See what’s coming up on on the BCSA’s Events Calendar.
The Bedřich Smetana Má vlast (My Country) exhibition at the National Museum in Prague commemorates the personality of Bedřich Smetana and one of his most important compositions. Through authentic notes, correspondence and, above all, scores, it presents the individual symphonic poems as the composer himself conceived them, the historical context in which they were composed... Read more »
Janáček's powerful tale of love and heartache in a searingly beautiful staging. Trapped in an unhappy marriage Káťa is drawn into a passionate affair. As a wild storm brews, she is overwhelmed by her actions. Damiano Michieletto’s raw staging cuts to the heart of Káťa’s guilt and despair as she makes a choice between love and life itself.... Read more »
This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the British Czech and Slovak Association (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink, chat (maybe practise your Czech or Slovak) and get to know each other in a relaxed and informal setting. Everyone interested in Czech and/or Slovak matters is most welcome to join us. We... Read more »
New Music Director of The Royal Opera Jakub Hrůša leads the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in a rich programme of Czech and Hungarian music. From the hallucinatory orchestral colours of Béla Bartók’s scandalous Suite from The Miraculous Mandarin, to Antonín Dvořák’s rarely-heard cantata for soloists and chorus, The Spectre’s Bride, an evening of extraordinary musical storytelling... Read more »
Trio Gaspard, hailed by Fanfare for its ‘chameleon-like ability to adapt’ to a vast array of musical styles, follows its residency at Wigmore Hall in 2023-24 with an exploration of two dark-hued works that project the tremendous power and rhythmic energy of Czech music at its finest. general sale opens 23 April Bohuslav Martinů Piano... Read more »
Twenty years after the Pavel Haas Quartet triumphed in the Prague Spring Competition, their intelligent artistry, distinguished by intoxicating tonal refinement and searing energy, continues to mature and deepen. They move from Martinů’s acerbic Third String Quartet to the old-world charm of Korngold’s Op.26 and yearning romanticism of Dvořák’s last string quartet. Bohuslav Martinů String... Read more »
A lecture by Richard Bassett. At the age of just twenty-three Empress Maria Theresa succeeded to the Habsburg domains only to find them contested by almost every European power. Over the next forty years she became a fierce leader and opponent, as well as a devoted wife and mother to sixteen children. Her radical reforms... Read more »
Composed between 1923 and 1925, The Makropulos Case (or The Makropulos Affair) is characterised by its unique, modernist musical style that aligns closely with the opera’s dark and philosophical themes. Janáček’s score employs short and repetitive motifs that mirror the psychological tension and emotional complexity of the opera’s characters. Marked by sharp contrasts, rhythmic irregularities and unexpected... Read more »
Bohemia and Moravia, historic regions of the Czech Republic, cultivated a rich tradition of cello playing. Steven Isserlis and Connie Shih trace its development from the music of cellist-composer Jan Stiastny (c.1764 - c.1830), ‘the Beethoven of the violoncello’, to striking works by Janáček and Martinů, the latter written in exile following the Nazi annexation... Read more »
A 300-year-old woman confronts mortality, identity and lost love in this concert performance of Janáček’s intense operatic drama. The Makropoulos Affair contains some of Janáček’s most compelling music, starting with its Prelude that hints at the 16th-century birth year of Emilia Marty, complete with pounding timpani and fanfares. From there, Janáček spins a taut drama culminating... Read more »
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