Guitarist Michal Pavlíček with our orchestra (20. 4.)
If you felt like listening to Michal Pavlíček you probably wouldn’t attend a Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra concert. But believe it or not these representatives of apparently opposing areas of music are due to meet on stage at the Municipal House’s Smetana Hall on Monday 20 April. Then again, the “New Horizons” season-ticket holders’ series has from the start been winning audiences thanks to unlikely combinations and contrasts.
Michal Pavlíček is one of the greatest Czech guitarists. However, he is also a highly inventive composer, lyricist and singer, the spiritual father of the band Stromboli and a member of Pražský výběr and other groups. At times he is something of a romantic poet of the guitar, at others a dynamic musician marked by drive and shades of darkness… He has also put his creative ingenuity and personality into music for theatrical productions, films, plays and TV serials, as well as authoring several symphonic ballets and musicals (Excalibur, The Picture of Dorian, The Lady of the Camellias).
What to expect from his musicians’ dialogue with the PRSO’s players? A kind of polemic with the great composers of the classics. First up will be Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor in an ingenious arrangement by Leopold Stokowski, giving the evening the required strong opening impulse. This will be followed by the premiere of Concerto for Electric Guitar and Orchestra. When the orchestra’s dramaturge commissioned composer Petr Wajsar, his instructions were roughly as follows: “Keep in mind Bach’s musical language and Pavlíček’s guitar virtuosity – but stay Wajsar.
While Pavlíček will be a “mere” interpreter of that piece, his compositional skills will be showcased in the second half of the evening. It will begin with the charming Adagietto from Gustav Mahler’s Fifth Symphony. Pavlíček will then perform three new pieces inspired by Mahler. The evening will conclude with music indelibly associated with the preeminent guitarist, having accompanied him on a considerable part of his artistic journey.
Though we have outlined how the evening will look, the programme still has plenty of room for surprises, artistry, improvisation and unexpected turns. Whether you attend the Municipal House for the PRSO concert on 20 April, listen live on Czech Radio Vltava or watch a video recording on YouTube or at the website socr.rozhlas.cz you will be joining the musicians on a journey into relatively uncharted territory. There is no doubt the expedition will be exciting, adventurous and compelling. If for no other reason than the fact Michal Pavlíček regards playing live as “the meaning of life for a musician. It wouldn’t work at all without a sense of internal emotion and trance. Figuratively speaking, it’s a clean drug that simply carries you away from reality.” Don’t look Bach with regrets – don’t miss Pavlíček going symphonic!
