The Brno Philharmonic enters its 70th anniversary season, symbolised by the word connection. That's because it connects the view of the past and that of the future. And it also connects the concerts to one another, which are not individual musical experiences, but a mesh woven from links between composers, compositions, soloists and anniversaries.
"This year we're also giving special space to our musicians as soloists, as well as works we performed in our first season," said Brno Philharmonic director Marie Kučerová. The Philharmonic starts the season on 14 September with Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 3, during which Kantiléna, a children's choir under the wing of the Brno Philharmonic, will also celebrate its seventieth anniversary. "Anniversaries are milestones that provide us with an opportunity to reflect on the passage of time, usually with joy, gratitude and awe, but sometimes with trepidation. Our new season is packed with events that reveal all these emotions through masterpieces created over the course of several centuries - some well-known and loved, others perhaps a little overlooked. I'm delighted that we'll be entering our jubilee season, my eighth in Brno, together with Kantiléna, which is celebrating as much as we are," said Dennis Russell Davies, Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic.
One work the Philharmonic performed in its first season is the monumental Storm by Vítězslav Novák, a maritime fantasy for a large orchestra, solo voices and mixed choir (under the baton of permanent guest conductor Robert Kružík), with which the orchestra first performed at the Prague Spring Festival in 1956. The same year also marks the creation of Philharmonic Dances by Jan Novák, written for the Philharmonic, and the performance of Symphony on a French Mountain Air by Vincent d'Indy.
The programmes of most concerts are distinguished by the links between the composers. For example, the teacher-student relationship brings an evening with the quartet Cherubini, Rejcha, Franck and Gounod, as well as Salieri, Schubert, Meyerbeer and Beethoven. "Bonds of friendship are the theme of the Arvo Pärt 90 & Tigran Mansuran concert, the bonds of inspiration underpin the of programme Bach and His Admirers and the work Lotus under the Moonlight, which the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa wrote as a tribute to Mozart, inspired by his Piano Concerto No. 23. He composed it for world-renowned pianist Momo Kodama, and I'm extremely pleased that it will be she who will be performing the solo part with us," noted Vítězslav Mikeš, dramaturge of the Brno Philharmonic.
Other big names from around the world to appear in Brno for the first time include pianist Thomas Enhco, violinist Christian Altenburger, clarinetist Sharon Kam and conductors Rumon Gamba, Robert Treviño and Ryusuke Numajiri. We'll see the return of popular soloists from previous seasons - Fazil Say with Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3, and Igor Ardashev, who will be performing two works in one evening: Symphonic Variations by César Franck and Symphony on a French Mountain Air by his pupil Vincent d'Indy - led by French conductor Lucie Leguay.
In addition to its own anniversary, the Philharmonic also celebrates the anniversaries of many events and composers: among the living, in addition to Arvo Pärt , the eightieth birthday of Pēteris Vasks, in two concerts. Pianist Terezie Fialová will perform Vasks' cycle The Seasons, and a day later her partner Jiří Bárta will treat us to Vasks' Cello Concerto No. 1, followed by William Walton's Hamlet, arranged by Christopher Palmer, at a concert at the Janáček Theatre. A Shakespeare Scenario. "The role of the narrator will be played by famous English actor Simon Callow, whom people know from films such as Amadeus. Interestingly, Callow was the first to portray Amadeus in Peter Schaffer's famous play," Mikeš pointed out.
The orchestra's seventieth anniversary is also marked by all five Family Subscription concerts, which will commemorate important moments in its history, such as the first ever philharmonic concert, the visit by the Queen of England, and major international tours. And the seventieth anniversary will also be commemorated by a New Year's concert, during which the orchestra will be joined by its former members.
This season, the Brno Philharmonic offers nine subscription series: two main major cycles at the Janáček Theatre, a concert and chamber series at the Besední dům, two types of family subscription, a jazz series, concerts by Kantiléna and orchestral academics, and a series of Extraordinary Concerts, including the Opening Concert, the New Year's Concert, and the In the Orchestra project, where the audience sits directly among the musicians. "We're holding seats for existing subscribers until Friday, 6 June, and we'll put them on sale the same evening," said Kučerová, adding that the subscription will save people about 40% off the regular price. The sale of individual tickets and Season Tickets begins on Monday, 9 June, on the principle that the more concert tickets you buy, the greater the discount you get.
On Tuesday, 17 June, a special philharmonic tram will take to the streets of Brno to celebrate the anniversary, giving people the chance to listen to various philharmonic groups, such as a double bass duo or a string quartet, and also talk to the director or dramaturge and get advice on choosing concerts.
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