Reviews

The concert by the Brno Contemporary Orchestra in the courtyard of Brno’s Špilberk Castle on Tuesday, 16 June, offered the audience a chance to hear the castle’s carillon in quite a different guise – as a solo musical instrument. Entitled Vězeňské zvony (Prison Bells), the performance alluded not only to the existence and function of the carillon itself but also to the complex history of the castle. The concert featured harpsichordist Daria Savvateeva, soprano Irena Troupová, and Petr Hladík as carillon player.  more

The prologue to the Concentus Moraviae festival took place, unusually, in the Italian city of Cremona – home of the Walter Stauffer Foundation and Academy, which nurtures string teaching and the city’s traditions – as early as mid-April. This year the Foundation concluded a memorandum of cooperation with the festival, resulting in the String Quartet Master Classes project in Kroměříž on 16–18 June. The stage was set on 15 June at Pernštejn Castle, where the Italian Quartetto di Cremona joined forces with cellist Peter Jarůšek for a memorable concert.  more

The final concert of the 14th season of the Bacha na Mozarta (Watch Out for Mozart) series drew audiences to the Minorite Church of St John on Monday, 8 June, for a programme drawing on the collections of the Kroměříž Music Archive. The evening’s programme brought together specific liturgical forms with the representational demands of the courtly culture of the time. Performed by the SILENTIUM! ensemble under the direction of Tomáš Netopil and with choral preparation by Tereza Válková, the concert featured works by Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, Giovanni Felice Sances, Franz Ignaz Biber, and Philipp Jacob Rittler, some in their modern-day premieres.  more

The Concentus Moraviae festival presented its sixteenth concert of the year, thematically dedicated to the number four, at Valtice Castle on Sunday, 7 June. This year’s international showcase brings together quartets of the most varied instrumental combinations and genres, presenting programmes across Moravia and Lower Austria centred on the quartet repertoire. In this spirit, the Baroque theatre of Valtice Castle hosted, in collaboration with the Young Classical Artists Trust, a concert focused on world music performed by the international Fibonacci Quartet. The young quartet – specifically Kryštof Kohout and Luna De Mol on violin, Elliot Kempton on viola, and Findlay Spence on cello – chose masterpieces by Leoš Janáček (1854–1928) and Béla Bartók (1881–1945).  more

The cycle of classical music concerts directed by its founder, Barbara Maria Willi, has been an integral part of cultural events in the Moravian capital for twenty-three years. The audience in Brno has already been introduced to a number of  outstanding personalities and ensembles with whom Barbara Maria Willi regularly cooperates. This year's opening concert, traditionally held on Wednesday, 11 February, in the hall of the Convent of the Merciful Brothers with a subtitle Music in Motion offered a combination of the art of the fortepiano with flute played by Sofia Mavrogenidou and accompanied by young dancers Klementýna Anna Špičková and Adam Mišo, choreographed by David Strnad.  more

The final concert of this year’s instalment of the Barbara Maria Willi Presents series offered a unique project that on 4 December brought together two ensembles in the Convent of the Brothers of Mercy:  Cappella Pratensis and Ramillete de Tonos. They showed the audience the many different ways in which one can work with the polyphonic repertoire of the 15th and 16th centuries. The programme intertwined sacred and secular music, and purely vocal, vocal-instrumental and purely instrumental pieces.  more

The concert by Filharmonie Brno under Dennis Russell Davies on Thursday 6 November in Besední dům offered a fascinating programme combining the work of two contemporary composers from the former Soviet Union. The performers included Armenian baritone Aksel Daveyan, violist Julian Veverica, percussionist Lukáš Krejčí, and the Austrian Hard-Chor Linz choir under choirmaster Alexander Koller.  more

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

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