Prague Autumn International Music Festival (1991–2008) was the second largest classical music festival in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

held annually in Prague

Rudolfinum The Rudolfinum is a building in Prague, Czech Republic. It is designed in the neo-Renaissance style and is situated on Jan Palach Square on the bank of the river Vltava. Since its opening in 1885, it has been associated with music and art. C ...

in September. It was organised under the auspices of

Václav Klaus Václav Klaus (; born 19 June 1941) is a Czech economist and politician who served as the second president of the Czech Republic from 2003 to 2013. From July 1992 until the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in January 1993, he served as the second ...

, president of the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

and was co-produced by the City of Prague. The Dvořák Prague International Music Festival is a major music festival held in the autumn since 2008 at the Rudolfinum in Prague. The festival focuses on music of the Romantic period, but also extends back into the Classical period, and forwards to the 20th and 21st centuries.

History

The history of the Autumn Festival begins soon after the

Velvet revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

. Many performers from all over the world have appeared at the festival. In 14 years the festival saw performances by 66 orchestras, 96 conductors, 122 singers, 53 pianists, 31 violin players, 24 cellists, 16 choirs, 6 chamber ensembles, and 23 other instrumentalists. The number of attendees approaches 270,000, plus millions of radio listeners all around the world and domestic TV viewers.

Highlights of the festival

Israel Philharmonic Orchestra The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (abbreviation IPO; Hebrew: התזמורת הפילהרמונית הישראלית, ''ha-Tizmoret ha-Filharmonit ha-Yisra'elit'') is a major Israeli symphony orchestra based in Tel Aviv. Its principal concert ...

under

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

* Bruckner Orchester Linz * RSO Wien under

Bertrand de Billy Bertrand de Billy (born Paris, 11 January 1965) is a French and Swiss conductor. He attended a Jesuit school, but only started serious musical studies when he was around 14–15; he studied piano and violin. CD Opéra https://debilly.com/cd-op ...

* Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Simonov * Filarmonica della Scala under

Riccardo Muti Riccardo Muti (; born 28 July 1941) is an Italian conductor. He is current music director of the Orchestra Giovanile Luigi Cherubini. Muti has previously held posts at the Maggio Musicale in Florence, the Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the ...

Beethoven Orchester Bonn The Beethoven Orchester Bonn is a German symphony orchestra based in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia. It dates back to 1907, when a professional orchestra was established. Named for Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, the orchestra's princ ...

State Symphony Capella of Russia The State Symphony Capella of Russia (Государственная академическая симфоническая капелла России) comprises an orchestra and a choir, both based in Moscow, Russia. Its principal conductor is Va ...

under Valeri Polyansky *

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmo ...

Budapest Festival Orchestra The Budapest Festival Orchestra ( Hungarian: ''Budapesti Fesztiválzenekar'') was formed in 1983 by Iván Fischer and Zoltán Kocsis, with musicians "drawn from the cream of Hungary's younger players", as described by ''The Times''. Its aim was t ...

under

Iván Fischer Iván Fischer (born 20 January 1951) is a Hungarian conductor and composer. Biography Born in Budapest into a musical family of Jewish heritage, Fischer initially studied piano, violin, cello and composition in Budapest. His older brother, ...

Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra The Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra or just the Mariinsky Orchestra (formerly known as the Kirov Orchestra) is located in the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. The orchestra was founded in 1783 during the reign of Catherine the Great, it ...

under Valeri Gergiev *

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra (BBC SSO) is a Scottish broadcasting symphony orchestra based in Glasgow. One of five full-time orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), it is the oldest full-time professional rad ...

under

Ilan Volkov Ilan Volkov (; born September 8, 1976, Tel Aviv) is an Israeli orchestral conductor, who has been chief conductor and guest conductor of a number of orchestras. Biography Volkov's father, Alexander Volkov, was a concert pianist. He studied with t ...

BBC Philharmonic The BBC Philharmonic is a national British broadcasting symphony orchestra and is one of five radio orchestras maintained by the British Broadcasting Corporation. The Philharmonic is a department of the BBC North Group division based at Media ...

under

Gianandrea Noseda Gianandrea Noseda (born 23 April 1964) is an Italian conductor. He is currently the music director of the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington, D.C.; general music director (''Generalmusikdirektor)'' of Zurich Opera; principal guest condu ...

Bamberger Symphoniker The Bamberg Symphony (German: Bamberger Symphoniker – Bayerische Staatsphilharmonie) is a renowned German orchestra top-class orchestra that has been residing in Bamberg since its foundation in 1946 and travels the world as a touring orchestra. ...

under Jonathan Nott *Chamber orchestras appearing at the festival have included the

English Chamber Orchestra The English Chamber Orchestra (ECO) is a British chamber orchestra based in London. The full orchestra regularly plays concerts at Cadogan Hall, and their ensemble performs at Wigmore Hall. With a limited performance size, the orchestra spe ...

, the

Scottish Chamber Orchestra The Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) is an Edinburgh-based UK chamber orchestra. One of Scotland's five National Performing Arts Companies, the SCO performs throughout Scotland, including annual tours of the Scottish Highlands and Islands and So ...

, London Brass Virtuosi, the

City of London Sinfonia City of London Sinfonia (CLS) is an English chamber orchestra based in London. CLS is orchestra-in-residence at Opera Holland Park since 2004 and holds a residency at St Paul's Cathedral. CLS also performs regularly across the city of London i ...

Sinfonia Varsovia The Sinfonia Varsovia is a Polish orchestra and musical institution based in Warsaw. The orchestra gives its concerts principally at its eponymous institution, located on Grochowska Street, Warsaw. History Waldemar Dąbrowski and Franciszek W ...

with

Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known works include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' ...

and

Orchestre de chambre de Paris The Orchestre de chambre de Paris (OCP) is a French chamber orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra performs throughout Paris with concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris, where it is a resident ensemble, and also at such venues as the Théâtre des ...

with John Nelson. Conductors and soloists have included:

Marin Alsop Marin Alsop (; born October 16, 1956) is an American conductor. She is the first woman to win the Koussevitzky Prize for conducting and the first conductor to be awarded a MacArthur Fellowship. She is music director laureate of the Baltimor ...

, Semyon Bychkov,

James DePreist James Anderson DePreist (November 21, 1936 – February 8, 2013) was an American conductor. DePreist was one of the first African-American conductors on the world stage. He was the director emeritus of conducting and orchestral studies at ...

Valery Gergiev Valery Abisalovich Gergiev (, ; ; born 2 May 1953) is a Russian conducting, conductor and opera company director. He is currently general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre and of the Bolshoi Theatre and artistic director o ...

Marek Janowski Marek Janowski (born 18 February 1939 in Warsaw) is a Polish-born German conductor. Biography Janowski grew up in Wuppertal, near Cologne, after his mother traveled there at the start of World War II to be with her parents. His father disappear ...

, Jonathan Nott,

Maxim Fedotov Maxim Viktorovich Fedotov (; born 24 July 1961) is a Russian violinist and conductor, People's Artist of Russia, son of the conductor Viktor Fedotov. Fedotov studied at the Special Music School in Leningrad and then at the Moscow Conservatory. As ...

, Vadim Gluzman,

Leonidas Kavakos Leonidas Kavakos (; born 30 October 1967) is a Greek violinist and conductor. He has won several international violin competition prizes, including the Sibelius, Paganini, Naumburg, and Indianapolis competitions. He is an Onassis Foundation sc ...

, Shlomo Mintz,

Vadim Repin Vadim Viktorovich Repin (, ; born 31 August 1971) is a Russian and Belgian violinist who lives in Vienna.A ...

Isaac Stern Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Ukraine, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union a ...

Steven Isserlis Steven John Isserlis (born 19 December 1958) is a British cellist. An acclaimed soloist, chamber musician, educator, writer and broadcaster, he is widely regarded as one of the leading musicians of his generation. He is also noted for his div ...

, Boris Pergamenschikow,

Heinrich Schiff Heinrich Schiff (; 18 November 1951 – 23 December 2016) was an Austrian cellist and conductor. Early life Heinrich Schiff was born on 18 November 1951 in Gmunden, Austria. His parents, Helga (née Riemann) and Helmut Schiff, were composers. H ...

Yefim Bronfman Yefim Naumovich Bronfman (; born April 10, 1958) is a Soviet-born Israeli-American pianist. Biography Bronfman was born in Tashkent, Uzbek SSR, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 15. He was born into a musical Jewish family. His father Naum ...

, Barry Douglas,

Hélène Grimaud Hélène Rose Paule Grimaud (born 7 November 1969) is a French classical pianist and the founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, New York. Early life and education Grimaud was born in Aix-en-Provence, France, the daughter of te ...

Arcadi Volodos Arcadi Arcadievich Volodos (born 24 February 1972) is a Russian-born French pianist. One of the world's most acclaimed pianists, he has won such awards as the Echo Klassik, Gramophone Award, Diapason d'Or, and Edison Award for his discography. ...

, Gábor Boldoczki, Galina Gorchakova.

References

External links

Prague Autumn Web SitePrague Music Festival opened by Czech-Canadian pianist
* {{Authority control Music festivals established in 1991 Music in Prague Classical music festivals in the Czech Republic Festivals in Prague 1991 establishments in Czechoslovakia Autumn in the Czech Republic 2008 disestablishments in the Czech Republic

History

Highlights of the festival

See also

References

External links