The St. Wenceslas Music Festival
STYLE
POSITIV 2/2022 ǀ 95
ITALY: Passion and virtuosity
The resident ensemble Collegium
Marianum, along with Czechia’s best
baroque violinist, Lenka Torgersen, and
phenomenal flautist Jana Semerádová
will be the first to display the beauty
of Baroque Italy at the WMF. Their
performance, ‘Vivaldi / Händel / Tartini—
Clash of the Titans’, will take place at
the Church of St. John the Baptist in Hlučín
at the start of the festival (5 September).
This lineup will then accompany
the remarkable Italian soprano Roberta
Mameli at Ostrava’s oldest church, the
Church of St. Wenceslas. Currently,
Mameli is deemed to be among the
global elites with her baroque repertoire,
due to her ‘silky smooth and incredibly
agile voice, able to capture an infinitely
wide range of emotions’ (7 September).
She will bring a thrilling set of arias from
operas by Vivaldi, Caldara and Händel to
Ostrava, with which she has already awed
audiences in Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam,
Lyon and Barcelona.
Violin virtuoso Jiří Vodička, along
with the ensemble Barocco Sempre
Giovane, will then perform a series
of incredibly challenging concerts by
Locatelli, Tartini (Devil’s Trill) and Corelli
(9 September, Bolatice, Church of
St. Stanislaus; 10 September, Ostrava
Pustkovec, Church of Sts. Cyril and
Methodius). The charismatic violinist
enrolled at the University of Ostrava
at the young age of fourteen. Thanks
to his talent, not only has he become
one of the youngest concertmasters for
the Czech Philharmonic but one of the
most respected Czech soloists ever. His
skill with the violin is simply breathtaking.
Another noteworthy talent of the new
generation is the flautist Michaela
Koudelková (specializing in playing
the baroque recorder), who managed
to be among the six finalists, out of
a total of 2,000 participants from eighty-
eight countries around the world, in
the American Kaleidoscope competition.
She will reveal part of her championship
performance in the ‘Händel / Corelli—
Inspired by Rome’ show on 10 September
(in Rychvald at the Hus Choir) and
11 September at the newly reconstructed
Nová Horka chateau near Studénka (at the
Chapel of the Finding of the Holly Cross).
Finally, one of Czechia’s best mezzo-
sopranos, Markéta Cukrová, will pay
homage to female baroque Italian
composers by performing the unjustly
neglected works of female composers
from the famous Giulia Caccini family.
Her chamber recitals in Dolní Benešov
(25 September at the Church of St. Martin)
and Fulnek (26 September at the World of
Komenský Fulnek) will be accompanied
by Kateřina Ghannudi (playing the harp)
and Jan Krejča (playing the theorbo).
FRANCE: Charm and creativity
The chamber ensemble LA QUINTA PARS,
founded while its members were students
at the prestigious Conservatoire National
Supérieur in Lyon, will bring polyphonic
Renaissance chansons and instrumental
compositions to the WMF. These young
instrumentalists, hailing from France, Chili,
Japan and Czechia, focus on the historical
and dynamic restitution of Renaissance
music — the fascinating undiscovered
heritage of famous French musicians
of the 16
th
century. Their one-of-a-kind
concert can be experienced in Orlová on
20 September (at the Evangelical Church)
and in Jablunkov on 22 September (at
the Church of the Corpus Christi).
Concerts in churches are truly a unique
experience! www.shf.cz.
nistek Markéta Cukrová, která představí
neprávem opomíjené ženské autorky
ze slavného rodu Giulia Cacciniho. Její
proslulé komorní recitály v Dolním Be-
nešově (25. 9. kostel sv. Martina) a Fu-
lneku (26. 9. Svět Komenského Fulnek)
doprovodí prvotřídní hráči na barokní
nástroje Kateřina Ghannudi (na harfu)
a Jan Krejča (na teorbu).
FRANCIE: šarm a kreativita
Vícehlasé renesanční chansony a instru-
mentální skladby přiveze na SHF ko-
morní ansámbl LA QUINTA PARS, který
vznikl při studiích jeho členů na prestiž-
ním Conservatoire National Supérieur
v Lyonu. Mladí instrumentalisté z Fran-
cie, Chile, Japonska a Česka se zaměřu-
jí na historickou a dynamickou restituci
renesanční hudby – neznámého a fasci-
nujícího dědictví věhlasných hudebníků
Francie XVI. století. Jejich unikátní pro-
gram zazní 20. 9. v Orlové (evangelický
kostel) a 22. 9. v Jablunkově (kostel Bo-
žího Těla).
Koncert v kostele je zážitek!
Více na www.shf.cz
The St. Wenceslas Music Fesval:
Music in Style
Italian and French music. Two venerable superpowers. Two dierent musical spheres…
An introducon of this sort could lead to a capvang lecture on the history of music, lled with
samples of the most exquisite musical performances and their expression of heart-wrenching
emoon through poecs and remarkable musical mastery. The history of Renaissance, Baroque
and classical music tells the tale of two rivals: France, with its love-lled serenades and Italy,
ignited with passion. The dazzling magic of these composions is brought to life in the modern
day thanks to ensembles focused on the authenc performance of early music—that is,
musicians who have mastered anque instruments and top-class singers who make skillful use of
techniques specic to the genre. Soon, it will be me for these virtuosos to present their cra
en masse, at the largest domesc fesval focused on this me period: The St. Wenceslas Music
Fesval (WMF, 2-28 September 2022).