The PRSO has initiated the inception of a new symphony!
You can get to know it at a concert at the Rudolfinum’s Dvořák Hall on 6 February. Pavel Zemek Novák, who turns 60 this year and is one of the most original contemporary Czech composers, has based it on a text by St. Francis of Assisi and titled it “The Praise of Creation”.
He has characterised the piece as unisono for female choir and orchestra. Pavel Zemek Novák decided to adopt the monophonic method of unisono composition as he felt that dissonance had been overused in the avant-garde music of the 20th century. The vocal component will be handled by the ladies of the Prague Philharmonic Choir helmed by Jakub Zicha.
We will also hear them in another piece, the rarely performed cantata La damoiselle élue, composed by Claude Debussy when he was only 26. It is a poem set to music that is full of ethereality and melancholy and in some ways brings to mind the story of Tristan and Isolde, featuring as it does insatiable desire and the linking of love and death. When he composed the cantata Debussy was greatly enchanted by the Wagnerian world.
At the same, time he conceived of some things differently: Instead of spectacular and wild sensuality, he emphasised, with typical French charm, subtlety, affection and mysterious intimations. The story recounts how a “chosen girl” observes her lover from heaven and recalls the brevity of their time together. The solos will be performed by soprano Lucie Silkenová and mezzo-soprano Kateřina Jalovcová.
After the interval the audience can look forward to Petrushka, the second of three famous ballets of Igor Stravinsky’s so-called Russian period. Petrushka is a Russian folk character who is a bit of an “unfortunate”, a bit of a “patsy”, and always comes to a bad end. He loves the Ballerina but she prefers the Moor.
The entire story is presented by a magician in his puppet theatre, which is one of the attractions of the fair where the whole thing takes place. Petrushka delivered much that was new in musical language: complex rhythms, unusually harsh harmonies and the usage of so-called urban folklore with its “unvarnished” melodies. The ballet was extremely well-received at its premiere – and enjoys the same reaction at concert halls to this day.
On Monday 6 February the PRSO will perform under the baton of its principal guest conductor Tomáš Brauner. Czech Radio’s Vltava station will broadcast the concert live from the Dvořák Hall at the Rudolfinum.
