More Than Just the Music
One of the highlights of the 80th edition of the festival is its exceptional orchestral series, which will feature not only leading Czech orchestras: the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra – but also the Boston and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, the NHK Symphony Orchestra from Tokyo, the London Symphony Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, returning to the festival after an incredible thirty-three years since its last appearance in 1992.
But the festival will not be confined to concert halls: music lovers are also invited to the ČEZ Open Air Zone in front of the Rudolfinum, to tune in via radio or television, or to visit the Prague Spring Art Salon, an exhibition featuring leading Czech visual artists and designers, culminating in a charity auction in support of future artistic projects of the festival.
Through the Window of Time
The origins of the Prague Spring Festival are connected with the first celebrations marking the end of World War II and since then it has been attracting fans of music and first-class performers. Leonard Bernstein, later to become a noted conductor, made his international debut at the Prague Festival in 1946 and 1947.
There are many other famous performers, who have graced the festival, such as violinists David Oistrakh, Yehudi Menuhin and Shlomo Mintz; pianists Sviatoslav Richter, Arthur Rubinstein and Rudolf Firkušný, along with singers Galina Vishnevskaya, who met her professional and life partner Mstislav Rostropovich at the Prague Spring Festival, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dagmar Pecková and Magdalena Kožená, Peter Schreier, Luciano Pavarotti and Peter Dvorský.
Concerts and performances held within the festival are staged throughout the whole of Prague, so apart from excellent music presentations you can relish the historical backdrops of monasteries, churches and museums. However, the main festival activities are centred on the majestic building of Rudolfinum on the bank of the River Vltava and the Municipal House, a true gem of Art Nouveau architecture.
