Zlatá Pecka Festival Celebrates Czech Music and Heritage
The 2024 Zlatá Pecka festival, organized by renowned singer Dagmar Pecková, joins the festivities commemorating the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana‘s birth. Entitled ”In music, the life of the Czechs,” the festival features 16 programs that bridge historical and contemporary musical styles.
The festival officially opens on August 25th with a mass celebrated by Bishop Václav Malý. A quartet of singers – Ludmila Pergelová, Tereza Papoušková, Daniel Kfelíř, and Andrej Vancel – will perform alongside a musical program in the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in Chrudim.
Later that evening, the city cinema in Chrudim will screen Petr Václav’s “Il Boemo,” a film dedicated to the renowned 18th-century Czech composer Josef Mysliveček. Prior to the screening, a discussion with some of the film’s actors will take place, featuring soprano Simona Šaturová, whose voice features prominently in the film’s narrative.
The following day, August 26th, the Fibich Hall of the Chrudim Museum will host the opening concert. The Chrudim Museum Orchestra and Chorus, alongside baritone Daniel Kfelíř, will perform a program showcasing some of the most beautiful arias from Czech operas.
Throughout the festival, various other cities in the region will host musical performances. An organ concert with Simona Šaturová and Pavlo Svoboda will take place in the church of St. Lawrence in Vysoké Mýt, while Ondřej Ruml and the Jazz Quintet will perform in the cultural center in Holice with a program titled ”Jdeme na Ježka.”
Theater performances are also part of the festival’s offerings. The Křížští theater volunteers group will stage “Česká nebe in Havlíčková Brod” at the Janáčk pub, while the Jára Cimrman Theater will perform the same production in the Karl Pippich Theater in Chrudim. Other venues will host plays such as “Carmen y Carmen” by Jan Jirán.
The festival concludes on September 7th in Pardubice with a final concert featuring young artists accompanied by the Hradec Králové Philharmonic and conductor Stanislav Vavřínek.