Classical Music
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Tickets go on sale for the jubilee festival Janáček Brno 2026
The Janáček Brno 2026 festival enters its 10th anniversary year with an extremely ambitious programme. Its centrepiece is a complete presentation of Leoš Janáček's operatic works - from his early compositions to his masterpieces. Such a comprehensive showcase of the composer’s legacy is unique on a global scale and underlines the festival’s singular status among international music events. The jubilee edition bears the motto "Roots", reflecting the sources of Janáček’s inspiration – folk and sacred music – their reach into contemporary creation, and a dialogue with works by other composers. more
Ensemble Opera Diversa Night Prayers
Night Prayers are part of the ensemble’s church concerts, a series in which Ensemble Opera Diversa has been bringing contemporary sacred music to fitting venues for fifteen years. This concept has featured several world and Czech premières – this programme is no exception. It includes the world première of a work by Brno composer Pavel Zemek Novák and the Czech premiere of Giya Kancheli’s Night Prayers for soprano saxophone, strings and tape. more
Jakub Hrůša receives a state honour
Brno native Jakub Hrůša has been awarded the Medal of Merit in the field of culture. He received the award today, Tuesday 28 October 2025, from the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel. more
A world-class early-music star heads to Moravian Autumn: Orchestra & Choir of the Age of Enlightenment
Tomorrow brings one of Moravian Autumn’s musical highlights. Britain’s Orchestra & Choir of the Age of Enlightenment arrives in Brno with conductor John Butt. Their performance at the Janáček Theatre will feature Georg Friedrich Händel's oratorio Solomon. more
Jakub Hrůša takes up his new role as head of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden in London today
Brno-born Jakub Hrůša will embark on his new career in London today with an opera performance of Puccini's Tosca directed by Oliver Mears. The main roles will be played by Anna Netrebko alternating with Aleksandra Kurzak, as well as Freddie De Tommaso and Gerald Finley. During his new engagement, Hrůša will also be working with soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, who will also perform at this year's Janáček Brno Festival, and tenor Pavel Černoch. more
Soňa Červená would have celebrated her 100th birthday today. The NdB has prepared an e-exhibition to mark this jubilee
Today, opera singer Soňa Červená would have turned 100. Her early days as a singer are linked to the Brno Opera, to which she also returned in the last years of her life. To mark the anniversary of her birth, the National Theatre Brno has put together an e-exhibition that can be visited online from today until 7 May 2026. more
A pre-première sneak peek at the opera Aida
The performance of the new production of Verdi's Aida will feature a meeting with members of the production team and soloists as well as a musical preview of the opera. The pre-première sneak peek will take place at the Janáček Theatre and can also be watched online. more
Ensemble Opera Diversa and their varied autumn programme
This year's autumn with Diversa will offer a busy programme in which all Ensemble Opera Diversa’s components are equally represented. The autumn programme will begin with a day-long happening to mark the 130th anniversary of the birth of the prominent architect Bohuslav Fuchs. As part of its series of concerts, the ensemble will perform at the Lednice-Valtice Music Festival and the Moravian Autumn, as well as making a guest appearance in Žďár nad Sázavou. more
Moravian Autumn celebrates the 100th anniversary of Sir Charles Mackerras. Some top British orchestras will be coming to Brno
The Moravian Autumn International Music Festival will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Charles Mackerras. The British orchestras he conducted will be visiting Brno. At the opening concert, Mackerras's daughter Catherine will present an award bearing her father's name to an artist under 40 who has made a contribution to the interpretation of Czech music, especially that of Leoš Janáček. more
The Brno Music Marathon festival will see the city rocking from the reservoir all the way to the water tanks. It starts on Thursday
Ten years of music, dozens of performances by musicians from twelve countries and hundreds of stories will play out throughout Brno in just one week. Brno Music Marathon celebrates its tenth anniversary year and will turn the city into a vibrant space packed with music that rings out in the streets, squares, courtyards and some more unexpected places - from the surface of the reservoir to the historical water tanks, and from Villa Tugendhat to the tramp cabin of artist Kateřina Šedá right on Náměstí Svobody. more
Feature articles
Moravian Autumn, organised by the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, has long been one of the most important musical events of the autumn season. For the third time it also included the student project New World of Moravian Autumn – living proof that the connection between academia and professional practice can yield stimulating and deeply artistic results. This project, which originated at JAMU as an experiment within the course in practical dramaturgy, has evolved into a fully-fledged and respected part of the festival programme over the past few years. more
22 September this year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis (1875-1911) - Lithuanian artist, composer, painter and choirmaster, founder of Lithuanian national music and a representative of Symbolism and Art Nouveau. The concert entitled Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis - MKČ 150, which clearly referenced this anniversary, took place on Thursday 23 October at Besední dům. The programme combined Čiurlionis’s compositions with works by František Chaloupka, who also collaborated on the project as dramaturge. The concert was given the umbrella title Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis / František Chaloupka: Moje cesta (My Journey), a nod to one of Čiurlionis' pictorial triptychs. Chaloupka's work, however, does not follow directly on from Čiurlionis. It follows its own path, but connects with him through inspiration in mythology, where it sees a strong reflection of the present. more
The concert evening by PhilHarmonia Octet Prague with guest baritone Roman Hoza brought a programme conceived with curatorial sensitivity - with emphasis on the continuity of the classical tradition and its later metamorphoses. more
The Brno staging of Janáček's Jenůfa at the Moravian Autumn Festival once again proved that even after many years, an original directorial concept can still reveal new dramatic and musical nuances when refreshed through a partly renewed cast and interpretive inventiveness. Martin Glaser’s direction remains firmly grounded in a realistic reading of the work, yet in combination with Robert Kružík’s musical leadership the production feels alive, gripping, and emotionally genuine. more
The chamber music programme of the 53rd Moravian Autumn International Festival on Thursday featured songs by Franz Schubert arranged for guitar and voice by the duo María Cristina Kiehr (soprano) and Pablo Márquez (romantic guitar). The evening, entitled Longing, took place in Brno’s Besední dům. more
Liane Sadler and Elias Conrad bring an intimate synthesis of Renaissance flutes and lutes to Brno. They adapt polyphonic compositions, various dance forms and airs de cour for their instruments, using historical improvisation techniques such as diminution or bastarda. Sadler & Conrad is an ensemble included in the prestigious pan-European S-EEEmerging project focused on the professional and sustainable development of young early music ensembles. They come to Brno at the invitation of the Concentus Moraviae festival, which is one of the twelve partners of this project. As part of their residency, they will perform at a concert in the series "Barbara Maria Willi presents..." on 7/10 at 7 pm in the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy. more
The prologue of the annual Lednice-Valtice Music Festival took place in Brno's Reduta Theatre on Saturday 20 September 2025. The festival’s opening evening featured the Brno chamber Ensemble Opera Diversa with conductor Gabriela Tardonová. The 10th anniversary year of the festival is subtitled From the New World, which is probably why the dramaturgy focused on young artists - pianist Ayla Bárta and violinist Matteo Hager, as symbolical representatives of the future world. more
With Sunday's opening concert, Filharmonie Brno embarked on its seventieth anniversary season and also its eighth led by conductor Dennis Russell Davies. The Kantiléna children's choir is celebrating the same anniversary as Filharmonie Brno, and so the two ensembles coming together for the opening concert of the season was the perfect choice. At the Janáček Theatre this conjunction was provided by Gustav Mahler's monumental Symphony No. 3 in D minor. The aforementioned performers were complemented by mezzo-soprano Kateřina Hebelková and the Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno. more
The opera King Roger by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski had its Czech première at the Janáček Theatre. The title character was played by Jiří Brückler, the king's consort Roxana was portrayed by Veronika Rovná, Roger's right hand man, the sage Edrisi, was played by Vít Nosek, while Petr Nekoranec appeared as the Shepherd and the main source of Roger's trouble. The role of the High Priest was performed by David Szendiuch; Jana Hrochová appeared as the Deaconess and the soprano and tenor solos were performed by Eva Daňhelová and Pavel Valenta. In addition to the soloists, the Janáček Opera NdB Choir and Orchestra conducted by Martin Buchta and the Brno Children's Choir with choirmaster Valeria Mat'ašová also performed. It was directed by Vladimír John, with set design by Martin Chocholoušek and costumes by Barbora Rašková. The lighting design was by Martin Kroupa and the choreography by Jan Kodet and Michal Heriban. Robert Kružík, who also directed the première performance, took over the musical direction. more
The international Concentus Moraviae music festival, which sees world-class performers and leading figures in the world of artistic music flock to more than twenty towns in Moravia and Lower Austria every year, kicked off its 30th anniversary on Saturday 31 May at Porta Coeli in Předklášteří. It was an evening of polyphony from the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries performed by the Graindelavoix ensemble under the direction of conductor, writer, filmmaker and anthropologist Björn Schmelzer. more
PIANO RECITAL: JAN SCHULMEISTER
Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata in E minor BWV 914 Leoš Janáček: Sonata I. X. 1905 "Z ulice" Sergei Prokofiev: Sonata No. 3 in A minor, Op. 28 Sergei Rachmaninov: Morceaux de fantaisie op. 3 Johann Sebastian Bach / Ferruccio Busoni: Chaccone in D minor BWV 1004 Jan Schulmeister – piano (laureate of The Cliburn Junior Competition Dallas 2023)
Last 4 performances. Special guest in the role of Alcina Magdalena Kožená. The powerful sorceress Alcina has created a magnificent palace on the island in a beautiful landscape, where she lures lovers into the nets of her power. One of them is the Saracen knight Ruggiero, who succumbs to her spells and forgets his fiancée Bradamante. However, she does not intend to give him up and sets out in disguise to save Ruggiero.
YOUNG BLOOD or MUSIC CLOSE UP I
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra Academy is a project that allows young talented musicians – students or recent graduates of music schools accepted on the basis of a selection procedure – to gain orchestral experience in a professional ensemble. In this way, the Philharmonic educates new generations of players who may one day join its ranks. The OAFB has been operating for six seasons and its fruits are already evident: some of its graduates are already members of our orchestra, others regularly return to help out. The importance and value of this experience for the artistic growth of young musicians and for the future of the orchestra is therefore unquestionable.
The Bartered Bride
The plot takes us to a village where Jeník and Mařenka live, two young people who love each other. However, Mařenka is to marry the son of a rich farmer, Mícha, to whom her father is in debt. However, the young girl is not going to just give up her love and refuses to marry the chosen groom. Jeník is clever and uses the matchmaker Kecal. However, he and Mařenka do not tell each other about their plans and the whole thing gets a bit confusing... Ondřej Havelka has created a masterfully played musical theatre that is based on beautiful folk traditions, but at the same time has found a unique perspective on the entire opera. It takes place not, as is usually the case, in the summer during the harvest festival, but during the carnival season, or as we call it in Moravia, carnival! So you can look forward not only to comedians in the 3rd act, but also to a series of genuine Moravian carnival masquerades.
Tomorrow will be...
A fabricated trial through the lens of the online world. The judicial murder of M. Horáková is one of the darkest chapters in our modern history. The chamber opera Tomorrow Will Be… does not attempt a literal reconstruction, but opens up a broader perspective. Could a similar tragic story take place today? Although M. Horáková's suffering cannot be compared to anything, can the anonymous online space become a modern courtroom? A chamber opera by Aleš Březina and Jiří Nekvasil from 2008, based on the trial of Milada Horáková. The work won the Alfréd Radok Prize and the Sazka and Divadelné noviny Prize. The judicial murder of Milada Horáková is one of the darkest chapters in our modern history. She was convicted in a fabricated trial by a regime that persecuted and liquidated its opponents for decades. Totalitarian power, ideology and fear. Her death – senseless and cruel – became a symbol of courage, conscience and human dignity.
Her Godmother
Jenůf pastorkyňa is one of Janáček's most famous works and is a permanent part of the Brno Opera's repertoire. It began as a realistic drama by Gabriela Preissová, which the composer himself adapted into an opera libretto. Although he had to shorten the text of the drama significantly, he managed to deepen the effect of the tragic story from the Moravian countryside. The prodigal and unstable Števa, the violent and yet at heart kind Laca, and above all the relentless Kostelnička, whose efforts to maintain her position and respect in the village community lead her to murder the child of her ward Jenůfa. Janáček (1854–1928) captured the individual characters in a masterful dramatic short story that is chilling, yet at the same time arouses compassion and understanding in us. The final form of the work, marked by the death of the composer's daughter Olga, was a long and thorny path. After its successful premiere in Brno in 1904, Jenůfí pastorkyňa had to wait twelve long years before Janáček's efforts were crowned with well-deserved success on other domestic and foreign stages.
Tomorrow will be...
A fabricated trial through the lens of the online world.
The judicial murder of M. Horáková is one of the darkest chapters in our modern history. The chamber opera Tomorrow Will Be… does not attempt a literal reconstruction, but opens up a broader perspective. Could a similar tragic story take place today? Although M. Horáková's suffering cannot be compared to anything, can the anonymous online space become a modern courtroom?
How high is the price for trying to be a good ruler and build a great empire? The basis of Verdi's opera is the Old Testament story of the captivity of the Jewish people by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and their desire to return to their homeland. A story that still does not lose its power and relevance, and whose personification is the famous chorus "Va, pensiero, sull'alidorate" (Fly, thought, on golden wings...). Like other Verdi works, however, Nabucco also hides another, more intimate layer about love, the two sisters Fenena and Abigail and their conflict for the love of their beloved man and father. Verdi portrayed everything with the feeling of a true playwright, and the music full of immediacy, passion and temperament rightly captivates the audience to this day.
