2024-07-15 00:41:39
The Krumlov Festival, which begins this Friday, July 12, and will last until August 3 at various locations in the South Bohemian city, will feature over four dozen concerts. Among the most anticipated will be the performance of the Spanish baritone Plácid Domingo. Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorová will perform for the first time in the Czech Republic with horn player and conductor Radek Baborák.
The opening and closing concert of the Krumlov festival will be accompanied by Jiří Bubeníček’s ballet choreography. “The theme of this year’s ‘Muses that inspire and create’ characterizes creativity, thanks to which extraordinary musical works were created. The dramaturgy weaves together the stories of women who have influenced the lives of composers, as well as those who create themselves and perform at the festival,” says Gabriela Rachidi, executive director of the event.
This year, she joins the Year of Czech Music. The name covers a cultural event commemorating significant anniversaries of personalities every ten years, this year led by the commemoration of 200 years since the birth of Bedřich Smetana. His symphonic poem Má vlast will open the show this Friday in the city park. Under the baton of Alena Hron, the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava will perform in an unusual connection with the ballet company Les Ballets Bubeníček.
At the same place a day later, the eighty-three-year-old baritone Plácido Domingo will perform with a program in which opera melodies by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, Georges Bizet or Franz Lehár will be heard. One of the most famous living singers will visit the festival for the third time. He was here for the first time in 2011, and last arrived in September 2021.
“Its persistent patronage confirms that the Krumlov Festival has long been one of the world’s top cultural events,” says Gabriela Rachidi. The baritone has faced criticism in recent years after dozens of women accused him of sexual harassment in the media. He denied the allegations and none of the cases ever went to trial, but because of it Domingo lost, for example, his cooperation with New York’s Metropolitan Opera and had to resign from his position at the Los Angeles Opera.
In Krumlov, the native of Madrid will perform with the Spanish soprano Serena Sáenz, who recently debuted at the Vienna State Opera, and the Czech mezzo-soprano Ester Pavlů, who regularly performs in Vienna and the Prague State Opera. “It will be my first meeting with Domingo, I’m really looking forward to him,” says Ester Pavlů. “I will sing Lehár’s Lippen schweigen duet with him, which of course I appreciate, and I have also included a zarzuela in the program, which he is close to. It will be a premiere for me, I have never sung this genre before,” she adds.
Placido Domingo v friction 2021. | Photo: Reuters
The conclusion of the festival on August 3 is to belong to William Shakespeare, whose work inspired many composers. Krumlov will see his play Romeo and Juliet in the musical conception of Vincenzo Bellini, Charles Gounod, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Sergei Prokofiev, all of which is again complemented by Jiří Bubeníček’s ballet choreography. Translator Martin Hilský will talk about the play itself before the concert in the castle study center.
Young dancers can attend the Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses course during the show. “It is led by the world’s top ballet stars, this year, for example, Vladimir Malakhov, described as the dancer of the century. We teach students how to establish a connection with the audience and create an unforgettable experience,” said Jiří Bubeníček, artistic director and founder of the courses.
The event will also include a so-called festival zone with an accompanying program including other concerts, workshops, theaters, painting or discussions with musicians. Visitors will find it in two places this year. The first is located in the Monastery Garden, where the program starts already this Thursday and where the so-called Philharmonic will be held. The organizers describe it as “a concert for adults where small children are welcome”. The second place is to be a city park, where those interested can try, among other things, a Formula 1 pit track simulator, which is a pit stop for a racing car to change tires, or see James Watt’s steam show. This includes models of historical manufacturing and industrial operations, such as a steam mill, a forge, František Křižík’s electric generator or a steam saw.
The Krumlov festival has been held since 1992, and has welcomed over 12,000 artists from 40 countries. Among them were the opera star Jonas Kaufmann or the famous singer Renée Flemingová, as well as the singer Karel Gott. This year, the organizers manage approximately 36 million crowns.
Apart from Český Krumlov, the concerts will also take place elsewhere, one such place being Molo Lipno. The Romani band Galiani Gypsy Jazz will perform here on July 17. Its principal and first violinist is Milan Galyáš, who also works in the North Bohemian Philharmonic Teplice and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra.
Video: Plácido Domingo sings Nessun dorma
Plácido Domingo sings the aria Nessun Dorma from the last act of Turandot by Giacomo Puccini. Photo: Profimedia.cz | Video: Art