The Špilberk Festival, organized by Filharmonie Brno for the 26th year, will begin on Monday next week. As usual, it will offer four evenings in the large castle courtyard, with performances ranging from classical and folkloric music all the way to the Beatles and Frank Sinatra.
“As always, we have prepared a light-hearted program for Summer,” said Marie Kučerová, director of the Filharmonie Brno. “Our orchestra will play two concerts, the opening and closing ones.”
The festival will open with a dance-themed program conducted by Petr Altrichter. It will include Hector Berlioz’s ‘Dance of the Will-O’-The-Wisps’, selections from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, the overture from Offenbach’s ‘La Belle Hélène’, and other dance melodies from popular operas.
The following evening will transport listeners to 1960s Las Vegas with singer Matt Dusk and Gustav Brom’s Radio Big Band.
“The Canadian singer is considered by critics to be a modern-day Frank Sinatra,” said Vítězslav Mikeš, dramaturge of Filharmonie Brno. “I believe that together with Brom’s band, he will ensure an exceptional evening.”
Listeners will hear popular standards such as ‘Fly Me to the Moon’ and ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’. The Los Angeles Times recently wrote that “Matt Dusk has taken what he learned from the greats and adapted it to a modern audience.”
The third concert will feature the most famous hits of The Beatles performed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In The Beatles Night project, directed by Kryštof Marek, the vocal parts will be performed by Sára Milfajtová, Vendula Příhodová, and David Kraus.
The final concert is a repeat of the program that sold out Besední dům for two evenings to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the venue two years ago. “The concert performance of the ballet is complemented by original folk music. I am very much looking forward to this evening; the audience rewarded it twice with thunderous applause,” recalled Kučerová.
Tickets are available at the orchestra’s box office, or online on their website, and a shuttle bus service will be available at the entrance to Špilberk Park on Husova, opposite the Hotel International, for 90 minutes before the beginning of each concert.
