Reviews
The last concert of the 49th Moravian Autumn International Music Festival took place on Saturday 28 October. Immediately before its fiftieth anniversary the festival chose as an overarching theme ®evolution and the inevitability of progress. For a month signs and posters in Brno have called out to passers-by and attracted them to this ambitious spectacle. After a quick look at the programme, it was clear that the pivotal musical works this year will be primarily innovative achievements of the first half of the 20th century seasoned with the musical delicacy that is early music. more
Budoár staré dámy used to be a Brno-based band with a mostly female line-up. Both of these things have changed over the years. These days, the charismatic band-leader and singer Marta Kovářová (neé Svobodová) is currently accompanied by three men. And although part of the band still lives in the South Moravian capital, Marta herself got married and now lives in a “village in a cold gorge”. Her new role of married woman and housewife is projected into several songs “about cooking”. Life in the inhospitable countryside might be connected with the choice of Lubor Kasala’s poem Z ježatých hor (From the Spiky Mountains) (“Mrazem to mrská a zimu pase” – “The whip of frost herds the winter”), the musical version of which the band used at the very start of their new album. It was a good move, because it is an energetic song with a very specific and colourful text (“…kde jektají mývalové umývadel a syčí hadi sprch” – “… where chattering raccoons was in basins and hissing snakes shower”). The dynamics, rhythm and track timing is masterful. The band, despite the fact that these days they no longer have a chance to rehearse together as much as they used to, presents itself in top form – energetic, aggressive, but through all the chaos still organised. There is not a single surplus note to be heard. more
Brno said goodbye on Sunday to Marta Kubišová. This made it the first city in the Czech part of the Marta Naposledy (Marta One Last Time) tour. It will end in České Budějovice on her 75th birthday. The Sono Centre, full to bursting, could enjoy not only a cross-section of her musical career but also a tribute to American pop music, given in her latest album “Soul”. As it has been for the last nineteen years she was accompanied on her final tour by Petr Malásek (keyboard) and a band made up of Martin Lehký (double bass), Budy Zbořil (drums), Josef Štěpánek (guitar) and František Kop (saxophone). more
The organisers of JazzFest Brno tried something with the Canadian singer and pianist Diana Krall that they have not managed so far with Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Gregory Porter or Bobby McFerrin – to fill Brno’s DRFG Arena (which used to be Rondo). I have no idea how sure Vilém Spilka and co were but the artists name together with well-targeted promotion bore fruit in the form of a virtually full ice-hockey hall. Viewers who aren’t used to going to sporting events and pop concerts might perhaps have been slightly put out by the uncomfortable seating, but otherwise it was really well managed on the technical side. The sound was great, and even those fans further from the stage praised its purity and clarity. Just as perfect was the image on the two large screens, thanks to which even those in the far corners of the hall could enjoy the visual experience. more
After a gap of five years the lyricist and singer Lada Šimíčková and the composer and musician (or songwriter) Ivo Cicvárek have brought out their second joint album. Thus the collection Hotel v tiché ulici (Hotel in a Quiet Street) from 2012 has not remained a one-off project. Taking the second album as the proverbial touchstone, the duo has passed with flying colours. Five years is plenty of time for putting together new material and the songs that made their way into the final selection and now have a chance to become public despite the name of the album. more
Birthdays, and not just those on stage, bring a need to look back. In the case of London’s Placebo this is the case twice over, because they returned in Brno to songs that they have long avoided playing live. They kept their promise and at the Brno Exhibition Centre they gave a two-hour cross-section show. more
Rossini’s penultimate opera Le comte Ory was in its time seen as highly immoral slapstick. In the new Brno production, performed in the historic building of the Mahen Theatre, it is actually a hilarious farce. Lenka Flory stands behind its directorial and artistic form, providing not only the needed humour and momentum, but also thanks to its basis in the world of contemporary dance also unusual movement. more
This year the Beseda u Bigbítu (BuB) festival celebrates its quarter century and to mark this milestone it has added a little warm-up in the shape of an evening concert in Kabinet Múz called Beseda night. It gives a foretaste of this year’s Tasov and the evening will be introduced by the Šumperk-Brno group Acute Dose. Last year’s wind brought in the group Please The Trees and the composer and DJ Václav Čásenský aka Atrey. more
Leaving aside the upcoming September bonus of the concert by Diana Krall, none other than Chick Corea with his stellar trio concluded Jazzfest this year. Together with Brian Blade and Eddie Gomez they brought this year’s event to a luxurious close. more
Thursday’s successful concert of the Brno Philharmonic in Besední dům was sure to please virtually everyone, listeners of different ages and tastes. And the enthusiasm was felt in the hall, even though the piano was sometimes played with the entire width of the forearm. more
The Brno singer and author Jana Jun Šrámková claims that the name of their new album Ve vlasech (In Hair) has nothing to do with her profession of hairdressing. And it is true that more than scissors or curling tongs in this case hair is linked to the wind, which is penetrating and was already blowing on Jana’s previous album Nahá (Naked). However in the lyrics of the new disc it is water rather than wind that is the important constant. In individual songs rapids, paddles, boats and the ocean appear. But that is not the most important information. Although words are important in Jana’s compositions, the new album continues in the line established by the previous discs Intimně (2010) and Nahá (2014). Above the story is feelings, drawing with syllables, misty scenery, sketched with voices and coloured in by other instruments. more
The retro comedy musical Viki kráčí za štěstím (which might be translated as Viki Seeks Her Fortune), premiered in the Brno Municipal Theatre, in many ways represents a journey back in time. He audience returns to the work of Milan Uhde and Miloš Štědroň, which has now been supplemented by the work of the composer Karel Cón. On the surface it is an excursion into a true story which took place at the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, or the era of the swinging music of the sweet sixties. The same creative team led by director Juraj Nvota that was introduced five years ago on the same stage with the romantic musical Divá Bara now parades in front of the audience again. more
The Jazzfest festival is coming to an end and after refreshment from the Czech and European scene came the genuine, almost classic American blues. The seventy-two-year-old giant Steve Gadd came to Brno with the guitarist Michael Landau, bass guitarist Jimmy Johnson, trumpeter Walt Fowler and on the piano and Fender Rhodes was Kevin Hayes. more
The parade of European and world saxophonists at this year's Jazzfest Brno festival stylishly concluded with virtuoso technique and inventiveness linking the various branches of jazz - the respected Austrian sideman and soloist Harald Harry Sokal with his Groove trio and the New York legend Chris Potter, who led his Quartet on the stage of the Sono Centre with his latest project - the album The Dreamer Is The Dream. more
As happened last year, this year’s Easter Festival of Religious Music, with the subtitle of ‘Witness’, ended with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno. The Church of St. John on Minoritská street resounded to a work that was very close to the main theme of the festival – the story of Paul of Tarsus in the shape of Mendelssohn’s oratorio St. Paul. 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
In the spirit of the idea that Brno and folklore belong together, the Folklore Ensemble Happening of the Year took place on Thursday 6 June. The event was organised by the Brno UNESCO City of Music Office in cooperation with the Brno Dances and Sings association. The event thus became part of a long-term project that set out to map the amateur music scene in Brno, and not only folk music. Last year Brno City of Music reached out to choirs in a similar way, and in the future will host garage bands and more. This just goes to prove the diversity of Brno's music scene, not only as regards professional ensembles, but also enthusiastic amateurs for whom music is an inseparable part of their lives. more
The Brno Dances and Sings Association and TIC Brno organised the 49th annual Brno Dances and Sings show on 6 June. The programme, concentrated into a single day, was busier than in previous years. The subtitle Year of Folklore Ensembles was borrowed from the project of the same name organised by the Brno UNESCO City of Music Office. more
A year ago we would have found an Asian market in the New Synagogue in Velké Meziříčí. However, the town decided to buy the building and has started to make more fitting and dignified use of it. On Wednesday 5 June, during the ongoing Concentus Moraviae festival, audiences could visit this heritage site and enjoy a chamber concert by singer and violinist Iva Bittová and her women's choir Babačka, featuring musicians Jakub Jedlinský (accordion) and Pavel Fischer (violin). more
The evening concert by Ensemble Opera Diversa entitled The Face of Water, which took place on 4 June outdoors in the atrium of the Moravian Library in Brno, was preceded by a morning discussion between Professor Miloš Štědron and Associate Professor Vladimír Maňas from the Institute of Musicology at Masaryk University. They both enjoyed an engaging talk on the theme of water in art (from Gregorian chant to the early 20th century), concluding with a sample of the edition and the playing of a recording of Janáček's symphony The Danube. The concert, conducted by Gabriela Tardonová and inspired by the theme of water, featured one world and three Czech premières. Harpist Dominika Kvardová appeared as a soloist. more
Like other music festivals, the 29th annual Concentus Moraviae International Music Festival has not only had to reflect the fact that it is the Year of Czech Music, but also the unique 200th anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana, the founder of modern Czech music. The dramaturgy of this year’s festival, which has just launched, is in the spirit of "Metamorphoses: Czech Smetana!". The first festival concert, which took place on 31 May at the Kyjov Municipal Cultural Centre, gave a hint of the direction the rest of the festival's dramaturgy will take. The organisers of the show decided to explore Smetana's work from a fresh angle and to work not only with the music, but also with the audience’s expectations. The opening evening saw a performance of Smetana's famous String Quartet No. 1 in E minor From My Life, but in an arrangement for a symphony orchestra penned by conductor and pianist George Szell. Smetana's work was complemented by the world première of the Concerto for Flute and Orchestra "Sadunkertoja" by Finnish composer, conductor and artist in residence at the 29th annual festival, Olli Mustonen, commissioned especially for the festival. Mustonen also conducted the Prague Philharmonia's performance of the two works. Danish flautist Janne Thomsen performed as soloist. more
Musical Inventory Ensemble Opera Diversa
As part of Ensemble Opera Diversa's Musical Inventory series of concerts, which began back in 2017, the ensemble aims to present (re)discovered works and composers that we rarely hear on stage. However, this dramaturgical line also offers the space and initiative to create some completely new works performed in world premières. This time, the chamber concert held on Wednesday, 29 May 2024 in the auditorium of the Rector's Office of the Brno University of Technology (BUT) was directed by the Diversa Quartet: Barbara Tolarová (1st violin), Jan Bělohlávek (2nd violin), David Křivský (viola), Iva Wiesnerová (cello), OK Percussion Duo (Martin Opršál, Martin Kneibl), soloists Aneta Podracká Bendová (soprano) and pianist Tereza Plešáková. The theme was a nod to the Prague composition school from a pedagogical and artistic perspective. more
The concert with the subtitle Haydn and Shostakovich in G Minor closed the Philharmonia at Home subscription series on Thursday 16 May at the Besední dům. It was also the last concert of the 2023/24 season (not counting Friday's reprise), with the Brno Philharmonic led by its chief conductor Dennis Russell Davies. In the second half of the evening the orchestra was accompanied by singers Jana Šrejma Kačírková (soprano) and Jiří Služenko (bass). As the title of the concert implies, the dramaturgy juxtaposed works by Joseph Haydn and Dimitri Shostakovich, which are almost exclusively linked only by the key in which they were written. more
Connection, unity, contemplation - these words can be used to describe the musical evening of Schola Gregoriana Pragensis under the direction of David Eben and organist Tomáš Thon, which took place yesterday as part of the Easter Festival of Sacred Music at the church of St. Thomas. Not only the singing of a Gregorian chant, but also the works of composer Petr Eben (1929-2007) enlivened the church space with sound and colour for an hour. more
With a concert called Ensemble Inégal: Yesterday at the church of St. John, Zelenka opened the 31st edition of the Easter Festival of Sacred Music, this time with the suffix Terroir. This slightly mysterious word, which is popularly used in connection with wine, comes from the Latin word for land or soil, and carries the sum of all the influences, especially the natural conditions of a particular location and on the plants grown there. This term is thus metonymically transferred to the programme of this year's VFDH, as it consists exclusively of works by Czech authors, thus complementing the ongoing Year of Czech Music. more
For the fourth subscription concert of the Philharmonic at Home series, which took place on 14 March at the Besední dům and was entitled Mozartiana, the Brno Philharmonic, this time under the direction of Czech-Japanese conductor Chuhei Iwasaki, chose four works from the 18th to 20th centuries. These works are dramaturgically linked either directly through their creation in the Classical period or by inspiration from musical practices typical of that period. The first half of the concert featured Martina Venc Matušínská with a solo flute. more
The second stop on the short Neues Klavier Trio Dresden's Czech-German tour was at the concert hall of the Janáček Academy of Music on 6 March at 16:00. A programme consisting of world premières by two Czech and two German composers was performed in four cities (Prague, Brno, Leipzig and Dresden). more
Editorial
Gloria Brunensis women's choir wins gold in the Praga Cantat competition
This year's 35th annual Prague Cantat international choir competition also featured the Brno choir Gloria Brunensis, which won first place in the Women's Choir category and a special prize for its performance of Der Wassermann. more
Zuzana Čtveráčková's translations were selected for the EU Songbook
Zuzana Čtveráčková, translator for the Brno City Theatre, has won the competition organised by the European Union Songbook Association, which in July 2020 invited translators to translate the lyrics of selected Czech songs into singable/melodic English. more
Singer-songwriter, composer and producer Katarzia is preparing two concerts with her band. They will be played in Brno and Prague. Both performances will feature a special line-up combining acoustic instruments and electronics. The music and lyrics will be enhanced by projected works of Czech-Icelandic artist DVDJ NNS. In addition, the Brno concert will be filmed by Czech Television under the direction of Tereza Reková. At the same time, Katarzia will be presenting some new work - her electronic album "Rest in Euphoria" with music composed for the eponymous performance of Prague's Cirk La Putyka will be released in early December. more
The Cotatcha Orchestra big band has been on the music scene for 10 years. They will be celebrating with a spectacular concert at the Goose on a String Theatre together with four guests - singers Lenka Dusilová and Géraldine Schnyder, double bass matador Vincenzo Kummer and trombonist and Latin Grammy winner Ilja Reijngoud. The sixteen-member ensemble nominated for the Anděl Award was founded by trumpeter Jiří Kotača to play original and original big band music. The anniversary concert will feature a selection of their best from past and present, including new works. All accompanied by animations by Magdalena Bláhová. more
Janáček Brno Festival: Change of programme - Staatskapelle Berlin will be led by Jakub Hrůša
Due to an injury, the Staatskapelle Berlin will not be led by its chief conductor Christian Thielemann at the festival concert. Standing in for him will be conductor Jakub Hrůša, who has already performed with his Bamberg Symphonies at the Janáček Brno Festival this year. more
The Brno Philharmonic announces a new date for Pavel Černoch’s concert
The Brno Philharmonic has announced a new date for Pavel Černoch's concert, as a substitute for his summer concert at Špilberk that was brought to an end by a storm. The concert is scheduled for May 2025. more
Culture Newsletter of the Culture Department of the Brno City Municipality, November 2024
The Brno Culture Newsletter presents an overview of upcoming events and opportunities concerning theatres, clubs and other cultural events in Brno. more
Although there are still two concerts left before the end of this year's JazzFestBrno festival, the organisers are already coming up with the line-up for next year. From the beginning of February to May, they’ll be offering a total of thirteen concerts featuring major world jazz stars and intimate performances from the Club Life series in the stylish Cabaret des Péchés. The winner of five Grammys, singer Dianne Reeves, one of the most respected figures in the world of orchestral jazz, nine-time Grammy winner Maria Schneider with the Oslo Jazz Ensemble, jazz piano stars and Grammy winners Kris Davis and Sullivan Fortner, the British trio Mammal Hands combining jazz and electronics, Italian virtuoso guitarist Matteo Mancuso - these and many others will all be coming to Brno. more
Brno Contemporary Orchestra: A breath in and a long breath out for forty drowned children on Mendlovo náměstí
The concert is dedicated to the memory of the forty children drowned during World War II on Mendlovo náměstí (20 November 1944). The concert will feature the world premières of two commissioned compositions, Adagio for Orchestra by Adrián Demoč and the meditative Exercise of Breath and Spirit by Pavel Zlámal. Clarinettist Marek Švejkar will perform the Czech première of Domaines by Pierre Boulez and the final performance will be the somewhat atypical Actions by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. more
Schnittke 90 & Bach: The Brno Philharmonic launches another subscription series
Johann Sebastian Bach as a ground-breaking composer and the composers who were inspired by his work are the subject of the concert Schnittke 90 & Bach, to be played by the Brno Philharmonic on Thursday and Friday, opening another subscription series. The concerts will be conducted by Robert Kružík at the Besední dům. more
