The artistic director of the Cappella Mariana ensemble Vojtěch Semerád told us the following about the program which the audience will hear at the IMF Český Krumlov, “Monteverdi dedicated all his life to songwriting, which he focused on madrigals. In madrigals he managed to brilliantly combine the art of the masters of the High Renaissance with the new aesthetic of the musical Baroque, thanks to which he achieved a highly original and innovative musical language. Monteverdi is the Shakespeare of music and is able to deal with basic principles in a way which touches us until today. He was never dissuaded from the new musical conception, which he was initially reproached for by conservative circles. He continued to strive for drama also in the smaller compositions as well as in his operas and he was willing to sacrifice even musical diversity for authentic expression.” The concert will take place at the Masquerade Hall of the Český Krumlov Chateau at 7.30 p.m. on 21^st July.