Prague Spring Festival Ushers in 81st Season with Hannigan and a Diverse Program
The 81st Prague Spring International Music Festival is set to unfold from May 12th to June 4th, marking another year of showcasing world-class classical music and celebrating Czech artistry. This year’s festival prominently features Scottish singing conductor, Susan Hannigan, who will lead performances of both Messiah by Handel and St. Matthew Passion by Bach.
Hannigan’s appearances will be with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, a group making its debut at Prague Spring and historically led by Czech conductor Rafael kubelík during his exile. Currently under the direction of Simon Rattle, the orchestra promises a significant contribution to the festival.
The festival will also spotlight a strong contingent of Czech conductors, including Petr Popelka, Jakub Hrůš, Tomáš Netopil, Tomáš Hanus, Václav Luks, and Robert Jindra. Jindra will lead a performance of Jules Massenet’s rarely-performed oratorio, Maria Magdalen.
Pianistic highlights include recent Fryderyk Chopin International Piano Competition winner Eric Lu, the renowned Martha Argerich, and the brotherly duo of Lucas and Arthur Jussen. Vocal performances will feature international stars Aleksandra Kurzaková, Elina Garanča, Benjamin Bernheim, and Kang Wang, alongside Czech artists Simona Šaturová, Arnheiður Eiríksdóttirová, and Štěpánka Pučálková.
Beyond the Bavarian Radio Symphony,the festival will welcome esteemed ensembles such as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment,the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin,and the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden,who will close the festival with a performance of Verdi’s Requiem. Czech orchestras including the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Philharmonic, and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra – celebrating its centenary – will also be featured, with the latter performing the opening concert.
This year’s program emphasizes 20th-century European composers like Arnold Schönberg, Olivier Messiaen, Charles Ives, George Gershwin, Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Béla Bartók, and Francis Poulenc, whose opera Dialogues of the Carmelites will be staged in collaboration with the National Theater under the direction of Barbara Horáková Jola.
The festival will also explore both 19th-century repertoire and early music, with a particular focus on the work of Czech composer Jakub Jan Ryba. The Helsinki Baroque Orchestra, led by Aape Häkkinen, will perform Ryba’s Stabat Mater, offering a rare opportunity to experience the work of a composer primarily known for his Czech Christmas Mass.
A new visual identity for the festival, designed by Oficina studio under Marko Cimbálník, aims to present a diverse musical offering encompassing classical, operatic, contemporary, experimental, jazz, and other genres. The selection of a new festival director is currently underway, with an announcement expected in early December.
