Music

Sarina Zhang (four from left) and Ladislav Cigler (far right) after a concert in Dubai

Prague’s Rudolfinum concert hall has a famous young guest tonight, 15-year-old cello and piano prodigy Sarina Zhang of San Diego, California. As reported by Night & Day, Zhang will be in town tonight to perform with the Youth Philharmonic Orchestra of Prague. Ahead of the concert,  we spoke to orchestra conductor Ladislav Cigler about programs, prodigies and progress as the ensemble reaches mid-teens of its own.

TPP: The concert program is quite diverse – from Rachmaninoff to Badelt’s theme from Pirates of the Caribbean. How do you choose the program each year, and how do you think “serious” classical music fits together with lighter, contemporary pieces?

JC: I chose the program according to the current possibilities of our orchestra. The repertoire is based on current casting, which changes every year. I also attempt to make it interesting both for players and for the audience.

The orchestra has been conceived methodically from the very beginning as a student orchestra covering all of the symphonic genres – symphony, overture, vocal-instrumental music, soloists with accompaniment playing everything from classical to the latest contemporary music.

That is why we can consider the Pirates of the Caribbean concert suite a contemporary symphonic work. If you mean the difference in genres – then it depends purely on the dramaturgical taste when compiling the concert program.

TPP: Zhang is an international star. Do you have any hesitations or concerns about conducting such a young prodigy?

JC: I met Sarina last spring when we performed together the famous Cello concert in B minor by Antonín Dvořák in Dubai, accompanied by the orchestra of [high school] Gymnázium Jana Nerudy. She took me by surprise with her artistic maturity and ability to co-operate with a large symphonic orchestra. Regarding the co-operation of a conductor and this soloist herself, I do not see any problem, since she is aware of the role of the conductor, and in all crucial moments – when it is necessary to connect interplay between soloist and orchestra – she is fully attentive.

TPP: Is the goal of the Youth Orchestra the same as it was when it started in 1995?

JC: The aim of existence and work of the orchestra is to enable students to get experience in a large ensemble, and to check their skills as players in a collective music production. The educational aim is always the same, only the techniques adjust to the school’s possibilites and the lineup of the orchestra.

- Klára Jiřičná and Bill Lehane contributed to this post