Prague Spring to be opened by the Welsh
NewsDetails of next year’s Prague Spring Festival were given today.
One of the most striking events is that the great curtain-raiser of Smetana’s Ma Vlast will be performed by the orchestra of Welsh National Opera, conducted by their Czech music director, Tomas Hanus.
It’s a major international showcase for the Welsh and a rare return for Hanus, who has gone ten years since he last appeared at Prague Spring.
At least the Czechs appreciate WNO. Pity the same cannot be said for ACE and our own culturally impaired Government!
Hanus is from bustling Brno, where I am for the next few days for the Janáček Festival. He has brought his WNO here before for From a Dead House, and next week they return with a Britten/Janáček concert and The Makropulos Affair. Likewise the Grand Théâtre de Genève is here for a concert and Káťa Kabanová under its own Czech maestro, Tomáš Netopil. And Norman has already mentioned Jakub Hrůša’s performances of the Mass and a different staging of From a Dead House. Rather rich. And no Praha hoards. There are piano recitals and chamber music too. Full program:
https://janacek-brno.cz/en/program/
How wonderful! Yet again the comparison with the UK Government’s lack of appreciation of the arts is palpable.
If anyone wants to hear it in Cardiff, they are doing it in January at St David’s Hall.