Brno, March 23 (CTK) – Milan Kundera, a French writer of Czech origin, joined a declaration calling for the construction of a new concert hall in of Brno, his home town, representatives of the Brno Philharmonic orchestra and the Brno City Hall said on Wednesday.
The declaration was signed by mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena, conductors Jakub Hrusa and Tomas Netopil.
The 86-year-old Kundera does not engage in Czech public life as a rule. He signed the declaration also because his father had been a pianist and a student of composer Leos Janacek, after whom the new concert hall will be named.
Kozena and Hrusa were born in Brno as well.
Czech writer Milan Uhde said his father had told him after World War Two that the new concert hall would be soon built. “After the past 70 years this idea turned into a dream. It is high time to fulfil it,” Uhde said.
Archaeological research on the site of the future Janacek Cultural Centre recently ended and construction works started. The cost of the construction project is estimated at 1.3 billion crowns.
Brno does not have a concert hall that would be big enough. Brno Philharmonic plays in the Besedni dum, but this hall is too small and it often has to stage concerts in the Janacek Theatre, which does not have ideal acoustic, however. Kozena would not perform in the Janacek Theatre due to this, her manager David Dittrich said.
If there was a new concert hall, Kozena could invite many of her foreign colleagues to perform in Brno, he said.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka, Culture Minister Daniel Herman, Brno Mayor Petr Vokral and Brno Region’s governor Michal Hasek talked about the building of the new concert hall. Financing of the project is the key issue.
