The visitors to Český Krumlov may look forward to Piotr Beczała with Sondra Radvanovsky, Javier Perianes, Jiří Bárta, musical stars from Broadway, a swing evening in Las Vegas style, Čechomor and Lúčnica.

For the twenty-seventh time a multigenre musical display of European importance – the International Music Festival, which, besides leading artists of the contemporary foreign and Czech musical scene, will also present young talented artists, will take place in Český Krumlov. Between 20^th July and 11^th September the festival will offer a total of 22 music productions of different genres – an opera gala concert, symphony and chamber concerts, an organ concert, authentic interpretation, a swing, a musical and crossover. All that, as always, in attractive locations in Český Krumlov which enhance musical experiences – at the Castle Riding Hall, at the Masquerade Hall, under the open skies in the Brewery Garden, Monastery Garden, Kooperativa Garden and Castle Garden, in the atmosphere of the Church of Corpus Christi and the Grieving Virgin Mary on the premises of the former Minorite monastery. Ticket sales for the public will start on 8^th December 2017 at 12.00 noon. Members of the IMF ČK Friends Club may purchase tickets from 1^st December 2017. Advance ticket sales will take place in two phases also this year – the prices of the tickets are lower until 31^st May 2018, therefore an early purchase of the tickets will bring savings.

The festival will start with an artistically interpreted musical fairy-tale play, during which the Christiane Noll and Hugh Panaro, Jiří Bárta, Sooyeon Kim, Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, Jan Smigmator and others will make an appearance. The second festival evening will belong to two world opera stars who have appeared at the Metropolitan Opera and on other prestigious stages – Polish tenor Piotr Beczała and Canadian soprano Sondra Radvanovsky. They will be accompanied by the PKF – Prague Philharmonia under the baton of Leoš Svárovský. The program of the concert will consist of repertoire with which the singers have achieved success around the world. Among other big personalities of classical music who will make an appearance at this year’s festival you will find, for example, brilliant Spanish pianist Javier Perianes with the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Manuel Hernández-Silva and Russian violoncellist Boris Andrianov, who will play one of the most beautiful cello concertos, Dvořák’s Concerto for cello and orchestra in B minor, together with the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Christian Schulz.

The festival will also honour a number of personalities whose anniversary we will commemorate in 2018. The Wihan Quartet will pay tribute to the 90^th anniversary of Leoš Janáček’s death with a concert written by this composer and German violinist Tanja Becker Bender accompanied by the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra will honour an important Czech music personality, Emil Friedmann Kossuth, from whose birth a hundred years will have passed next year. Chamber programs will be performed by the most respected contemporary violoncellist Jiří Bárta, renowned guitarist Pavel Steidl, the Concilium Musicum Wien ensemble and organist Jaroslav Tůma. The festival also regularly gives an opportunity to young laureates of interpretation competitions. The winner of the Prague Spring 2017 competition, violinist Amin Ghafari, will play together with the Suk Chamber Orchestra under the baton of young conductor Nikol Kraft. Two of the most promising violin virtuosos of the incoming generation, Miroslav Ambroš and Jaroslaw Nadrzycki, accompanied by the South Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Jan Kučera, will give a joint concert. Contemporary music will be presented at the concert of the absolute winner of Concerto Bohemia, the ensemble Francisextet. The program titled Carolus IV – Rex et Imperator, which will be performed by the Schola Gregoriana Pragensis ensemble, will be a vivid musical tapestry from the repertoire closely connected with the person of monarch Charles IV.      

However, the festival will also offer refreshing popular genres. One of the best orchestras in the ethno and world music category, the Gypsy Devils, together with the dance group Magic Spurs, will present a dance-musical performance inspired by G. Bizet’s opera titled “Carmen Fantasy by Gypsy Devils”. In it they masterfully combine folklore with other music genres (jazz, ethno, flamenco) while adding unique virtuosity, which forms an integral part of their artistic expression. Hradišťan & Jiří Pavlica are a unique group of a high artistic and interpretative level, with an unusually wide range of genres and untraditional repertoire, which at the beginning focused mainly on folk traditions. The special swing evening in Las Vegas style titled “Keep Swinging!” will be presented by Jan Smigmator, Dasha, Tom Gaebel, the Felix Slováček RTV Big Band and the dance group Pop Balet. They will present songs by George Gerschwin, whose 120^th anniversary since his birth will be celebrated around the world in 2018, and also famous songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, Duke Ellington, Michel Legrand, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin. An afterparty with a casino (roulette, poker, blackjack), an electroswing DJ, a dance floor with swing dance teaching, a degustation bar and an evening banquet are a part of the evening. During this year’s musical evening the 100^th anniversary of the birth of brilliant American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein will be remembered. Broadway soloists – Christiane Noll, Dee Roscioli, Hugh Panaro and Darius de Haas – accompanied by the North Czech Philharmonic Teplice under the baton of Randall Craig Fleischer, will interpret a selection from Bernstein’s famous works On the Town, Candide, West Side Story and others. An important anniversary will also be reflected in the closing Czech-Slovak Evening. The 100^th “birthday” of our state will be celebrated with the popular band Čechomor, which will celebrate 30 years of its existence next year, the Vlado Kumpan Brass Band, Military Music Olomouc and the legendary Slovak dance ensemble Lúčnica. 

You will find the complete program on the www.festivalkrumlov.cz website in the Program section.