Portál Pražana
Dvořákova Praha International Music Festival promises two weeks of beautiful music
The twelfth year of one of the biggest festivals of classical music in the Czech Republic will welcome the famous conductors Zubin Mehta and Neeme Järvi. Top soloists, internationally recognised orchestras and chamber ensembles will also meet on stage. Dvořákova Praha International Music Festival takes place from the 8th to the 23rd of September.
Dvořákova Praha will once again offer two weeks full of beautiful music, star performers and extraordinary experiences. This year, the selection of works by Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer of international importance, will focus on his instrumental concerts. The festival will also feature the modern premiere of the first musical setting of Dvořák's early opera ‘King and Collier’ (‘Král a uhlíř’).
Young festival
The relatively young festival is one of the most visited festivals of its kind in the Czech Republic today. Between the years 2008 and 2018, more than 156 000 festival-goers visited 215 concerts.
Opening concert
The opening concert of this year's Dvořákova Praha festival promises a unique experience. On the 8th of September, the composer's famous Cello Concerto in B minor and the popular Symphony No. 8 in G major will be performed in Dvořák Hall in Rudolfinum.
The Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della Rai (Italian Radio and Television National Symphony Orchestra) will be led by the renowned conductor Christoph Eschenbach. Kian Soltani, 26-year-old Austrian cellist of Persian origin, and a very popular young musician, will be a soloist. The combination of breath-taking music and masterful interpretation will certainly be a great start to this year’s festival.
Programme series
The festival is dedicated to the whole legacy of Dvořák, so the programme is organised into several series. These are: Dvořák Collection, Chamber Series, On the Trail of Dvořák, Debut Day, and Spiritual Concert. In addition to Dvořák's most famous works, the festival also pays attention to the composer’s first decade of compositions. Thus, the festival will give you a better understanding of how Dvořák grew and developed musically. He will be portrayed in the context of his contemporaries, but also his predecessors and successors.
Concert venues
Concerts will take place in Prague in Rudolfinum (main concert venue), St. Agnes Convent (Chamber Series) and in St. Vitus Cathedral. In the Central Bohemian Region, concerts will take place in venues in places connected with the life and work of the composer (Lužany, Nelahozeves, Vysoká u Příbramě, Zlonice), as well as in the open air.
For further information, please visit the festival webpage: https://www.dvorakovapraha.cz/en/programme/accompanying-events/.