The Barocco sempre giovane ensemble, which specializes in the interpretation of compositions of the High Baroque but whose repertoire also includes styles of other periods, performed. “It is good to start with the Baroque which must, however, be played informedly. In this period, for example, perfect instruments were created, which are still played nowadays. Our repertoire still focuses on Baroque music but we do not adhere solely to it. We like to play, for example, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, who after all is a follower of Baroque composers with his works. We also premiered several contemporary compositions which were written directly for us. However, for today’s concert we chose a Baroque repertoire which is perfect for this amazing hall from the middle of the 18^th century,” said the artistic leader of the ensemble Josef Krečmer, who watched the concert from the auditorium of the Masquerade Hall. The name of the program was Concerti italiani and it presented the works of composers of the Italian Baroque; the audience heard the works of the most famous composer of this period, Antonio Vivaldi, among others.

“This program is really characteristic for us – we are an ensemble of soloists, and as the audience was able to see this evening, all the soloists took turns. That is also the reason why almost everybody plays standing up, which is not common for chamber orchestras,” said one of the members of the ensemble, violoncellist Jan Zemen. The ensemble was founded by Josef Krečmer eleven years ago, in 2004, with conservatory students. “When I founded the ensemble I was really working as a teacher – Antonio Vivaldi, whose works the audience heard tonight, is actually my role model because he also educated youth with music. Nowadays several of my students are important musicians and the average age of the members of the ensemble is currently thirty years. But we chose the name of the ensemble craftily – Barocco sempre giovane (Baroque Forever Young) is suitable for all ages,” added Josef Krečmer with a smile.