The opening of this year’s Summer Festivities of Early Music will be marked by Hispanic temperament and will be suitably held in the Spanish Hall, Prague Castle. On 19th July, the renowned Forma Antiqva will perform a dramatization of the famous Spanish and French battle of Pavia (1525). In a programme entitled Batalla, the ensemble will present explosive music of the Spanish composers Antonio Cabezón, Sebastián Aguilera de Heredia, Pablo Bruno and the Italian early baroque compositions by Adrian Banchieri, Mark Uccellini and Andrea Falconieri.
Series of enthralling musical experiences
The programme offers a lot to choose from. There will be e.g. a trio from Portugal called Os Músicos do Tejo, the mesmeric Zapico Brothers, leading Polish soprano Olga Pasiecznik or the French-Czech-Slovak theatre formation Compagnie Scapinove, which, by means of marionettes, dance and play of light and shadow, will tell the adventures of Don Quijot de la Mancha. “For this, the 13th edition of the festival we managed to get the world-class soprano Olga Pasiecznik, who is renowned mostly for her Mozart and Händel opera roles. Her performance at the festival’s closing in the Spanish Hall, both in solos and in duos with the Czech opera star Hana Blažíková, promises to be a thrilling experience,” says the director of the festival Markéta Semerádová.
Baroque music comes alive in Prague
Another riveting evening imbued with musical memories of the 17th and 18th centuries will be provided by the brilliant Zapico Brothers. Their performance is called Fandango and will be held in the Ball Room of Prague Castle on 21st July. “Another interpretation highlight will certainly be the performance by one of the best baroque ensembles of our time, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin. The ensemble, performing for the first time in Prague, will present their “classical” repertoire, including instrumental concerts by J. S. Bach and G. Ph. Telemann,” adds M. Semerádová.
This year, for the first time, tickets can be bought on-line. The advanced sale started on 21st May. Tickets are also available at the ticket office of the Hungarian Cultural Centre of Prague in Rytířská Street, where the sale started on 28th May. For more information, visit www.letnislavnosti.cz.
