Young Iranian violinist Amin Ghafari made an appearance with the Suk Chamber Orchestra under the baton of young Czech conductor Nikol Kraft on the following day in the same venue. He also performed one of Bach’s opuses, the Concerto for violin in E major. “I had heard a lot about the festival in Český Krumlov, it is one of the most important festivals in Central Europe. I was enchanted by the sound in the Masquerade Hall, it has great acoustics and it is part of a beautiful castle, which I had the opportunity to admire during the day,” Amin Ghafari told us. The program was completed by Béla Bartók’s Romanian Folk Dances and Dvořák’s Serenade in E major. Czech conductor Nikol Kraft revealed the following, “For a young interpreter like me it is not commonplace to have the opportunity to perform at such an important festival as the IMF. I really enjoyed conducting the Suk Chamber Orchestra. I was happy that thanks to this engagement of mine at the festival I was able to study and perform another of Dvořák’s pieces, his Serenade. Dvořák is a famous and often-played author. Therefore, it is an even greater challenge to deal with his works in a somewhat original way yet truly. I always try to satisfy the requirements of the score, but I also enjoy looking for new things in it.”    

The Austrian ensemble Concilium musicum Wien, which also plays the rare instrument viola d’amore, performed an interesting program from a historical point of view also in the chamber setting of the Masquerade Hall on 9^th August. The ensemble consisting of four outstanding instrumentalists actually presented period Viennese popular music, which was highly popular in the 18^th century, to the audience. The ensemble played Divertimento in F major by W. A. Mozart and compositions by other Viennese masters, Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Franz A. Hoffmeister and Joseph Haydn. It was clear that the musicians knew the repertoire they played perfectly. They interpreted the compositions precisely and truly as far as the style was concerned. As an encore, the audience listened to the Viennese waltz by Joseph Lanner. The satisfied audience rewarded the ensemble by a warm applause.