Long-term Projects
Musica Imperialis
Viennese Baroque music performed on the aristocratic courts of the former Habsburg Monarchy
A new opera project of the Hofmusici ensemble. Its main goal are performances of compositions by Viennese baroque composers in various Czech and Moravian castles. It joins together artistic (performance of artistically valuable pieces), scientific (modern premieres of unknown compositions) and educational aims (propagation of national culture). As a part of the project following pieces have been performed:
- A. Caldara: Il Natale d'Augusto (2003 - modern world premiere);
Mnichovo Hradiště (Baroque Festival).
- J. J. Fux: Trionfo della Fede (2004 - Czech premiere);
Opava (the celebration of the 800th Anniversary of the Arrival of the Order of German Knights to Moravia).
- J. J. Fux: Giunone Placata (2005 - modern world premiere);
Český Krumlov (International conference The World of the Baroque Theatre).
- A. Caldara: Ghirlanda di Fiori (2005 - modern world premiere);
Vranov nad Dyjí (Festival Vranov Music Summer), Olomouc (Festival Baroque 2005), Cesky Krumlov (Theatre festival Miraculum).
- N. Porpora: La Morte d´Ercole (2009 - modern world premiere), Český Krumlov, Baroque theatre.
Antonio Caldara 2006
In the year 2006 we celebrate the 270th anniversary of Antonio Caldara’s death, who was the vice-maestro di capella in the Emperor’s court in Vienna and one of the most important European baroque composers. The ensemble Hofmusici prepares several premieres of his compositions that are connected with the Czech music history.
- A. Caldara: Scipione Africano il Maggiore (2006 - modern world premiere);
Cesky Krumlov (Conference The World of the Baroque Theatre, Festival Miraculum), Fertöd-Esterhaza (Ungary), Vranov nad Dyji (Festival Vranov Music Summer), Kuks (Festival Theatrum).
- A. Caldara: Oratorio di San Giovanni Nepomuceno (2006 - Czech premiere);
Kunin, Olomouc (Festival Baroque 2006), Nepomuk.
Master Pieces of the Baroque Opera - G. F. Händel and his contemporaries
The project was realised in the years 1996-2004 in cooperation with the Czech Händel Society. Within this project following works were performed:
- G. F. Händel: Rodrigo (1996 – Czech premiere);
Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou (Festival Míča’s Musical Summer), Dobříš.
- G. F. Händel: Lucio Cornelio Silla (1996 – Czech premiere);
Dobříš.
- Henry Purcell: Dido and Aeneas (1997);
Litomyšl, Castle Theatre (Festival Smetana’s Litomyšl).
- G. F. Händel: Il Pastor fido/first version (1997 – Czech premiere);
Český Krumlov (Festival of the Ancient Music), German Embassy in Prague, Telč, Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou (Festival Míča’s Musical Summer).
- G. F. Händel: Imeneo (1998);
Dobříš, Prague castle (Festival Prague Spring), Moravský Beroun, Kroměříž.
- G. F. Händel: Flavio, Re de’ Longobardi (1999 – Czech premiere);
Dobříš, Český Krumlov, Náměšť nad Oslavou.
- Pietro Paolo Bencini (1670-1755): Il Sacrifitio d’Abramo (1999 –modern world premiere);
Náchod, Děčín, castle theatre in Mnichovo Hradiště, Frauenkirche (Nürnberg/ Germany).
- Benedetto Marcello: La Giuditta (2000 – modern world premiere);
Český Krumlov.
- Antonio Vivaldi: Orlando finto pazzo (2000 – modern world premiere);
Mnichovo Hradiště, Český Krumlov, Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venetia/Italy (Feste Musicali per San Rocco).
- Alessandro Scarlatti: L’Amor Generoso (2002 – modern world premiere);
Brno, Pardubice, Mnichovo Hradiště, Český Krumlov (international conference „The World of the Baroque Theatre“)
- Alessandro Scarlatti: Despina e Niso (2002 – modern world premiere);
Kuks (Festival Theatrum).
- G. F. Händel: Sosarme, Re di Media (2003, 2004 – Czech premiere);
Mnichovo Hradiště, Český Krumlov (international conference „The World of the Baroque Theatre“), castle Gottesaue, Karlsruhe/Germany, Göttingen/Germany (Internationale Händel-Festspiele).
- J. A. Hasse: La Semele, Serenata a tre (Naples 1726). Modern world premiere (2007). Castle Vranov nad Dyji, Hall of Ancestors.
- A. Vivaldi: Argippo. World-premiere of the lost Vivladi's Prague opera.
Prague (Spanish Hall of the Prague Castle, 2008).
- Pietro Metastasio & Johann Adolf Hasse: Tito Vespasiano, ovvero La Clemenza di Tito
(Titus Vespasianus, or Tito’s Clemency)
MODERN WORLD PREMIERE OF A BAROQUE OPERA
under the auspice of Mr. Karel Schwarzenberg
and with the support of the Middle Europe Investments (MEI) investment group
Another modern world premiere of a Baroque opera will come to life at the III. annual Festival of Baroque Art at the Český Krumlov Baroque Castle Theatre. The decision to renew this particular Baroque opera was based on its relationship to the musical history of Bohemian lands. The first two performances of the opera following its premiere in Pesaro, Italy (1735) were not held in Italy or any other European metropolis, but actually in Moravia – at the castles in Vyškov (1736), and Jaroměřice nad Rokytnou (1737). A year latter, Hasse re-worked the opera for a performance in Dresden which was then followed by performances in nearly all of Europe’s cultural centres (Naples, Venice, Ferrara, Verona, Bologna, Madrid, London, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, and more). The study of this work, representing one of the pinnacles of the genre of Italian Baroque Opera (dramma per musica), is also a demonstration of the exceptional cultural maturity of the Bohemian lands during the High Baroque. The performance of Hasse’s opera will take place on the basis of hitherto unpublished sources preserved in the libraries of Naples, Rome, Milan, London, and Vienna.
Johann Adolf Hasse was one of the most important and renowned composers of his time. He was born in 1699 in Bergedorf near Hamburg, left to Naples at a young age and before long became a leading figure in the Italian opera theatre scene. He lived and created in the main centers of cultural activity of the day (Naples, Venice, Dresden, and Vienna), was in contact with the most influential courts of Europe, the great theatres of Italy, and the leading church institutions. He was considered a peerless model throughout the entire 18th century, was respected by both Bach and Haydn, Voltaire called him the “hero of the century”, and young Mozart longed to “become immortal like him”. Following his death in Venice in 1783, however, Hasse’s work fell into oblivion and it wasn’t until recently that he has begun to return to the centre of interest of musicologists, performers, and listeners alike.
The libretto of the opera Tito Vespasiano ovvera La Clemenza di Tito is the work of Pietro Metastasio (1698-1782), the famous Imperial court poet of Charles VI and Maria Theresa. Hasse’s version is one of the first musical versions of this libretto, later made famous by W.A. Mozart with his corunation opera for Prague in 1791. Hasse’s version, however, reached a much higher level of popularity during its time. Since its premiere in 1735, the following 40 years show evidence of more than 20 various performances of this work, a fact which makes it one of the most important operas of the 18th century.
Performers:
Pavel Valenta (Tito Vespasiano)
Jana Dvořáková (Vitellia)
Veronika Mráčková Fučíková (Sesto)
Jana Bínová Koucká (Servilia)
Lenka Čermáková (Annio)
Pavla Štěpničková (Publio)
Choir and baroque orchestra Hof-Musici, Szabolcs Illés (1st violin),
directed by Ondřej Macek (harpsichord),
direction and Baroque choreography by Zuzana Vrbová
The Festival of Baroque Art in Český Krumlov was founded in 2008. The dramaturgy of this festival is based on scenic interpretation of Baroque opera in the Český Krumlov Castle Theatre. Opera is a characteristic genre of the Baroque, combining and connecting all basic period types of art of the period (music, poetry, fine arts, stage movement, and dance). The festival’s exclusivity is emphasized by the fact that the works studied and performed are those which have never before been published or performed in our time. Works of relevant interest are chosen based on intense research throughout the libraries and archives of Europe.
Ticket sales:
Infocentrum, nám. Svornosti 2, Český Krumlov,
Tel.: 380 704 622-3, Fax: 380 704 619, E-mail: info@ckrumlov.cz
Castle information centre, Zámek 57 I. nádvoří, Český Krumlov
Tel.: 380 725 110, E-mail: info@visitceskykrumlov.cz
