Summer Festivities of Early Music
8th international music festival
Journeying through the Centuries
Prague, 14 July – 5 August 2007
“Le goût français” (the French taste) prevailed in four of the festival programmes. The French virtuoso on the baroque cello Bruno Cocset starred in a programme composed of music by Jean-Philipp Rameau and his contemporary Jean Barrière; the legendary French countertenor Gérard Lesne, accompanied by Blandine Rannou on the harpsichord, offered a confrontation of Italian vocal and French keyboard music. Among the highlights of the 8th Summer Festivities of Early Music were two theatrical projects combined with music: the performance by candlelight of Les Fables de La Fontaine and an improvisation on Molière’s comedy Les Fourberies de Scapin, both in a brilliant performance by French actors.
Two additional series were dedicated to music and dance respectively. Within the former appeared the virtuoso on baroque violin Riccardo Minasi, the Austrian ensemble Echo du Danube, who took the audience on a tour of the aristocratic courts of the Holy Empire in the 17th century, and the German ensemble Les Cornets Noirs whose Italian programme followed in the footprints of the forgotten wind instrument cornetto.
The Music and Dance series hosted the Polish dance ensemble Cracovia Danza in a renaissance spectacle inspired by the da Vinci portrait known as Lady with an Ermine and a historical dance performance for which da Vinci designed the costumes and decorations. The Vrtba Garden in the vicinity of the Prague Castle provided an ideal setting for a dance performance outlining the history of the Portuguese dance La Folia prepared by the ensemble in residence Collegium Marianum.
PROGRAMME
French Music and Theatre – Le Goût Français
Co-producers: Festival de Sablé, Institut Français à Pragu, Divadlo ABC
The Tempest
Opening gala concert (A. Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, J. Barrière, J.-Ph. Rameau)
Les Basses Réunies (France)
Bruno Cocset – artistic director (France)
Saturday 14 July 2007, 7.30 pm
Congress Hall of the Czech National Bank, Senovážné náměstí 30, Praha
Beata sirena
Song recital by the renowned countertenor (G. Bononcini, D. Gabrielli, A. Campra, P. Lorenzian)
Gérard Lesne – countertenor (France)
Blandine Rannou – harpsichord (France)
Tuesday 17 July 2007, 7.30 pm
Troja Chateau, U Trojského zámku 1, Praha 7
Fontaine’s Fables
An original combination of the poetry of La Fontaine and the music of Couperin (in the French original)
Jean-Denis Monory – direction, recitation & baroque gesture (France)
Armelle Roux – harpsichord (France)
Friday 20 July 2007, 7.30 pm
ABC Theatre, Vodičkova 28, Praha 1
Les fourberies de Scapin
A baroque musical-theatrical creation inspired by Molière´s comedy (in the French original)
actors: Olivier Martin-Salvan, Bastien Ossart, Julien Cigana (France)
music: Collegium Marianum (Czech Republic)
masks : Teddy Melis
Wednesday 8 August, 2007, 7.30 pm
ABC Theatre, Vodičkova 28, Praha 1
Violino virtuoso
Violin recital by an Italian virtuoso (J. S. Bach, F. M. Veracini, J.-M. Leclair, W. A. Mozart)
Riccardo Minasi – violin (Italy)
Giulia Nuti – harpsichord, pianoforte (Italy)
Sunday 15 July 2007, 7.30 pm
Břevnov Monastery, Terezian Hall, Markétská 1, Praha 6
The Capture of Parnassus
Music at the court of the Holy Roman Empire in the 17th century
Echo du Danube (Austria)
Rainer Johannsen – dulcian
Christian Zincke – artistic director
Thursday 19 July 2007, 7.30 pm
Congress Hall of the Czech National Bank, Senovážné náměstí 30, Praha
Amor Celeste & Amor Terreno
Spanish spiritual and secular songs from the 17th and 18th centuries
Marta Infante – mezzosoprano (Spain)
Manuel Vilas – baroque harp (Spain)
Sunday 22 July 2007, 7.30 pm
Dobříš Chateau, Dobříš 1
Viaggio musicale
A musical journey in the footsteps of the baroque cornet (A. Stradella, G. Legrenzi, T. Merula, D. Castello)
Les Cornets Noirs (Germany)
Thursday 26 July 2007, 7.30 pm
St. Gallus Church, Havelská ul., Praha 1
Music and Dance
Lady with an Ermine
Renaissance spectacle inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci´s famous painting
Cracovia Danza – dance ensemble (Poland)
Romana Agnel – artistic director, choreography
Ars Cantus – music ensemble (Poland)
Tomasz Dobrzański – artistic director
Paweł Winsczyk – direction
Martine Pichon, Monika Polak-Luścińska – costumes
Monday 23 July 2007, 7.30 pm
ABC Theatre, Vodičkova 28, Praha 1
Nobility and Passion
A fascinating history of the baroque dance La Folia
Collegium Marianum – hudební a taneční soubor (Czech Republic)
Jana Semerádová – artistic director
Andrea Eva Miltnerová – choreography
Eva Kovar – costume design
Sunday 5 August 2007, 7.30 pm
Monday 6 August 2007, 7.30 pm
Vrtba Garden, Karmelitská 25, Praha 1
