Spanish Baroque Zarzuela
For two nights of the festival, we will have an exceptional opportunity to discover a forgotten baroque operatic treasure – the zarzuela, the pivotal dramatic and musical genre of the Spanish Golden Age. The Siglo de Oro was not only a period of overseas exploration and golden booty. It also marked the heyday of culture and art. Elemental dances, poignant arias, and folk songs intertwine in a magnificent ancient tale of the war between the Olympian gods and the giants, set to music by Sebastián Durón. Musica Florea and Collegium Floreum, under the direction of Marek Štryncl, have prepared the production directed and choreographed by Andrea Miltner in collaboration with Spanish musicologists and musicians.
Artists
Musica Florea
Collegium Floreum – choir
Marek Štryncl – conductor
soloist and dancers
Andrea Miltnerová – choreographer, director
Program
Sebastián Durón: Ópera escénica deducida de la guerra de los gigantes
Musica Florea
The ensemble was founded in 1992 by the cellist and conductor Marek Štryncl. It‘s characteristic traits are playing period instruments and interpreting the pieces according to the period sources and aesthetics, research and revival of forgotten performance styles. The ensemble’s repertoire includes instrumental chamber music, secular and sacred vocal-instrumental compositions, orchestral concertos and monumental symphonic, oratorio and operatic works from the early Baroque period to the 20th century. Since 2002, Musica Florea presents also newly discovered works in line with their original interpretation.
Musica Florea has been a guest at major festivals around the world, has collaborated with distinguished soloists and ensembles, and has received numerous prestigious awards (e.g. the highest accolade Diapason, the Golden Harmony Award, the Cannes Classical Award).
Foto: Michal Světlík
Marek Štryncl
Marek Štryncl, a leading Czech conductor, cellist, choirmaster and composer, graduated in conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and in baroque cello at the Dresdner Akademie für alte Musik. At the same time he has attended many courses focused on stylistic interpretation. His repertoire includes mainly works from the early Baroque to Romanticism and contemporary compositions. He has worked with Magdalena Kožená, Phillip Jaroussky, The New Israeli Vocal Ensemble, Boni Pueri, Orlando Consort, Prague Chamber Choir, Les Musiciens du Paradis, and the Prague Philharmonic, among others.
He teaches conducting and choral conducting at Charles University and Baroque cello at the Janáček Academy in Brno, serves as artistic director of the International Summer School of Early Music in Valtice and created the unique transportable Baroque theatre Florea-Theatrum.
Foto: Michal Světlík
Collegium Floreum
The choir was founded by its choirmaster and conductor Mark Štryncl and specializes in historically informed musical interpretation. The choir is composed of singers capable of both period singing technique and the original live expression of the compositions.
The choir focuses mainly on premiere performances of works from the 17th to 19th centuries and, among others, at the Prague Spring 2013 it performed the rediscovered sacred works of J. V. Tomášek, or previously unknown works by A. Rejcha or J. Zach.
Andrea Miltnerová
The British dancer and choreographer of Czech origin studied classical and modern dance and moved to Prague from London to join the National Theatre Ballet. As a performer she collaborates with a number of local and international artists. Her dance, a solo performance, Dance of the Magnetic Ballerina, was selected by the international Aerowaves committee and has been successfully performed at festivals across Europe.
Her work also includes reconstructions of Baroque operas and her own projects based on historical research and movement analysis. Working with Collegium 1704 she choreographed the film Orfeo ed Euridice, and choreographed the award-winning opera Arsilda, conducted by Václav Luks and directed by David Radok. She went on to direct the opera Le Cinesi herself and worked closely with French choreographer Françoise Denieau, whose productions she performed in throughout France.
Castle Baroque Theatre
The Castle Baroque Theatre is a gem of Český Krumlov, which visitors from all around the world come to see. It is one of the four best preserved 18th century baroque theatres in the world which has a baroque building, orchestra pit, stage, hundreds of costumes and accessories, decorations, lighting equipment and librettos. The theatre in Český […]
