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A feast for the senses

In Český Krumlov, sumptuous settings that match the music
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By Frank Kuznik
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
July 18th, 2007 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Czech violin star Pavel Šporcl is a perennial favorite at this scenic festival.
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International Music Festival

When: July 20–Aug. 25
Where: Český Krumlov
Tickets: 150–1,800 Kč, available at Auviex Prague (Perlitová 1420, Prague 4) and several sites in Český Krumlov
For a complete schedule and ticket information, check www.festivalkrumlov.cz

Music festivals dot the Czech landscape in the summer, when everyone with a song to sing or an instrument to play takes to an outdoor stage. Some are in beautiful or striking settings but musically weak, while others are strong on music but set in pedestrian places like an airfield or park. Very few combine first-rate music with world-class aesthetics.
Of that elite group, the crown jewel is the Český Krumlov International Music Festival, now in its 16th year. The city’s well-preserved medieval architecture, terraces, gardens and historical venues offer a sumptuous backdrop for a music lineup that gets better every season, with Czech stars supplemented by first-rate performers from abroad.
“We try to satisfy all the senses,” says Zbyněk Mikuláš, dramaturgist for the festival. “It’s not just for the ears, but for your eyes and taste. Our goal is to have the music work together with the environment, and vice versa.”
The Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) bookends the festival this year, opening on the south terrace of the castle with Carmina Burana, featuring singers from the New York Metropolitan and City operas and the Kühn Mixed and Children’s choirs (July 20). The following night, the orchestra backs two outstanding violin soloists: Prague’s Pavel Šporcl and South Korea’s Joo Young Oh. The SOČR will return for the closing concert of the festival (Aug. 25), an operatic gala with singers from the Met and La Scala performing on the rotating stage in the castle garden.
The programming in between grows more diverse every year, with an eye toward offering something for everyone. Classical music fans will appreciate the opportunity to hear young winners of international competitions, which has become a hallmark of the festival. Lyric baritone Peter Schöne, a winner last year at the Musikwettbewerb der ARD, Germany’s largest classical music competition, will perform with the Prague Chamber Orchestra (Aug. 17). And pianist Tomomi Okumura, a 2006 prizewinner at the presitigious Concours Géza Anda in Zurich, will give a solo recital in the stunning Hall of Masks (Aug. 23).
There are also classical premieres on the bill this year. Guitarist Pavel Steidl and violinist Gabriela Demeterová will play Sonata Berounka, a piece composed for them by Italian guitarist and composer Carlo Domeniconi, who will be present for the performance (Aug. 8). Italian pianist Robert Prosseda will perform a piece inspired by a found fragment of a work by Mendelssohn (Aug. 16). And Prague’s fine medieval men’s choral group, Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, will perform the modern premiere of a French sacred work that dates from the 13th century (Aug. 19).
Fans of Baroque music and theater will have four opportunities (Aug. 2, 3, 9 and 10) to sit in the jewel of jewels, the castle’s very lovely and very fragile Baroque theater, for an opera performance by a skilled group of performers that includes French actor Laurent Charoy, with music by Prague’s own Collegium Marianum ensemble. If you have any interest in Baroque music, dance or theater, this could be one of the peak moments of your musical life.
The “taste” experience that Mikuláš refers to comes on two nights this year: French Night (July 28) features Gallic and music and cuisine in the Brewery Garden, while Irish Night (Aug. 11) wheels out fiddles, bagpipes and Irish food and whiskey in the same setting.
And there’s even good-time contemporary music. The New York Voices, a Grammy Award–winning vocal ensemble, brings a Lambert, Hendricks and Ross-style of jazz inflected with dashes of Brazilian, R&B and pop music (Aug. 4). And Czech favorites Čechomor will serve up their distinctive brand of folk music in the Brewery Garden (Aug. 18).
A curious thing has happened to the festival in recent years. It was originally programmed with tourists in mind, but the audience has shifted. “We used to get 60 to 70 percent of our visitors from abroad,” Mikuláš says. “Now, 70 percent of the audience comes from the Czech Republic.”
In short, those who know go to Český Krumlov. If you haven’t been there yet, or happen to be passing through the Czech Republic during the next five weeks, try to include it in your itinerary. More than just a music festival, you’ll find it an enriching sensory experience.
 
        
    

Frank Kuznik can be reached at fkuznik@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (18/07/2007):

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