Music Festivals in Prague

Prague is a year round Music Festival. In this stunningly beautiful city in the heart of Europe with a population of around 1.3 million there are three opera houses and on an average day/evening around twenty concerts in superb concert halls, churches, palaces and museums. Many tourists are introduced to classical music here. Often I have been at concerts and overheard conversations such as ‘We did not realise string quartets would sound so good – we must go to some concerts when we get home!!’

Czech Orchestras are famous. The world renowned Czech Philharmonic and, to my mind, the equally wonderful Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra are known throughout the world. In addition there are several other Symphony Orchestras and many Chamber Orchestras, which are often on tour in Europe, Asia and America – the Suk, the Talich and the Prague Chamber Orchestras, are among the most highly regarded.

Sitting in a café with friends including some leading musicians we counted the number of first rate String Quartets in Prague who regularly tour all over the world for concerts and recordings. We came up with a figure of over twenty – then later remembered more. The great Czech quartets – Prazak, Kocian, Stamic, Talich, Wihan and Skampa being among some of the greatest worldwide with about twenty other quartets of a high level. The next generation of young quartets such as the Herold ensure that this superb standard will be continued. There are many other chamber music ensembles – piano trios, the most famous being the Czech Trio and the Guarneri Trio, wind ensembles also the Czech nonet.

The year starts with an excellent Winter Festival – opera and concerts of the highest standard. Prague Spring is one of the most prestigious Festivals in Europe with wonderful concerts from 12 May – the anniversary of Smetana’s death. In the summer there are many outdoor concerts in gardens and palaces including the Mozart concerts in Villa Bertramka with its fascinating Mozart Museum. August brings the International String Quartet Festival and the Verdi Festival at the State Opera House, followed by the Autumn Festival and Jazz Festival.

The International String Quartet Festival was started in 1994 by MusicArt Prague agency. The idea to stage a specialised String Quartet Festival in a city with so many great quartets and bring some quartets from abroad seemed an exciting venture. Chamber Music Holidays became involved the first year bringing eighty-four people from all over the world to the Festival and with sightseeing, lectures and coaching for amateur musicians it was an exhilarating and busy time. Since then many people from all continents joined our Holidays and have been immersed in string quartet music with amateur musicians being coached by some of the greatest quartet players. Czech musicians, in my experience, are somehow different from others; they happily join the groups in coaching sessions, lifting the playing standard as well as giving invaluable advice. One of the amateur players was to play a Dvorak Quartet in a concert shortly after leaving Prague so at one of the coaching sessions Josef Kekula the second violinist of the renowned Stamic Quartet copied his part with fingering and bowing and gave it to him – an enormous help! There is a friendly atmosphere among musicians when at our parties and dinners, members of various quartets join us and are happy to get together with our group and their colleagues Czech musicians are also unusual in the way they help each other. For example recently the Herold Quartet had an important concert but suddenly their first violinist was not able to be there so they phoned Pavel Hula, the first violinist of the Kocian Quartet, and he was a fantastic substitute! It was a most successful concert!! Musicians from other countries say this is impossible elsewhere.

The International String Quartet Festival and Chamber Music Holiday in August this year will include performances by such world renowned quartets as the Prazak, Kocian, Talich, Stamic, Nostitz and the Herold. The venues of the concerts are spectacular including the Mirror Chapel of the Clementinum, The Gregr Hall of the magnificent Art Nouveau Obecni Dum (Municipal House), Villa Bertramka, St George’s Basilica in Prague Castle and the Lichtenstein Palace – the home of the Music Department of the Academy of Performing Arts. Other magnificent concert venues include the Rudolfinum with its superb Dvorak and Suk Halls, churches of St Simon and St Jude, St Nicholas in the Old Town Square, St Nicholas in the Lesser Town Square, the National Museum, the Spanish Synagogue. The grandest Concert Hall in my opinion is the Spanish Hall in Prague Castle.

In the three Opera Houses we are always delighted to see so many children at afternoon performances. Beautifully dressed and behaved they obviously know the stories and the music and this bodes well for the continuation of knowledgeable audiences for the future. The National Theatre set on the banks of the Vltava has a very high reputation internationally – I cannot recall seeing any performance, opera or ballet here which has not been excellent – especially the Czech operas. The sumptuous State Opera House is the largest of the three and usually has traditional repertoire. The Estates Theatre is a real gem. Not as large as the others it was here where Mozart conducted the first performance of Don Giovanni. I have seen the traditional and the modern productions of this opera and have been entranced by both. There is also the Opera Mozart and the puppet theatres which are well worth a visit as well as the Black Theatre and Latina Magica.

The National Museum is the stunning setting for a concert by the Stamic Quartet.

Prague has a wealth of Museums and Galleries. For music lovers Villa Bertramka is a must. A beautifully laid out museum in the home of the Dusek family where Mozart stayed while writing Don Giovanni. You can wander in the lovely gardens and sit in the pleasant café. The concerts are outdoors on several days in the summer otherwise in the intimate concert hall. The Smetana Museum, set on the banks of his beloved River Vltava, is small but most informative and a lovely setting for concerts. The Dvorak Museum in Villa America is also of interest and has concerts. The Martinu Institute and the Museum of Czech Music with its wide ranging exhibition in the Lesser Town are fascinating to music lovers.

People return year after year to the International String Quartet Festival forming a like minded family of string quartet lovers, both amateur players and listeners, from all over the world. Prague is indeed, one of the major musical cities in the world and a year round Music Festival.