Zemlinsky 150 music festival

One month ago, the National Theater Opera and the State Opera organized the Zemlinsky 150 music festival on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the prominent composer and director of the New German Theater, Alexander Zemlinsky. During the weekend, 4 chamber concerts and the world premiere of a fragment of Zemlinsky's unfinished opera Malva took place. Opera soloists Jiří Hájek as Wasilli and Josef Moravec as Jacob waged an imaginary fight for Malva on the stage of the State Opera, performed by Jana Sibera. In the second part of the concert, soloists Johanni van Oostrum and Michael Nagy performed the Lyric Symphony accompanied by the State Opera Orchestra and the State Opera Choir. The Concert was recorded by the Czech TV. You can watch the concert here.

The festival was opened by the State Opera Music Director Karl-Heinz Steffens (playing the clarinet) accompanied by pianist Michal Friedlander and cellist Claudio Bohorquez at the National Museum - Czech Museum of Music. During the weekend, the Zemlinsky Quartet also performed together with mezzo-soprano Markéta Cukrová in the National Museum – Czech Museum of Music and in the Jewish Museum - Spanish Synagogue. During the morning matinee at the State Opera Štěpánka Pučálková performed Zemlinsky´s Six songs after poems by Maurice Maeterlinck. The festival program was combined with lectures by musicologist Antony Beaumont, who devoted almost his entire professional life to study Zemlinsky´s work and life and he also instrumented an opera fragment from the unfinished Malva for your festival.
Take a look at the photos from the festival. Photography: Serghei Gherciu