. In its ten years of activity, it has worked up to a level that invites comparison with any other ensemble. In the Czech context, Prague Modern is exceptional in that it regularly records for the Italian Stradivarious label. This is the home label of conductor and bassoonist Pascal Gallois, for which he records his solo albums, and to which he also brought Prague Modern., Pascal Gallois and Prague Modern first met back when the ensemble was still part of the PKF - Prague Philharmonia orchestra. Michel Swierczewski, who was principal conductor with the PKF [...]

The Czech music programme around the world has been mainly occupied by Leos Janacek's permanently staged operas and Dvorak's Rusalka, while more extraordinary was the staging of Viktor Ullmann's opera [...]

Founded in 2001 by the composer, conductor and flautist Petr Kotik, the biennial Ostrava Days festival has been part of Czech musical life for twelve years. This year's 7th edition [...]

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 2021 ISBN: 978-0190091262 (PRINT), 978-0190091286 (E-BOOK). 198 PAGES. A new book by musicologist Tereza Havelkova places opera in the context of contemporary media and the relationships of [...]

Alongside the John Cage 2012 festival in Washington DC, the Beyond Cage festival (21 October -7 November 2012) in New York City was undoubtedly the biggest project marking this year's [...]

Czech cellist Stepan Filipek and American pianist Katelyn Bouska first met at a contemporary music festival four years ago. In their joint projects, however, they aim to paint in much [...]

The article discusses the upcoming Uncertain Situations exhibition at the Prague City Gallery, which combines visual art and music. The exhibition, curated by Jitka Hlaváčková and prepared by Ian Mikyska, will feature both new works and installations, as well as some pieces from previous exhibitions. The concept behind the exhibition is to explore the interconnection between different artistic disciplines and capture their mutual meaning. The exhibition will take place at the Troja Château from May to November 2024 and will include objects from the GHMP collections, sound art, concerts, and music workshops. [Extracted from the article]

When did you hear microtonal music for the first time and how did you like it? I do not remember exactly. Early on in my career, I had an ensemble [...]

Festival Janáček Brno se minulý rok ocitl na vrcholu euforie, když získal cenu Opera Awards za nejlepší festival roku 2018. Pro letošní ročník se navíc podařilo získat ke spolupráci režisérskou špičku Roberta Carsena. Navzdory zmrzačenému veřejnému životu tohoto roku se festival propracoval do stavu, který stojí za krátké ohlédnutí i výhled do budoucnosti. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the music festival Ostrava Days 2017 in Ostrava, Czech Republic.

The article presents an interview with Sára Medková, a singer from Czech Republic. She informed how she felt after her first solo album was launched at the Prague Music Performance festival. She said that the album contains the composition Inside that she created with her husband Ivo Medek. She said that she prefer performing by heart to playing from the score.

The article focuses on music by Czech composers under forty. It mentions selection includes pieces by Matouš Hejl, Pavel Šabacký, Michal Indrák, Soňa Vetchá, and Jan Rösner; and also mentions two universities in the Czech Republic where one can study composition as a separate degree programme including Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.

A calendar of events related to Czech music in 2014 and 2015 is presented including the Viktor Ullmann: Fall of the Antichrist, the Pavel Zemek: Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra in Prague, Czech Republic and Leoš Janáček: From the House of the Dead in Berlin, Germany.

Pokud chcete poznat hudební Život v New Yorku, vyhraďte si na to nĕkolik let. Ve třech týdnech, kdy jsem tam byl, mĕstem prošel hurikán Sandy, snĕhová vánice a prezidentské volby. Kromĕ toho ale také festivaly Beyond Cage a Next Wave, inscenace současné opery Tempest v Metropolitní opeře a navštívil jsem pochopitelnĕ i koncert New York Philharmonic [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Velikonoční festival duchovní hudby zaznamenal proti minulým ročníkům řadu změn. Společně s dalšími dvěma ofi ciálními festivaly města Brna (Expozicí nové hudby a Moravským podzimem) byl svěřen Filharmonii Brno, což byl krok z mnoha důvodů pochopitelný a je spíš s podivem, že se tak nestalo dávno. Převedení festivalu od externí agentury k příspěvkové organizaci má určitě ekonomický efekt, fi nanční prostředky je možné vynakládat mnohem účelněji, než si za ně pronajímat městské prostory či orchestr, jak tomu bylo dosud. Mnohem důležitější ale je, že dostal příležitost daleko odvážnější dramaturgický přístup bez mechanického sledování tradice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Měl jsem během letošního roku, kdy vynikající basista Richard Novák oslavil osmdesáté narozeniny, štěstí být přítomen třem jeho vystoupením. Na jeho výkony je opravdu obtížné psát kritiku, pěvec je v neuvěřitelné duševní i fyzické formě. Pokud výšky přece jen místy nejsou už tak průrazné jako před dvaceti a více lety, zkušenosti, technické preciznosti a stylové vytříbenosti neubylo ani v nejmenším. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]