Prague, Nov 15 (CTK) – The 72nd Prague Spring international music festival next year will be traditionally opened by Smetana’s My Country symphonic poem rendered by the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Daniel Barenboim on May 12, the organisers told journalists yesterday.
The festival will be closed by Seven Gates of Jerusalem by Krzysztof Penderecki who will conduct the Symphony Orchestra of Czech Radio on June 2.
The organisers also presented a new visual style that combines postmodernism, colours and motives of songbirds with musical instruments.
The festival will offer 45 concerts.
The Vienna Philharmonic will perform at Prague Spring for seventh time, but it will open it for the first time next year.
Prague Spring will mark the 450 birth anniversary of Claudio Monteverdi. The Italian choir that devotes itself to the authentic interpretation of old style vocal music, La Compagnia del Madrigale, will present his works.
One of the orchestras to play at Prague Spring is Toronto Symphony Orchestra , which opened the festival three years ago, with its chief conductor Peter Oundjian.
Violinist Maxim Vengerov will return to Prague Spring after 18 years with the orchestra.
German conductor Thomas Hengelbrock, who opened the festival last year, will return next year with the Paris Orchestra.
William Christie, a well-known interpreter of old music, will come back to Prague Spring after 22 years. He will conduct the British Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, which will play Bach and his French contemporaries.
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