Česká spořitelna celebrates its 190th birthday with a concert
A one-of-kind concert will take place Sept 5, combining a classical concert by the Czech Philharmonic with a videomapping of the interior of the Rudolfinum.
While space inside is quite limited, especially due to the extra technical equipment, the concert can be seen live over the Internet and also on a big screen in front of the Rudofinum. For employees and clients, there will be the Česká spořitelna VIP Blue Zone.
The concert is to mark the 190th birthday of bank Česká spořitelna. It is also the 120th season of the Czech Philharmonic.
Česká spořitelna 190th birthday concert
When: Sept. 5 at 9 p.m.
Where: Projected in front of the Rudolfinum
The indoor videomapping projection has been put together by 11 artists and creative groups from six countries under the auspices of the Signal festival.
This will be the first time that videomapping will take place inside a building in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Philharmonic will be conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek in a program that includes four pieces: Smetana’s “Vltava” from the symphonic poem cycle Má vlast, Dvořák’s From the New World symphony, the second movement from Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique symphony and the second movement of Dvořák’s Carnival Overture.
The videomapping called Sim/Nebula that will provide visual accompaniment to the concert differs from the regular production that local audiences have seen thus far.
The show will feature a 50-minute program divided into seven thematic sections. This makes Sim/Nebula the most extensive video mapping projection in this county. The venue selection is also unique. While most video mapping shows are projected on building facades or at other outdoor locales, Sim/Nebula will be inside Dvořák Hall in the Rudolfinum.
The themes of the video part are material, technology, message, mission, New World, meeting and birth.
They should encompass everything from organic shapes rising out of the void to illusory shapes, hypnotic patterns and fractals culminating in a final monochrome explosion that disappears into the endless night.
“Doing videomapping inside the Rudolfinum, in cooperation with a musical body as significant as the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, has been a great wish of ours for several years. We had been planning to present a project like this to the public at the Signal festival of light, but its production is so demanding and it is so expensive that we had not managed to find an appropriate partner. That is why I am very happy that my vision will now be realized, thanks to Česká spořitelna, and that the Signal festival can assist in it,” said Martin Pošta, director of the festival of light.
The planning of the light show was quite complicated. A special scanner made precise measurements so that a 3D virtual model of the interior space, including pillars, the organ, and other details could be made. The measurements are so precise that a model on the room could be made with a 3D printer.
The videomapping isn’t the sort of light show that one might routinely see at a rock concert. The light images will fit exactly onto the architectural details of the room. The same show cannot be repeated in another concert hall.
Visting groups that worked on the videomapping include SR Partners from the UK, Supranutz / Federico Pelat from France, Chaotic Atmospheres from the Switzerland, Can Buyukberber from Turkey, Osman Koc from Turkey, Nohlab from the UK and Turkey. Czech-based light artists include Amar Mulabegović / the Macula, Jan Šíma, Petr Foltera, Jsn Sládečko and Jakub Zuščín.
“This year is exceptional for us, at Česká spořitelna. We are celebrating a major birthday. We were established 190 years ago, and were given a rather clumsy name: The Savings Treasury for the City of Prague and for Bohemia. We have always been proud of the idea — which was revolutionary in its time — of establishing a savings bank for the poorest classes of people, to teach them to think about the future and to take care of their livelihood and means. Over the course of almost two hundred years, our mission has lost none of its appeal. Today’s spořitelna is showing how to develop it in innovative ways in the digital era,” said Pavel Kysilka, chairman of the board of directors of Česká spořitelna.
“All that is cause for celebration. That is why I cordially invite you, Česká spořitelna’s clients and employees, to celebrate the day with us. I hope the concert brings you the best of experiences and inspiration,” Kysilka added.
Česká spořitelna and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra have been linked since the 19th century. In 1875, Česká spořitelna built the Rudolfinum concert hall, the present home of the orchestra, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary and donated it to the nation.
Česká spořitelna is also becoming the General Sponsor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.
The concert and the video mapping projection will be transmitted for the public onto a large screen located in front of the Rudolfinum.
In addition, there will be a side program for Česká spořitelna’s clients and employees: an open day at the Rudolfinum with narrated tours, musical performances of smaller Czech Philharmonic Orchestra groupings, games and competitions, a photo corner with period costumes and musical instruments and a charitable cafe.
