An Orchestra Made of Voices
What if you want to gather an orchestra but have no instruments? There is still a chance – make up a choir! Opus Osm writer (and opera fan) Lucie Rohanová explains all. The April 23 Rozkvět (“Flowering” of Prague Spring lecture-concert) led us through the world of choir singing, its history, practice, division, and matters of interest. In addition to the traditional lecturer Pavel Trojan Jr, the other guide of…
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Two Composers on Two Strings
How do you write a piece of music for a two-stringed, plastic instrument that looks like a mixture of ironing board and spaceship? Composer Jakub Rataj and his composition teacher Hanuš Bartoň explain… “Before I started to think about writing a piece for the raketon,” Jakub Rataj tells Opus Osm, “I had a concept for a composition for a solo instrument and orchestra: The solo instrument gives a musical impulse…
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‘Hearing’ a Film
Have you seen the delicate and pleasantly quiet movie, My Life without Me (2003)? And would you like to hear it – if it was music? You have a probably once-in-a-lifetime chance, at the May 19 Czech premiere of the composition of the same name by Miroslav Srnka (b. 1975), an internationally active Czech composer. Mr. Srnka studied both musicology (now a regular guest at his alma mater, Charles University,…
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Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra: Renewing Vows
‘Renewing vows’ sounds like something for a wedding. But why not? A wedding – as well as two anniversaries – are perfectly fine premises for a musical celebration. On May 18, the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra celebrates the 90th anniversary of the start of Czechoslovakian Radio broadcasting, and the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Artists Association (Umělecká Beseda). Conducted by Ondřej Lenárd with Igor Ardašev on piano, the…
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Meet Mr Ježek
Jaroslav Ježek was the son of a tradesman and had little formal musical training. Yet he was granted admission to the Prague Conservatory and was one of their most talented students. And you’ll run across many influences from his short but not completely tragic life. For example, Ježek’s Dark Blue World is a jazz composition whose name was borrowed for the 2001 film about Czech pilots serving in the British…
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Did You Say ‘American’ Spring?
Classical festivals of all sizes and flavors are springing up now that Spring has returned to the Czech Republic. But do you know about one of the newer ones, The American Spring? This International Dvořák Society festival takes classical music performances and presentations “on the road,” bringing American and Czech performers not only to Prague, but mainly to the small towns and villages across the Republic. That includes cities like…
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Visits Inside the Spotlight
Those of us who go to performances and always sit on the dark side of the hall have a unique chance to share the warmth of the spotlight. A little. Prague offers three annual events that are billed like regular performances. But after going to them, you might have noticed that these were somehow just a little different … special … with a unique kind of warmth. That’s because the…
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Prague Spring International Music Festival, No 68
The most difficult part of the music? Deciding which concerts to attend. The 68th edition of Prague’s internationally-renowned music festival officially begins with the traditional opening concert May 12 (see Opus Osm, Apr 25). But even before that, an extra concert featuring no less than the Berlin Philharmonic, conduced by Sir Simon Rattle, will be added to the concert schedule. The performance, with soloist mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kožená, will be held…
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Preview: A French Twist at Prague Spring
Sixteen of 44 concerts at this year’s Prague Spring music festival have a French connection. That’s why the first press conference took place recently at the French Institute in Prague, an institution with long tradition of Czech–French cooperation, and with the participation of H. E. Pierre Lévy, the French ambassador in Prague. So let us go briefly through the most interesting of the “French” programs. It starts right with the…
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A Black Belt in Music
Do You Deserve a Black Belt in Music Appreciation? You could, thanks to the Japanese “belt” system of rewarding expertise. The online computer game site for music training, Theta Music Trainer, rewards digital color-belts according to players’ scores. Each player begins with a white belt (Levels 0-9) and progresses through nine more belt colors by clearing game levels, all the way to the black belt (Level 700+). All the games…
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French Charm in Prague Spring
Charming and Rosy – that was ‘Rozkvět’s’ foretaste of the French flavor in this year’s Prague Spring Music Festival. A foretaste of this year’s Prague Spring festival was on offer at the March 18 “Rozkvět,” the “flowering of Prague Spring” — free, public lecture-concerts. This one was entitled “French Charm in Music.” And it was a charming evening indeed. The first part was dedicated to Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632-1687) – yes,…
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30 Looks at 69.857142857
The Producers of Edge, all in their 30s, work with the cast of 69.857142857 – that’s the average age of the seven performers. Krzysztof Raczkowski, a ballet dancer/actor, is the youngest one. He’s only 59. At the other end of the age scale, Martin Bálik, a set designer and narrator, is 84. And the rest of the lively cast of still young, so-called “old agers” are professionally-trained dancers with long…
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Going for Baroque
Prague Conservatory Inaugurates a ‘Most Adorable Little Organ on Wheels’ The Prague Conservatory of Music has begun a new tradition of the teachers performing concerts together with their students. Such was the case with the inaugural concert for the school’s new Baroque organ, with Jakub Kydlíček conducting the student Baroque Ensemble Feb 28. This small, single-manual, single-pedal instrument is designed for interpretation especially of Baroque music. And everyone seemed to…
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Youth Leader
He wanted to conduct, so he formed an orchestra. He’s 25. If you see Chuhei Iwasaki walking down the street with his friends, he looks like any other lively Czech student, except he’s rather slender, and from Japan. Before a concert at The Dvořák Museum, he goofs around with his friends, straightening one boy’s necktie, joking with the girls, checking his mobile and stashing it in a pocket. But when…
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Orpheus and Eurydice: Keeping It Simple
‘It is ridiculous to prolong the sentence “I love you” with a hundred notes when nature has restricted it to three.’ That’s what librettist Ranieri Calzabigi (1714-1795) believed, and his colleague, Czech composer Christoph Willibald Gluck (1714-1787) agreed. Together, they became style-makers of the opera world by eventually throwing out old, fussy, and complicated conventions. The beginnings of this trend can be seen in their opera Orpheus and Eurydice, which…
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Play with the Dream Team
Her dream of a weekend for all ages, styles, and abilities of harp players will come true for teacher Jana Műllerová Jouzová Apr 12-14. “After many years of teaching and organizing lots of concerts only for my pupils and students,” Mrs Jouzová tells Opus Osm, “I decided finally to try to fulfill my long-time dream to start a group meeting and concert for young harp players from all across the…
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