The Prague Spring International Music Festival (, commonly , Prague Spring) is a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

held every year 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 ...

, Czech Republic, with symphony orchestras and chamber music ensembles from around the world. The first festival was held in 1946 under the patronage of Czechoslovak president

Edvard Beneš Edvard Beneš (; 28 May 1884 – 3 September 1948) was a Czech politician and statesman who served as the president of Czechoslovakia from 1935 to 1938, and again from 1939 to 1948. During the first six years of his second stint, he led the Czec ...

, and its organizing committee was made up of important figures in Czech musical life. In that year, the

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra The Czech Philharmonic () is a symphony orchestra based in Prague. Its principal performing venue is the Rudolfinum concert hall. History The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title of the orche ...

was celebrating its fiftieth anniversary and was therefore granted to appear in all of the orchestral concerts. The project was initiated by

Rafael Kubelík Rafael Jeroným Kubelík, KBE (29 June 1914 – 11 August 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. The son of a distinguished violinist, Jan Kubelík, he was trained in Prague and made his debut with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra at the a ...

, chief conductor of the orchestra at the time. Such musicians as

Karel Ančerl Karel Ančerl (11 April 1908 – 3 July 1973) was a Czechoslovak conductor and composer, renowned especially for his performances of contemporary music and for his interpretations of music by Czech composers. Ančerl was born into a pros ...

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; born Louis Bernstein; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was th ...

, Sir

Adrian Boult Sir Adrian Cedric Boult, CH (; 8 April 1889 – 22 February 1983) was a British conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family, he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London ...

Rudolf Firkušný Rudolf Firkušný (; 11 February 191219 July 1994) was a Moravians, Moravian-born, Moravian-American classical pianist. Life Born in the Moravian town of Napajedla, Firkušný started his musical studies with the composers Leoš Janáček an ...

, Jaroslav Krombholc,

Moura Lympany Dame Moura Lympany DBE (18 August 191628 March 2005) was an English concert pianist. Biography She was born as Mary Gertrude Johnstone at Saltash, Cornwall. Her father was an army officer who had served in World War I and her mother origina ...

Yevgeny Mravinsky Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Mravinsky () (19 January 1988) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, and music pedagogue; he was a professor at Leningrad State Conservatory. Biography Mravinsky was born in Saint Petersburg. The soprano Yevgen ...

Charles Münch Charles Munch (; born Karl Münch; 26 September 1891 – 6 November 1968) was an Alsacian French symphonic conductor and violinist. Noted for his mastery of the French orchestral repertoire, he was best known as music director of the Boston ...

Ginette Neveu Ginette Neveu (11 August 191928 October 1949) was a French violinist. At the age of 15, she beat David Oistrakh to win the Polish Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition. She made several concert tours and was considered to be 'one of the finest vi ...

Jarmila Novotná Jarmila Novotná (September 23, 1907 in Prague – February 9, 1994 in New York City) was a Czech lyric coloratura soprano and actress. From 1940 to 1956, she was a star of the Metropolitan Opera. Early career A student of Emmy Destinn, Novot ...

Lev Oborin Lev Nikolayevich Oborin (; Moscow, Moscow, 5 January 1974) was a Soviet and Russian pianist, composer and pedagogue. He was the winner of the first International Chopin Piano Competition in 1927. Life and career Oborin's family moved frequently ...

David Oistrakh David Fyodorovich Oistrakh (; – 24 October 1974) was a Soviet Russian violinist, List of violists, violist, and Conducting, conductor. He was also Professor at the Moscow Conservatory, People's Artist of the USSR (1953), and Laureate of the ...

Ken-Ichiro Kobayashi is a Japanese conductor and composer. In Japan he is known among his fans as “Kobaken.” Biography Born in Iwaki, Fukushima, Kobayashi's father was a high school music teacher, and mother was a primary school teacher. Kobayashi started c ...

and

Jan Panenka Jan Panenka (8 July 192212 July 1999) was a Czech pianist. He recorded many of Beethoven's works, and he played for many years with the Suk Trio. Life Jan Panenka began his concert career in 1944, as a pupil of František Maxián at the Prague ...

have appeared at the festival. Since 1952, the festival has opened on 12 May, the anniversary of the death of

Bedřich Smetana Bedřich Smetana ( ; ; 2 March 1824 – 12 May 1884) was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style that became closely identified with his people's aspirations to a cultural and political "revival". He has been regarded ...

, with his cycle of symphonic poems ''

Má vlast (), also known as ''My Fatherland'', is a set of six symphonic poems composed between 1874 and 1879 by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana. The six pieces, conceived as individual works, are often presented and recorded as a single work in si ...

'' (''My Country''), and it used to close (until 2003) with

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Symphony No. 9 Symphony No. 9 most commonly refers to: * Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven) in D minor (Op. 125, ''Choral'') by Ludwig van Beethoven, 1822–24 * Symphony No. 9 (Dvořák) in E minor (Op. 95, B. 178, ''From the New World'') by Antonín Dvořák, 1893 ...

. The festival commemorates important musical anniversaries by including works by the composers concerned on its programmes, and presents Czech as well as world premieres of compositions by contemporary authors. Artists and orchestras who performed at the festival include

Sviatoslav Richter Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter ( – August 1, 1997) was a Soviet and Russian classical pianist. He is regarded as one of the greatest pianists of all time,Great Pianists of the 20th Century and has been praised for the "depth of his interpreta ...

Lorin Maazel Lorin Varencove Maazel (; March 6, 1930 – July 13, 2014) was an American conductor, violinist and composer. He began conducting at the age of eight and by 1953 had decided to pursue a career in music. He had established a reputation in t ...

Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born ''Heribert Adolf Ernst Karajan''; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, ...

Mstislav Rostropovich Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich (27 March 192727 April 2007) was a Russian Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor. In addition to his interpretations and technique, he was well known for both inspiring and commissioning new works, which enl ...

Julian Lloyd Webber Julian Lloyd Webber (born 14 April 1951) is a British solo cellist, conductor and broadcaster, a former principal of Royal Birmingham Conservatoire and the founder of the In Harmony music education programme. Early years and education Julia ...

, Boris Pergamenschikow,

Lucia Popp Lucia Popp (born Lucia Poppová; 12 November 193916 November 1993) was a Slovak operatic soprano. She began her career as a soubrette, and later moved into the light-lyric and lyric coloratura soprano repertoire and then the lighter Richard Str ...

Kim Borg Kim Borg (August 7, 1919April 28, 2000) was a Finnish Bass (vocal range), bass, teacher and composer. He had a wide-ranging, resonant, warm voice. Biography Kim Borg was born in Helsinki. He studied voice with Heikki Teittinen at the Sibelius Ac ...

Sir Colin Davis Sir Colin Rex Davis (25 September 1927 – 14 April 2013) was an English conductor, known for his association with the London Symphony Orchestra, having first conducted it in 1959. His repertoire was broad, but among the composers with whom h ...

Maurice André Maurice André (21 May 1933 – 25 February 2012) was a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field. He was professor of trumpet at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique in Paris where he introduced the teaching of the pic ...

Dmitry Sitkovetsky Dmitry Yulianovich Sitkovetsky (; born September 27, 1954) is a Soviet and American violinist, conductor, and arranger. Early life Dmitry Sitkovetsky was born in Baku, Azerbaijan, to violinist Julian Sitkovetsky and pianist Bella Davidovich. ...

Leonid Kogan Leonid Borisovich Kogan (; ; 14 November 1924 – 17 December 1982) was a preeminent Soviet violinist during the 20th century. Many consider him to be among the greatest violinists of the 20th century. In particular, he is considered to have be ...

Paul Klecki Paul Kletzki (born Paweł Klecki; 21 March 1900 – 5 March 1973) was a Polish conductor and composer. Biography Born in Łódź, Kletzki joined the Łódź Philharmonic at the age of fifteen as a violinist. After serving in the First World Wa ...

Gustav Leonhardt Gustav Maria Leonhardt (30 May 1928 – 16 January 2012) was a Dutch keyboardist, conductor, musicologist, teacher and editor. He was a leading figure in the historically informed performance movement to perform music on period instruments. Leo ...

Anne-Sophie Mutter Anne-Sophie Mutter (born 29 June 1963) is a German violinist. Born and raised in Rheinfelden, Baden-Württemberg, Mutter started playing the violin at age five and continued studies in Germany and Switzerland. She was supported early in her car ...

Giovanni Bellucci Giovanni Bellucci (born Rome, 31 August 1965) is an Italian pianist. After having inadvertently discovered the piano, when he was already fourteen, he started studying at the Santa Cecilia Conservatory in Rome under the direction of Franco Medor ...

Alfred Brendel Alfred Brendel (born 5 January 1931) is a Czech-born Austrian classical pianist, poet, author, composer, and lecturer who is noted for his performances of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Biography Brendel was born in Wizemberk, Czechoslovakia ...

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 ...

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

Arthur Rubinstein Arthur Rubinstein Order of the British Empire, KBE OMRI (; 28 January 1887 – 20 December 1982) was a Polish Americans, Polish-American pianist.

, and

Gennady Rozhdestvensky Gennady Nikolayevich Rozhdestvensky, CBE (; 4 May 1931 – 16 June 2018) was a Soviet and Russian conductor, pianist, composer, and pedagogue. Biography Gennady Rozhdestvensky was born in Moscow. His parents were the noted conductor and pedagog ...

. Prague Spring's traditional venue is the

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 ...

concert hall, a neo-renaissance building situated on the bank of the

Vltava The Vltava ( , ; ) is the longest river in the Czech Republic, a left tributary of the Elbe River. It runs southeast along the Bohemian Forest and then north across Bohemia, through Český Krumlov, České Budějovice, and Prague. It is com ...

River. It is complemented by Prague's ornate

Municipal House Municipal House () is a civic building that houses Smetana Hall, a celebrated concert venue, in Prague, Czech Republic. It is located on Náměstí Republiky next to the Powder Gate in the centre of the city. History The Royal Court palace u ...

(), which has a larger seating capacity. The Prague Spring has a particular focus on supporting younger performers. The Prague Spring International Music Competition was established just one year after the festival itself and is held each year in various instrumental sections. The list of past winners of competition includes

Saša Večtomov Saša Večtomov (12 December 1930 – 29 December 1989) was a Czechoslovak cellist and music pedagogue. Biography Večtomov first studied piano and cello with his father, cellist/composer Ivan Večtomov (1902–81), a soloist in the Czech Phi ...

Natalia Gutman Natalia Grigoryevna Gutman (; born 14 November 1942), PAU, is a Russian cellist. She began to study cello at the Moscow Music School with R. Sapozhnikov. She was later admitted to the Moscow Conservatory. She later studied with Mstislav Rostrop ...

James Galway Sir James Galway (born 8 December 1939) is an Irish virtuoso flute player from Belfast, nicknamed "The Man with the Golden Flute". After several years working as an orchestral musician, he established an international career as a solo flute pl ...

and

Maurice Bourgue Maurice Bourgue () (6 November 1939 – 6 October 2023) was a French oboist, composer, conductor, and academic teacher who made an international career. He was principal oboist with the Orchestre de Paris from its foundation in 1967 until 1979. ...

Competitions, disciplines, and laureates

*Piano:

Martin Kasík Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, Ivo Kahánek *Organ:

Václav Rabas Václav Rabas (13 November 1885 in Krušovice – 26 October 1954 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, ...

, Aleš Bárta, Martin Sander,

Jaroslav Tůma Jaroslav Tůma (born 1956, in Prague, Czech Republic) is a Czech organist. This organist, clavichord, harpsichordist and pianoforte player graduated from the Prague Conservatory and from the Faculty of Music of the Academy of Performing Arts in Pr ...

*Violin:

Ivan Štraus Ivan Štraus (24 July 1928 – 24 August 2018) was a Bosnian architect. Life Born in 1928, in Kremna, Zlatibor county, Serbia, to a Slovenian father and mother from Herzegovina. He identified as a "Bosnian of Slovenian and Herzegovinian desc ...

Bohuslav Matoušek Bohuslav Matoušek (born in Havlíčkův Brod, 26 September 1949) is a Czech violinist and violist. At present he is a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Prague and JAMU. He studied in the classes of Jaroslav Pekelský and Václav Snítil at Prag ...

, Ivan Ženatý, Petr Messiereur, Jindřich Pazdera, *Cello:

*Trumpet: Vladislav Kozderka, Vladimír Rejlek *Trombone:

Nicolas Moutier Nicolas Moutier (born 3 March 1983) is a French classical trombonist, soloist at the Orchestre philharmonique de Strasbourg and teacher at the conservatoire de Strasbourg. Life Born in Paris, Moutier, son of pianist Géry Moutier, entered the ...

, Carl Lenthe *Flute: Jean Ferrandis, Andrea Lieberknecht, Tatjana Ruhland, Dora Seres,

Denis Bouriakov Denis Viktorovich Bouriakov (; born 25 October 1981, in Simferopol, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, USSR) is a flautist. He is currently principal flutist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Biography Bouriakov was born in Simferopol, Ukrainia ...

, Yubeen Kim, Chaeyeon You *French Horn:

Radek Baborák Radek Baborák (born 11 March 1976 in Pardubice, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech conductor and French horn player. Career Radek Baborák was born into a musical family. He commenced his horn studies at the age of eight under the tutelage of Karel Kr ...

*Basson: Luboš Hucek,

Václav Vonášek Václav Vonášek (born 1980) is a Czechs, Czech classical bassoonist. He began to study the bassoon at the Conservatory in Plzeň (teachers Ladislav Šmídl and Matouš Křiváček). He went on to study at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague ...

*Oboe: Liběna Séquardtová *Singing:

Dagmar Pecková Dagmar Pecková (born 4 April 1961) is a Czech operatic mezzo-soprano. Born in the Medlešice district of Chrudim, Pecková studied singing at the Prague Conservatory. She then became part of the young artist's program at the Semperoper in Dres ...

Štefan Margita Štefan Margita (born 3 August 1956) is a opera singer of Slovak origin who has had an active international career since 1981. He began his career singing mostly roles from the lyric tenor repertoire but in recent years he has tackled a number o ...

, Magda Ianculescu *Harpsichord: Jean Rondeau, Anastasia Antonova *Conducting:

Charles Olivieri-Munroe Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

, Pierre-Michel Durand

References

Bibliography

* Antonín Matzner a kol.: Šedesát pražských jar. Togga: Praha, 2006.

External links

*
The first Prague Spring International Cello Competition in 1950 in photographs, documents and reminiscencesPrague Spring International Music Festival

List of all flute competition laureates
* {{Authority control Music in Prague Classical music festivals in the Czech Republic Festivals in Prague 1946 establishments in Czechoslovakia Music festivals established in 1946 Spring (season) in the Czech Republic Czech Philharmonic

Competitions, disciplines, and laureates

See also

References

Bibliography

External links