About the festival
Alexander Zemlinsky, the conductor, composer, teacher and music director worked at the New German Theatre from 1911 to 1927, and led the house to international success. He expanded the repertoire and premiered numerous works, including his own compositions, but also for examle Arnold Schönberg's Erwartung, whic will also have a new premiere at the State Opera in November 2021. Also music by Ernst Krenek, Paul Hindemith, Erich Wolfgang Korngold and Franz Schreker was performed under his aegis. He succeeded in bringing great artists to Prague, including Maria Hussa, Paul Pella, Friedrich Schorr, Leo Slezak, Richard Tauber and Lotte Lehmann. In 1933, Zemlinky fled from Berlin, first to Vienna and then to the USA in 1938.
To mark the 150th anniversary of his birth on 14 October 2021, a festival will be held in his honour in Prague from 8 to 10 October 2021. During the festival a world premiere, the fragment of his opera Malva based on a story by Maxim Gorky will be premiered at the State Opera on 10 October 2021, orchestrated and edited by Antony Beaumont. In addition, four concerts with works by Zemlinsky, his contemporaries and composers close to him, will be part of the programme during the festival. They will be presented at the Czech Museum of Music and the State Opera, interpreted by Karl-Heinz Steffens & Ensemble, the State Opera Choir and Orchestra, the Zemlinsky Quartet and several vocal soloists. The concerts will be preceded by dramaturgical introductions and lectures by Antony Beaumont, who has devoted his entire professional life to the study of the personality of Alexander Zemlinsky.
Guest of honour: Antony Beaumont
Dramaturgy: Kai Hinrich Müller
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CONCERT 1: Zemlinsky–Brahms–Berg
Johannes Brahms Trio for piano, clarinet and violoncello in A minor Op. 114
Alban Berg Four Pieces for clarinet and piano Op. 5
Alexander Zemlinsky Trio for piano, clarinet and violoncello in D minor Op. 3
Clarinet: Karl-Heinz Steffens
Piano: Michal Friedlander
Violoncello: Claudio Bohórquez
CONCERT 2: Zemlinsky–Schönberg–Berg
Alban Berg Three pieces from the “Lyric Suite”
Alexander Zemlinsky Six songs after poems by Maurice Maeterlinck Op. 13
Arnold Schönberg Chamber Symphony No. 1 for 15 solo instruments Op. 9
State Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Karl-Heinz Steffens
Mezzosoprano: Štěpánka Pučálková
CONCERT 3: Zemlinsky–Schönberg
Alexander Zemlinsky String quartet No. 2 Op. 15
Arnold Schönberg String quartet No. 2 Op. 10
Zemlinsky Quartet
Mezzosoprano: Markéta Cukrová
CONCERT 4: Zemlinsky–Mozart
Alexander Zemlinsky String quartet No. 3 Op. 19
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quartet No. 19 in C Major, „Dissonance“
Zemlinsky Quartet
CONCERT 5: Zemlinsky150
Alexander Zemlinsky
Malva, opera fragment, instrumanted by Antony Beaumont (world premiere)
Malva: Jana Sibera
Jacob: Josef Moravec
Wasili: Jiří Hájek
Hochzeitsgesang
Frühlingsglaube and Geheimnis
Lyric Symphony Op. 18
State Opera Chorus
State Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Karl-Heinz Steffens
Soprano: Johanni van Oostrum
Baritone: Michael Nagy
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