Articles
There are singers who have been connected with Brno for their entire career. Vladimír Tomš sang here during the first performance of the opera by Otakar Ostrčil, Honza's Kingdom, which was a major event in 1934, and then he just came back here to die. His artistic triumph and end shook hands in Brno. more
Let us sing together, but let us sing properly and without mistakes. If Brno and Moravia owes someone for its choir tradition and reputation, then it is Ferdinand Vach. more
She began to compose music already as a child, she had undeniable talent, during her short life, she won the acclaim of audiences and official recognition. The diminutive name Vitulka contradicts rather than resonates with confident orchestral compositions. more
Of all the Christian holidays, Christmas is the musically richest and it is usually hard on musicians. They are, however, not angry about it ; besides a certain extra income, Christmas music brings them an indefinable feeling of Christmas which takes them back to their childhood and can be experienced just once a year. Even the Bolshevik failed to eradicate this, no matter how hard he tried. Once, when there were comments from the region that members of the philharmonic organisation attend Christian churches during the holiday and serve black clericalism, the philharmonic officers voted (with calendars already full of Christmas ceremonies) that they will not even step inside a church this time – and then they watched, clenching their teeth, how their warm seats in the choir stalls were occupied by their colleagues from the opera where they did not take servility so seriously. more
Jan Skácel would most resolutely protest against the presence of his person in the gallery of musical figures from Brno which this commemorative series is supposed to be. Although raised in a family of teachers in Moravian Slovakia, he had a clear idea of his (non)musicality. You cannot talk about music to me, I have no ear for music, I do not listen to music and I do not understand it. Already in kindergarten in Poštorná, he stubbornly refused to sing with the other children and looked as obstinate then as he did his whole life (Janek will have a hard life, Mrs. Skácelová used to say about her elder son, he will not know how to deal with people as well as Petr). And at the time when he was thinking about a university career as an assistant at the newly-established faculty of education, he talked about musicological education with much scornfulness. more
“Mario’s” or “Ander’s” were not only visited by Brno cultural bohemians, poets; writers, painters, actors, but also by important figures from all other possible fields. In 1960 and 1970 it was almost a cult place, whose importance still awaits acknowledgement, contemporaries quickly leave this world. more
On Saturday 21 March 1953 a group of players of the then Symphonic Orchestra of the Brno region with the conductor Waldhans set off to their traditional first spring walk after one of the rehearsals; they spent afternoon in the hills overlooking Královo Pole and were on their way back to Černá Pole, they made a lot of stops and tried to say goodbye many times but unsuccessfully. Finally, one of them remembered that two of their colleagues were playing in a home quartet at the Hrubeš family that evening; we rang the doorbell of their basement flat in Helfertova street before midnight and started to congratulate the famous opera singer on the first spring night. The quartet was on their way home with their instruments but Eduard found other instruments in his collection, distributed them among the new guests (Waldhans was given a wooden spoon) and he made the ensemble play the whole Eine Kleine Nachtmusik by Mozart. more
The holiday series of Leoš Janáček’s texts Něco o hudbě brněnské (Something about music in Brno) will be concluded by his confession to the city where he spent the majority of his life. It is the year 1866 and Brno is occupied by the Prussian army...
Another part of the series of articles by Leoš Janáček about Brno singer associations is dedicated to the Slavonic singer association of Brno technicians “Zora”. more
I used to listen to Vilém Přibyl in the Janáček Theatre as a kid and he was one of the few singers who stayed in my memory into the future. He stayed in my head despite several years of a teenage break when opera completly left my life. I am not saying that I recognised his extraordinary abilities already as a child but I did not remember him due to an unusual costume or a non-musical event, so there must have been something about him. more
This November it will have been ninety years since the composition of the first of the two string quartets by Leoš Janáček. The composition, which is today a natural part of the international quartet repertoire, has a subtitle which is understood only by a few at first sight: Motivated by the Kreutzer Sonata by L. N. Tolstoy. The name of the Belgian violin virtuoso Rodolphe Kreutzer lives today in the collection of great etudes, which must be mastered by every professional violinist, and then in the said sonata, which however was not written by him, but by Beethoven – he dedicated it to him. Another Kreutzer Sonata was written by Tolstoy, not as a sonata but as a more extensive novel: In that, Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata is the literary motif of one of the characters in a love triangle, a demonic violinist, who charms a young lady, the wife of the narrator, who eventually becomes her murderer. more
The Bakalas were an unusual couple. He looked at every moment – perhaps even at home in his pyjamas – like the chief conductor of a large orchestra, especially when his hair began to create a distinctive silver aureole in his mature years; he maintained his aristocratic restraint not only as a conductor but also in social and personal contact, he did not move rapidly, he did not raise his voice; we also never heard of him being on first-name terms with anyone and even musicians who had played under him for fifteen years were not sure if he knew their names. No so Mrs. Marie; wherever she came, she was just everywhere, she had something to talk about with everyone and – what was important – one felt that her warmth was genuine. She did not hide her love and admiration for her husband even though she, as a Brno native, referred to him as that boss of yours; it was characteristic that the orchestra referred to him exclusively as Bakala, while to her as Mařenka. more
In the first post war year, my older colleague from the student quartet and I came from Kroměříž to Brno very briefly: he was trying for admission to the conservatory and I quietly envied him. Back then, the conservatory was already housed in its current building, a former German Teachers Institute; Ferda left me waiting in front of it and went in for information with some papers. After a while, he appeared in the company of a dignified-looking man in glasses, to whom he was saying something vehemently; without them noticing me, like peripatetic philosophers they headed towards Lužánky and disappeared around the corner. Ferda returned just in time when I was already determined to go to catch a train back to Kroměříž. He looked a little distracted. more
The intersection of human and artistic field lines is something that belongs to the Alfa Passage. Ženíšek's bookstore, HaDivadlo and Metro Music Bar form a triangle to which other specific spaces and activities are attached. This Christmas, they will be joined by the performance of the Czech Christmas Mass by Jan Jakub Ryba for the seventh time. This year's performance's final rehearsal has already taken place; the performance begins today at 10 p.m. The event is organised by HaDivadlo in cooperation with the neighbouring and partnering Švanda café, the actual performance is attended by a wide community of friends. The specific magic of the secular midnight mass in a functionalist church, where the choir stalls are replaced by a gallery, lies in this folksiness and openness. And what is missing in terms of musical perfection is easily compensated for by spontaneity – the spirit of Christmas is apparently revealed here even to non-believers. more
Even in musical life things happen that cannot be heard even though it may seem like nonsense. But before the music resounds, something must be done for it, and in the case of an organ concert, it is mainly necessary to build the organ. In October, we published an interview with Jan Martin Bejček about the fact that there will be a new, high-quality instrument in Brno and now we return to the topic. The reason is simple – the organ is already here. more
Another of the jazz evenings regularly organised by the Brno Philharmonic was dedicated to the duo Will Vinson (alto saxophone) and Aaron Parks (piano). These musicians have been working together in various formations for twenty years. So they decided that it was time to try the most intimate and, according to many, the most difficult - playing as a mere duo. These mid-generation jazz musicians performed a selection of classical jazz material as well as several of their own compositions on Monday 10 March at the Besední dům. more
This year's first concert by the Brno Contemporary Orchestra from the Auscultation series was entitled Gastro (Cuisine), or Dinner for Magdalena Dobromila Rettig (1785-1845). On Sunday, 2 February, the orchestra performed two compositions, or rather performances and happenings by Ondřej Adámek (*1979), who also conducted the pieces, in the dining room of the Masaryk Student House. This was a fairly unusual situation for the audience, when conductor Pavel Šnajdr did not take his place at the head of the orchestra. more
The fourth concert in the Brno Philharmonic's Philharmonic at Home subscription series, subtitled Metamorphoses and conducted by Dennis Russell Davies, was dedicated to works by Joseph Haydn, Antonín Rejcha and Richard Strauss. Pianist Ivan Ilić was originally scheduled to appear as soloist in Rejcha's Piano Concerto, but for health reasons he cancelled the concert. Jan Bartoš promptly took over, enabling the audience to hear the original programme on Thursday 30 January at the Besední dům. more
The Brno Philharmonic's New Year's concert on 1 January at the Janáček Theatre is already a well-established tradition. This year was no exception, and the orchestra, led by conductor Michel Tabachnik, gave a performance consisting mainly of works by Johann Strauss the Younger. This was the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra's show opening the 'Strauss Year'. After all, 2025 is the 200th anniversary of the birth of the composer, dubbed the king of waltzes. Strauss's compositions were accompanied by works by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Richard Strauss and Dimitri Shostakovich. more
"Culture is a Bridge" was the theme of the second Czech-Austrian Partnership Concert, held on Friday, 20 December at Schloss Thalheim. It was the final evening of the 5th year of the pan-European project Czech Dreams 2024, and also part of the celebrations of the Year of Czech Music and the Concentus Moraviae international music festival. Culture is a bridge that connects not only different generations and social classes, but also entire nations. And the Czech Dreams project, which in 2024 alone presented music by Czech composers in 25 European cities in 17 different countries, is an eloquent example of this. In December alone, besides the final concert in Austria, six more concerts were performed in southern Europe, from Amarante in Portugal to Varaždin in Croatia. The concert was dedicated to the Lower Austrian Governor Erwin Pröll, who has long been committed to building and deepening relations between the Czech Republic and Austria. more
Christmas in Brno also means the traditional pre-Christmas concert of the Brno Contemporary Orchestra (BCO), this time entitled From America to Tuřany. It took place on 18th December and after a one-year break it returned to the Sokol Hall in Tuřany. The BCO, conducted by Pavel Šnajdr, performed works by Mauricio Kagel, Steve Reich, Trevor Grahl and, as always, Miloslav Kabeláč. Appearing together with the orchestra were four singers, Aneta Podracká Bendová, Kornél Mikecz, Michal Kuča and Martin Kotulan. At the end of the first half, Pavel Šnajdr set aside his baton and clapped the beat, joined by Petr Hladík. more
The now world-famous Swedish band Dirty Loops finished their autumn European tour on Saturday, 30 November at Brno's Metro Music Bar. The band featured on the programme of the seventeenth annual Groove Brno funk, soul and jazz festival. The virtuoso trio, consisting of Jonah Nilsson - vocals and keyboards, Henrik Linder - bass guitar and Aron Mellergård - drums, are famous for their flawless technical proficiency, sophisticated original compositions and cover versions of well-known numbers, especially pop songs. However, these songs are often reharmonised in their arrangements and the style is more a combination of disco, pop and jazz fusion. To avoid having to resort to using pre-recorded backing tracks, the trio was joined on tour by keyboardist and vocalist Kristian Kraftling. more
Ensemble Opera Diversa put a distinctive "spin" on its last orchestral concert of the year. It took place on 26 November at the Alterna music club, which is more a rock, electronica and indie pop hangout than an artistic music venue. The pair of selected pieces consisting of Vojtěch Dlask's premièred work Querell Songs for soprano saxophone and strings and Miloslav Ištvan's Hard Blues for pop-baritone, soprano, reciter and chamber ensemble also reflected this. Naturally, it was Ištvan's Hard Blues that gave the evening its name - the clash of the artistic, composed and purposefully "artistic" world (not meant pejoratively) with authentic African-American musical expressions springing from the depths of the soul of a man tested by life formed as the centre of the evening. This was not merely a stylistic inspiration, but more thematic, which was also evident in the opening piece of the evening. This was the composition Querelle Songs, inspired by Jean Genet's novel, previously dedicated to Ensemble Opera Diversa, but this time in a new instrumentation. more
Leoš Janáček's (1854-1928) Moravian national opera Jenůfa was brought to Brno for the Janáček Brno 2024 festival by the Moravian Theatre Olomouc in a co-production with the Janáček Opera NdB. Rather than using the Czech title Její pastorkyňa, the production team, headed by director Veronika Kos Loulová, decided to stage the work as Jenůfa, the name under which it is performed abroad. On Wednesday, 20 November, five days after its première in Olomouc, the audience at the Mahen Theatre could also see the latest domestic take on Janáček's most widely performed opera. The musical staging of the significantly modified original version from 1904 was the work of conductor Anna Novotná Pešková, and the main roles were played by Barbora Perná (Jenůfa), Eliška Gattringerová (Kostelnička), Josef Moravec (Laca Klemeň) and Roman Hasymau (Števa Buryja). more
The office of Brno - UNESCO City of Music, with the financial support of the South Moravian Region, presents a line-up of active folklore groups (ensembles, chasers, musics) in the Brno region as part of the Year of Folklore Ensembles. more
Trumpeter Jiří Kotača founded the big band Cotatcha Orchestra ten years ago. Nowadays, he performs a variety of programmes ranging from the most traditional jazz to a visionary fusion of jazz and electronica. We chatted with Jiří Kotača about how the orchestra has gradually developed, how the original repertoire is blurring the boundaries between jazz and electronica, and also about what fans can expect from the November concert to celebrate the orchestra's 10th anniversary. We also talk about Kotača's International Quartet, as well as how the trumpet and flugelhorn can be enriched with effects. more
On Saturday, 24 August, the Korean radio orchestra KBS Symphony Orchestra with its musical director - Finnish conductor and violinist Pietari Inkinen - came to Brno's Špilberk Festival with an exclusively romantic repertoire. The invitation was also accepted by South Korean violinist Bomsori Kim, a graduate of the prestigious Julliard School. more
For a quarter of a century now, the Brno Philharmonic has been organising the Špilberk Festival at the end of August in the courtyard of the castle of the same name. Four open-air musical evenings offer the audience a selection of concerts featuring classical, film and computer music, as well as often jazz and other genres. This makes it a diverse mix of performers and repertoires with an often pleasant, summery, laid-back ambience. This year's big and rapdily sold-out attraction was the Wednesday evening of 21 August, full of melodies from the James Bond films, performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra, headed by world-renowned conductor, composer and arranger Steven Mercurio. During the concert, the audience also got to enjoy singers Sara Milfajtová, Vendula Příhodová and David Kraus. more
As part of its European tour, the Taiwanese Taipei Philharmonic Chamber Choir (TPCC), under the direction of artistic director and choirmaster Dr. YuChung Johnny Ku, took the city up on its invitation and visited Brno. The concert was held on Monday, 13th August in the hall of the newly renovated Passage Hotel. more
The final concert of this year's season of the Brno Philharmonic was devoted to works by Antonín Dvořák and Jean Sibelius at the Janáček Theatre. On Thursday, 20 June, Danish conductor Michael Schønwandt, who had not appeared before a Brno audience since January last year, took the lead of the Philharmonic. In the first half of the programme, the orchestra was accompanied by violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky. more
Editorial
The thirtieth anniversary year of the Concentus Moraviae Festival is subtitled "Rondo Festivo"
The Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival celebrates its thirtieth birthday this year. From May to June it will offer its fans almost forty concerts in impressive venues in twenty festival towns and cities. The festival dramaturgy has been prepared by Jelle Dierickx, who has dubbed the whole event "Rondo Festivo". The playful title is a nod to the festive anniversary year as well as this year's artist in residence, French keyboard virtuoso and composer Jean Rondeau. more
Just in: Martin Glaser appointed Director of the National Theatre. He wants to stay in Brno until July 2028
Today, Culture Minister Martin Baxa announced the results of the selection process for the new General Director of the National Theatre and appointed Martin Glaser to the post. He is expected to start on 1 August 2028. more
Kantiléna is heading off on a US tour to join forces with a prestigious local choir
Nine days, three cities, four concerts, 51 young singers. Kantiléna, the children's and youth choir of the Brno Philharmonic, is preparing for a prestigious American tour, presenting mainly Czech composers to local audiences. more
Manon Lescaut returns to the Janáček Theatre after more than fifty years
After more than 50 years, a new production of Puccini's Manon Lescaut returns to the Janáček Theatre as the opera directorial debut of Štěpán Pácl and with music conducted by Ondrej Olos. more
Dinner that you do not eat, but listen to - the Brno Contemporary Orchestra invites you to a Culinary concert
The Brno Contemporary Orchestra (BCO) will be serving up a Culinary concert that will show that sounds can be as captivating as the most refined dishes. The event will take place in the dining room of the Masaryk Student Home in Brno and is subtitled "Dinner for Magdalena Dobromila Rettig". However, do not expect food on the table, but music - the main course will be the musical works of Ondřej Adámek. more
The National Theatre Brno is organising a meeting of lecturers from the field of culture
The National Theatre Brno invites Brno lecturers, educators in culture and anyone working in audience education at cultural and educational institutions to come along to a joint meeting at the Janáček Theatre. more
A gig by hypnotic British trio Mammal Hands combining jazz and electronics will open the twenty-fourth annual JazzFestBrno festival at the Fléda club. Newly additions to the line-up are the May concerts of pianist Nikol Bóková with her trio, double bassist Klára Pudláková with MAOMAH, and guitarist David Dorůžka, who will be launching a new joint album with the Piotr Wyleżoł Quartet entitled When the Child Was a Child. From the beginning of February to May, the festival will offer thirteen gigs by some top world jazz stars, as well as performances with a club atmosphere from the Club Life series in the stylish Cabaret des Péchés. more
Change of conductor: Leoš Svárovský is to conduct the Concert with Laureates
The Brno Philharmonic has announced that due to the illness of Robert Kružík, Leoš Svárovský will take up the baton for Thursday's Concert with Laureates. more
A pre-première sneak peek at Manon Lescaut
The production team and soloists will appear in a pre-première preview of the new production of Puccini's opera Manon Lescaut. The preview will take place at the Janáček Theatre and can also be watched online. more
Iggy Mayerov starts 2025 with new single called Feels Like Yesterday
Iggy Mayerov kicks off 2025 with a new single, Feels Like Yesterday, offering an intimate look at life's losses and changes, and the path to come to terms with what we can't control. The single is currently available on YouTube as a recording of a live concert from the Brno Alterna club, and is a precursor to his upcoming album. more
