WHEN SMETANA PLAYED IN BRNO FOR THE FIRST TIME...

One of the first major musical events in the newly opened Besední dům was a concert organized on June 16, 1873, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Josef Jungmann, at which Bedřich Smetana presented himself as a composer and pianist. The program of the concert reflected the contemporary practice of longer evenings than we are used to today, in addition to the protagonist's piano numbers, it also included vocal entries (opera arias, choral pieces, folk songs) and the concert was followed by "conversational music", i.e. background music for social entertainment .

GEORG FRIEDRICH HÄNDEL Air with variations from Suite E major HWV 430
FRYDERYK CHOPIN Nocturne in G major op. 37 No. 2
BEDŘICH SMETANA Remembrance of Bohemia in the form of poles op.12
FRANZ LISZT Rigoletto, concert paraphrase on themes from Giuseppe Verdi's opera
...and other piano compositions, arias from operas and choral works

Igor Ardashev piano
Pavla Vykopalová soprano
male choir True love and others
Choirmaster Jan Špaček