Dance and Music Evenings with Ondráš will visit Špilberk again

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

Every year during Holy Week, the Easter Festival of Sacred Music prepares the Tenebrae - chants of lamentations and responsories performed in the dark on the eve of the feast. After ensemble performances of Zelenka's and Gesualdo's chants, Ensemble Versus have decided to present a choral repertoire of Czech origin for this year's edition. Another change is that the Tenebrae have moved from the church setting to Brno's three underground water reservoirs at Žlutý Kopec, which each evening will host three concerts lasting about forty minutes. Viewers can choose the hour that suits them best. This review looks at the first of the Tenebrae held on Holy Wednesday, 16 April, in reservoir no. 2.  more

Yesterday's opening concert of the 32nd Easter Festival of Sacred Music, held in the newly renovated Church of St. James, offered more than an hour of contemplation with the St. John Passion by the contemporary Estonian composer and this year's jubilarian, Arvo Pärt (*1935). The work was performed by the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices with artistic director Lukáš Vasilek, soloists Jiří Brückler, Ondřej Holub, Alena Hellerová, Jana Kuželová, Ondřej Benek and Martin Kalivoda, accompanied by a chamber ensemble: Daniela Valtová Kosinová (organ), Pavla Tesařová (violin), Lukáš Pospíšil (cello), Vladislav Borovka (oboe), Martin Petrák (bassoon).  more

The Ondráš Military Artistic Ensemble took a dance across the peaks and valleys of the Carpathian Arch in the première of their new show Through the Carpathians. The new show by the professional part of the ensemble took place on the stage of the Radost Theatre in Brno. And it was truly a joy to watch this new venture. It sees the ensemble leave the spectacular choreography behind for a while and return to its original folk roots without giving up on any of its own expressive style.  more

The spring concert by the Diversa Quartet offered works by purely Czech composers for the first time in a long time. The event, held on the evening of Monday, 7 April at the Villa Löw-Beer, was subtitled Tempus est iocundum after a love song from the Carmina Burana manuscript. It was the song's exuberance that inspired the dramaturgy of the concert, which was accompanied by an ensemble made up of Barbara Tolarová (1st violin), Jan Bělohlávek (2nd violin), David Křivský (viola) and Iva Wiesnerová (cello).  more