A Thousand and One Nights / Shéhérazade
The fairy-tale world of the legend of A Thousand and One Nights comes to life with Ravel and Rimsky-Korsakov. Oriental rhythms, acrobatic creations, stage dance, and the velvety voice of Fatma Said narrating the story of Scheherazade.
This concert is part of the Opening Festival Package, which includes three following concerts:
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- A Thousand and One Nights / Shéhérazade , 17.7. 21:00, Summer Riding Hall Český Krumlov
- Vondráček & Rachmaninov, 18.7. 19:30, Riding Hall Český Krumlov
- Hejl & St. Wenceslas Chorale , 19.7. 20:00, St. Nicolas Church in Boletice
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Artists
Fatma Said - soprano
Losers Cirque Company
Petr Horníček - director and choreographer
Petr Altrichter - conductor
Prague Philharmonia
Program
Maurice Ravel: Scheherazade (Three Poems for Voice and Orchestra), M. 41
Niklaj Rimskij-Korsakov: Scheherazade (Symphonic suite), op. 35
Concert without intermission
Fatma Said
Egyptian soprano Fatma Said, a native of Cairo, is one of the most distinctive singers of her generation. She was the first Egyptian woman to study at the Accademia Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where her brilliant voice and artistic personality quickly attracted international attention. Today she performs at leading opera and concert venues and is also an exceptional interpreter of the song repertoire. An exclusive artist with Warner Classics, she has released three acclaimed albums – El Nour (Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, Opus Klassik), Kaleidoscope and Lieder, which critics have called one of the most remarkable song recordings of recent years. She has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Boston Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, La Scala, Staatsoper Berlin, Carnegie Hall, and Royal Albert Hall. She is a recipient of the European Cultural Award and the Rafik Hariri Award and is also involved in UN social and cultural projects. In the 2025/26 season, she will perform in Monte Carlo, Munich, London, Madrid, and Paris, among other places, and will collaborate with Giovanni Antonini and the Lucerne Symphony Orchestra.
Petr Altrichter
Petr Altrichter is one of the most important Czech conductors, renowned for his dynamic and profound interpretation of the symphonic repertoire. He comes from a musical family and studied French horn and conducting at the conservatory in Ostrava and at JAMU in Brno. He gained international recognition in 1976 at a competition in Besançon, after which he worked as Václav Neumann’s assistant at the Czech Philharmonic. After an engagement with the Brno Philharmonic, he became chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra in 1990, with which he has performed all over the world. From 1993 he was music director of the Southwest German Philharmonic Orchestra in Constance, made his debut in Great Britain with the English Chamber Orchestra and from 1997 to 2001 he led the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. He later headed the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and regularly collaborates with the Czech Philharmonic, the Slovak Philharmonic, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra. He has guest conducted ensembles such as the NHK Symphony, BBC Symphony, London Philharmonic, and Royal Danish Orchestra. His repertoire includes primarily Czech, Russian, and German music (Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Martinů, Shostakovich, Mahler, Bruckner).
Justin Svoboda
Justin Svoboda is a Czech presenter, storyteller, and actor. He has more than 20 years of experience in the field of presenting and has hosted more than 500 events, from intimate gatherings to congress halls and sports arenas. Storytelling is a key artistic medium for him: he tells both cheerful and thoughtful stories in theaters, at festivals, and through workshops. He studied Alternative and Puppet Theater at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (DAMU). After twelve years of employment, he became a freelancer in 2015. In addition to Czech, he also speaks English and German. His unique specialization lies in promoting storytelling, which he describes as “slow art – cinema in your head.”
Losers Cirque Company
Losers Cirque Company is a Prague-based new circus group that has created more than twenty original productions in over ten years of existence and has established itself on the domestic scene and on international stages. It combines breathtaking acrobatics, dance movement, and live music in projects that emphasize pushing the boundaries of human creativity and possibilities. Its home base is Prague’s BRAVO! Theater (originally the Branické Theater), where it originates and regularly presents its productions. The project was founded by Petr Horníček and Zdeněk Moravec as the “United Arts” production platform, bringing together a permanent team of actors, dancers, and acrobats with external artists from various fields. In addition to the stage, Losers Cirque Company also offers acrobatics and gymnastics classes to the public, opening up the world of the so-called new circus to a wider audience and supporting the community and educational dimensions of its activities.
Prague Philharmonia
Prague Philharmonia was founded in 1994 on the initiative of the world-famous conductor Jiří Bělohlávek under the original name of the Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. In the 30 years of its existence, the orchestra has earned recognition throughout the music world thanks to its international tours, but also thanks to its internationally acclaimed albums and recordings. Prague Philharmonia is praised for its unique sound, but also for its repertoire, which is mainly focused on the works of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Jakub Hrůša, Julian Rachlin, Martha Argerich, Jefim Bronfman, András Schiff, Gil Shaham, Isabelle Faust, Emmanuel Pahud, Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Damrau, Plácido Domingo, Gautier Capuçon, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann and many others have performed with the orchestra.
The Prague Philharmonia performs with the long-term support of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic.
Summer Riding Hall
The Baroque gardens of the Český Krumlov Castle also include a unique concert venue called the Summer Riding Hall.
