Prague, May 8 (CTK) – The 71st Prague Spring international music festival, which will start on May 12 and close on June 4, will offer about 50 concerts, which is five more than in 2015, and welcome 14 orchestras, 65 soloists and conductors and 19 chamber orchestras from 23 countries.
Smetana’s My Country will be traditionally on programme of the opening concert which will be played by the Czech Philharmonic with conductor Paavo Jaervi of Estonia.
In addition to Prague’s Municipal House, people will also be able to hear it in the Kampa Park and in cinemas.
The prologue to the festival was a concert given by young Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, a fresh winner of the International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, on Saturday.
A part of the festival will be a Spanish and Baltic cycle. The former will be started by the Al Ayre Espanol choir on May 16. It will render vocal-instrumental compositions from the 17th and 18th centuries, found in U.S. archives.
The Baltic cycle will on May 22 and 24 present the Ciurlionis Quartet of Lithuania and the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Modestas Pitrenas and with mezzosoprano Violeta Urmanao.
Famous pianist Maurizio Pollini will return to the festival after 23 years.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra of London with chief conductor Sakari Oram, countertenor Andreas Scholl, pianist Murray Perahia with the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Berlin State Opera Orchestra with conductor Daniel Barenboim will also appear at the festival.
With two concerts, the festival will mark the 700th birth anniversary of King of Bohemia and Roman Emperor Charles IV (1316-1378).
A weekend of chamber music will offer nine concerts.
More information on the festival is available at www.festival.cz.
The budget of the festival is about 80 to 85 million crowns.
($1=23.534 crowns)
