NdB: Janáček Festival Persevered, But December is Dark

Photo credit: Osud (Destiny), Janáček Brno Festival 2020. Credit: Leos Janacek via Flickr.

The National Theatre of Brno usually has many performances every month in opera, ballet and drama. Now, because of the restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus, it is completely dark. Ticket sales have been completely suspended and no performances are scheduled for December.

Brno, Dec. 1 (BD) – Though the national theatres will be closed for the coming weeks and though the global coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc, the Janáček Brno festival, which lasted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 16, was still able to stage 18 live events and entertain a significant audience.

Plus, many of the postponed performances from that seventh Janáček festival will take place next year as a bridge to the eighth installment of the biennial event that celebrates local-boy Leoš Janáček and his world-famous music. Janáček Brno 2022, which will take place from Nov. 2 to 19, 2022, will open for pre-sale on Nov. 30, 2021.

“The audience attendance at this year’s festival exceeded 65% and it was a great success given the conditions,” said Martin Glaser, the director of the Brno National Theatre.

Live broadcasts were important parts of the festival and they brought the music of Janáček to people around the world, including those in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Mexico, Italy, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Great Britain and the United States.

Detailed information about the festival is available at https://janacek-brno.cz/en/

The list of productions of the Janáček Brno festival that have been moved to 2021 are as follows:

May 27, 2021, 7 p.m. — Church songs from Znorov – folklore concert, Red Church

May 29, 2021, 7 p.m. — Brno Children’s Choir, Reduta Theatre

Nov. 13, 2021, 7 p.m. — Recital by Tomáš Král and Matan Porat in the Tugendhat Villa

Nov. 20, 2021, 7 p.m. — Concert of the Prague Philharmonic Choir, Besední dům

Nov. 30, 2021, 7 p.m. — Recital by Pavol Breslik and Róbert Pechance, Reduta Theater

In addition, Řecké pašije (Greek passion), which was postponed during the spring quarantine and again during Janáček Brno in the fall, is still looking for a production date at the Janáček Theatre.

Osud (Destiny), the Janáček opera that opened the festival, is also looking for a date for a performance and transmission with OperaVision at the Janáček Theatre.

Information for both will be published on the festival’s website when it becomes available.

If you have tickets for performances that were postponed and if the new date suits you, the original ticket automatically remains valid for the new date; there is no need to get a new one.

If you would like to return the ticket, you can do so by Dec. 30, 2020. Send an e-mail to storno@ndbrno.cz and request a refund.

For a full list of changes, click here to go to the NdB website. Use Google Chrome or a translation program if the English version is not available.

For the main Janáček Brno festival site, in English, go to https://janacek-brno.cz/en/

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