R. Zollman´s greetings to Prague audience

Dear Prague audience,

It is with joy and emotion that I address these few words to you. There are many reasons for this feeling, and the least one not being the love I have for your city, for the people who live in this great, amazing and overwhelming center of European culture.

Prague has been close to my heart since many years, and long before I came here to perform. I’ll always remember my first trip, having the feeling that Mozart was waiting for me behind every street corner. Now, after having crossed the Charles Bridge hundreds of times, the feeling remains as fresh as the very 1st time, with everywhere and at both sides of the river, the shadows of Mozart, Kafka, Dvorak, Smetana haunting me… in spite of all the tourists! Have you ever crossed the Bridge at sunrise in March? It is worth getting up early: no tourists, just pure Prague beauty!

Then came my first professional experiences in your city. They started with a concert of Contemporary Music with the Radio Symphony, a challenging program for any orchestra in the world, a program which included only premieres for the orchestra … and for the public. Honestly said, this isn’t the ideal way of making a contact with a group of people. Still, I felt from the beginning that the terrain was favorable for exchanges and for musical communication, and I keep to this day excellent memories from the concert and the rehearsals, thanks to the impressively hard work and the deep involvement of everyone participating.

After guesting with several Czech orchestras, I came back to the Radio Symphony in January 2010 for a “normal” program, including works by Suk, Mozart (him again!) and Shostakovich. This concert led to my being with you tonight, for the 1st time as the new SOCR’s Principal Guest Conductor.

The program which has been chosen for the present concert is dedicated to French music, culminating with Berlioz’ Symphonie Fantastique, a well-known masterpiece. I am glad to see it preceded by a work by Henri Dutilleux, surely one of the greatest living composers, and by two works for cello by Milhaud and Fauré, covering thus 150 years of musical creation. And I’ll be happy to come back soon with a mostly Czech program.

I hope you’ll enjoy these musical moments as much as I am looking forward to perform them for you!

Yours sincerely,
Ronald Zollman