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Metal open air festival in Czech Republic.

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The Antonín Dvořák Music Festival boasts a long tradition, during which its organizers managed to establish it among high-level cultural events and, in the venues, of paramount importance. It was established in 1969 on the initiative of the Antonín Dvořák Society (then chaired by Dr. Karel Mikys) and the District Cultural Center in Příbram, to which the Ministry of Culture promised financial support at the time. And the support was by no means small, because at that time it made it possible to invite such orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, the FOK Symphony Orchestra of the Capital City of Prague, the PKO, the Slovak Philharmonic or the Film Symphony Orchestra. During these years, however, the festival also included a number of excellent ensembles from abroad. The people of Příbram were also able to witness top performances such as the Leningrad Philharmonic and the Moscow State Philharmonic, and last but not least, the Warsaw State Philharmonic or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra London with conductors Mark Emler, Charles Groves, Arvid Jansons and Dimitri Kitajen. After 1989, however, similarly as in the whole cultural sphere, significant organizational changes took place here. Since 1990, the organization Příbram Theater has taken over its organization, where (perhaps) due to the lack of financial resources, the festival stuck to three to five concerts, mostly only chamber music.

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Hudební léto Kuks je mezinárodní festival klasické hudby konaný v kostele Nejsvětější Trojice v Kuksu.
V minulých letech zde již účinkovali:
houslisté Ivan Ženatý, Václav Hudeček, Josef Špaček, Gabriela Demeterová, basbarytonisté Adam Plachetka, Markus Flaig (Německo), Ivan Kusnjer, kontratenorista David Erler (Německo), sopranistky Martina Janková, Michiyo Keiko (Japonsko), Natalia Rubiś (Polsko), Jana Jonášová, Kateřina Kněžíková, mezzosopranistka Dagmar Pecková, tenorista Virgil Hartinger (Rakousko), violoncellista Jiří Bárta, hornista Radek Baborák, trumpetisté Otto Sauter (Německo), Miroslav Kejmar, harfistka Jana Boušková, varhaníci Jaroslav Tůma, Aleš Bárta a Wacław Golonka (Polsko), cembalisté Vojtěch Spurný, Barbara Maria Willi, hobojista Vilém Veverka, klarinetisté Claudio Mansutti (Itálie) a Ludmila Peterková, kytaristé Marco Socías (Španělsko), Carlo Domeniconi (Itálie) a Pavel Steidl;
orchestry a soubory: Filharmonie Hradec Králové, Severočeská filharmonie Teplice, Komorní filharmonie Pardubice, Collegium 1704, Ensemble Inégal, Musica Florea, Collegium Marianum, Bennewitz Quartet, Wihanovo kvarteto, Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, Český filharmonický sbor Brno, Martinů Voices, Český chlapecký sbor Boni pueri;
dirigenti a umělečtí vedoucí: Vojtěch Spurný, Marek Šedivý, Marek Štryncl, Václav Luks, Adam Viktora, David Eben, Petr Fiala, Jana Semerádová a další.

V rámci festivalu jsou rovněž uváděny skladby v novodobých premiérách. Jde především o kompozice z kukského archivu (Wernera Hymbra, Josepha Faltise, Maxima Jantschara, Wernera Zicha a Stephana Sailera), který založili v polovině 18. století členové řádu milosrdných bratří. Provedeny byly i novodobé premiéry z jiných pramenů, šlo např. o díla Václava Vodičky nebo Jakuba Jana Ryby.
Kuks Music Summer is an international festival of classical music held in the Church of the Holy Trinity in Kuks.
In recent years, the following have performed here:
violinists Ivan Ženatý, Václav Hudeček, Josef Špaček, Gabriela Demeterová, bass baritone Adam Plachetka, Markus Flaig (Germany), Ivan Kusnjer, countertenor David Erler (Germany), sopranos Martina Janková, Michiyo Keiko (Japan), Natalia Rubiś (Poland), Jana Jonášová, Kateřina Kněžíková, mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková, tenor Virgil Hartinger (Austria), cellist Jiří Bárta, horn player Radek Baborák, trumpet players Otto Sauter (Germany), Miroslav Kejmar, harpist Jana Boušková, organists Jaroslav Tůma, Aleš Bárta and Wacław Golon , harpsichordists Vojtěch Spurný, Barbara Maria Willi, oboist Vilém Veverka, clarinetists Claudio Mansutti (Italy) and Ludmila Peterková, guitarists Marco Socías (Spain), Carlo Domeniconi (Italy) and Pavel Steidl;
orchestras and ensembles: Hradec Králové Philharmonic, North Bohemian Philharmonic Teplice, Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, Collegium 1704, Ensemble Inégal, Musica Florea, Collegium Marianum, Bennewitz Quartet, Wihan Quartet, Schola Gregoriana Pragensis, Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno, Martinů Voicesi Czech Guy leather;
conductors and artistic leaders: Vojtěch Spurný, Marek Šedivý, Marek Štryncl, Václav Luks, Adam Viktora, David Eben, Petr Fiala, Jana Semerádová and others.

The festival also presents compositions in modern premieres. These are mainly compositions from the Kuk archives (Werner Hymbre, Joseph Faltis, Maxim Jantschar, Werner Stier and Stephan Sailer), which were founded in the middle of the 18th century by members of the Order of Merciful Brothers. Modern premieres from other sources were also performed, such as the works of Václav Vodička or Jakub Jan Ryba.

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Fryderyk Chopin's company in the Czech Republic is one of the oldest music companies in the world - it was founded on June 10, 1959 at the initiative of several people who did not even know about themselves at first. However, they dealt with the Chopin theme and especially Chopin's stay in our territory, especially in Prague, Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně.

The efforts of these researchers came together to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of Fryderyk Chopin, which fell in 1960 and was commemorated by the whole world under the auspices of UNESCO. The deepest expression of respect for the Polish composer and a living reminder of his stay in Mariánské Lázně is his music. The idea of ​​presenting the Company with a music festival was born. It sounds every year in the second half of August. From the beginning it was the "Festive Chopin Days", since 1969 it has been a well-known name Chopin Festival. Chopin International Festival is the third oldest music festival in our country.

After 1990, the Fryderyk Chopin Society in Mariánské Lázně became a member of the International Federation of Chopin Societies (IFCS). The federation, based in Vienna, has been registered as a musical, world community under the auspices of UNESCO. Thanks to its membership in the International Federation of Chopin Societies (IFCS), the company is listed as the only Czech music company on this list.

Since 1992, the famous piano star - professor Ivan Klánský - has been winning the festival with an artistic feeling. Pianist MgA. Martin Kasík, vice-chairman of the Society and artistic director of the festival, has been preparing the festival's dramaturgy since 2004. In addition to increasing the artistic and social prestige of the Chopin Festival in Mariánské Lázně, the company's priority is also extraordinary support and care for young talents in piano art.
In 2009, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Poland presented the "Gloria Artis" award to the 50th anniversary of the Fryderyk Chopin Society. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland awarded prof. Ivan Klánský in 2014 on the occasion of the 55th anniversary of the F. Chopin Company, an honorary Bene Merito badge for merits in promoting Polish culture. In 2017, prof. Ivan Klánský is the prestigious Antonín Dvořák Award, which is awarded annually by the Academy of Classical Music to personalities who, with their life's work or extraordinary artistic achievement, have significantly contributed to the promotion and popularization of Czech classical music at home and abroad. Prof. On May 1, 2018, Ivan Klánský received a Garnet Star awarded by the Bohemian Heritage Fund (BHF) at his concert in Prague's Rudolfinum. "I was extremely pleased with the news of my Grenade Star award in the year of my life anniversary. I consider it a great honor to be in the company of two such great personalities of our musical life who received this award before me - professors Zuzana Růžičková and Mrs. Soňa Červená. I really appreciate this important award ", said prof. Ivan Klánský.

The company cooperates intensively on the preparations for the festival and other events with the Polish Institute and the City of Mariánské Lázně, which is already the traditional co-organizer of the Chopin Festival.

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The Kutná Hora International Music Festival is one of the most important chamber music festivals in the Czech Republic. The creator of the dramaturgy and the selection of artists is the artistic director - cellist Jiří Bárta.

Unfortunately, even this year 2021 is associated with covid uncertainty. Last year we managed to hold the festival, albeit on a shifted date, with drapes and all hygienic measures. We all hope and believe in the improvement of the situation, and that is why we are preparing another, already the 14th year of the Kutná Hora festival.

MFKH has become an inseparable part of cultural events in the city with high attendance from all over the Czech Republic and abroad. Since we could not invite foreign artists last year, we decided to move the performance of all of Beethoven's 32 piano sonatas in Konstantin Lifschitz's masterful interpretation to this year. This very significant work of art will be divided into 8 evenings. This increases the total number of chamber music concerts to 16 concerts. We believe that not only for Kutná Hora, this festival will be something truly exceptional this year. In addition to this important project, compositions of classical chamber literature by world-famous authors (Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi, etc.) will be heard, as well as contemporary and rarely mentioned authors (Tartini, Barber, Kabeláč, Klusák, Górecki, etc.).

Jiří Bárta traditionally connects chamber music concerts and complements them with projects at the crossroads of genres. He included Bach's cantata Ich habe genug (I already have enough of everything) in the program of the 14th Kutná Hora festival for solo bass, oboe and strings connected with an epic poem by Arnošt Lustig performed by Vilma Cibulková, Jiří Lábus and Vilém Udatný entitled "Cantata - Dance of the Mad". The theme of the musical-lyrical band is death as liberation from a world permeated with misery and despair and is an indictment of the most horrific crime in human history.

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The Obscene Extreme festival, shortened as OEF, is an annual music festival in the Czech Republic, that focuses on extreme metal subgenres grindcore and death metal, as well as hardcore punk. It was found in 1999 as a birthday party by Miloslav "Čurby" Urbanec. It was described by Vice as "Europe's craziest grindcore party". It is noted by the Czech Radio for its "exceptionally tolerant and friendly atmosphere". The festival offers exclusively vegetarian and vegan food within its premises since its inception.
Several well-known metal bands have performed at OEF over the years, such as: Napalm Death, Possessed, Obituary, Sodom, Immolation, Grave, Suffocation, Vader, Incantation, Terrorizer, Exhumed, Asphyx, Morgoth, Brujeria, Sinister, Nuclear Assault, Hirax, Vital Remains, Eyehategod, Krisiun, and Municipal Waste to name a few.

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The Pardubice Music Spring International Festival has been an important cultural event in the East Bohemian region since 1978. Since 2013, the festival has been organized by Barocco semper giovane, o.p.s. The festival offers music of all stylistic periods, the genre is mainly focused on classical music. Approximately twenty concerts take place every year from the beginning of March to the middle of May in concert halls and monuments of the city of Pardubice and other cities in the region. The festival presents important domestic and foreign artists, chamber ensembles, symphony orchestras, opera and ballet ensembles.

Since 2013, they have performed at the Pardubice Music Spring, for example, the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Prague FOK, Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, PKF - Prague Philharmonia, Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, Collegium 1704, Ensemble Inégal and Barocco semper giovane with conductors Heiko Mathias Förster (Germany), Shalev Ad-El (Israel), Petr Altrichter, Václav Luks , Adam Viktora, Tomáš Brauner, Jan Kučera, Marko Ivanović, Marek Šedivý, opera ensemble of the FX Šalda Theater Liberec, ballet ensembles of the Slovak National Theater and Moravian Theater Olomouc, Wihan Quartet, Herold Quartet, GUITAR4MATION - Guitar Quartet (Austria), Five Star Clarinet Quartet, Ciganski diabli (Slovakia), Ondřej Havelka and his Melody Makers, Prague Cello Quartet, Guarneri trio, Smetana trio, violinists Giuliano Carmignola (Italy), Václav Hudeček, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Jiří Vodička, Leoš Čepický and Pavel Šporcl , cellists Jiří Bárta and Tomáš Jamník, pianists Ivo Kahánek, Piers Lane (Great Britain), Igor Ardašev, Adam Skoumal, Jitka Čechová, Nozomi Nakagiri and Yuka Beppu (Japan) , harpsichordists and organists Stéphane Bécha (France), Shalev Ad-El (Israel), Jaroslav Tůma, Aleš Bárta, Pavel Svoboda, further eg flutist Yoshimi Oshima (Japan), clarinetist Ludmila Peterková, trumpeter Oliver Lakota (Germany), tenor Štefan Margita and Petr Nekoranec and many other artists.

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The Smetana’s Litomyšl festival is the second oldest music festival in the Czech Republic, and at the same time it is among the largest regular classical music festivals held in the country.

It mainly features opera performances and concerts, as well as gala concerts, oratorios, cantatas and song evenings; that is forms in which vocal artistry dominates. However symphonic, instrumental and chamber music are not ignored and in the venues here there are ballet performances and church music as well as promenade concerts and other genres. Every year at the festival practically all the top Czech interpreters perform, the three national theatres, all the significant orchestras and choirs and the best conductors, soloists and instrumentalists. And even though there are many significant foreign guests (among others Katia Ricciarelli, Sherill Milnes, Bernd Weikl, Kurt Rydl, Sergej Larin, Neil Shicoff, Torsten Kerl, Sumi Jo, Kate Royal, Marcello Giordani, Thomas Hampson, Oksana Dyka ...) Smetana’s Litomyšl has retained its Czech character and so is truly a national festival.

The centre of the festival is the wonderful Litomyšl State Castle, which in 1999 was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. The main events are held mostly in the acoustically excellently prepared second courtyard with its unique retractable roof, as well as in the castle riding hall, in Litomyšl’s churches, in the Smetana Hall and regularly in selected places in the Pardubice region.

A visit to Smetana’s Litomyšl is no ordinary occasion, as aside from the interesting dramaturgy and the brilliant performances it offers a chance to stay away from the metropolitan hustle and bustle in a place with its own unique spirit.

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