Enchanted, Elated, Emotional
For the second time in my life I've won something! Tickets to see Prague Symphony Orchestra in concert, conducted by none other than maestro José Cura, yes, the world famous tenor himself! Who knew that he originally studied Composition and Conducting? Anyway, this unexpected cultural pleasure left me in raptures and mesmerised, therefore I cannot contain myself and must share my delight with you.
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| Smetana Hall, Municipal House (image from prague.eu) |
The concert took place at PSO's home: Smetana Hall in the Municipal House in Prague, this gem of a building. The turn of the century interior design is so gorgeous! I must remember, next time before I go there, to study and revise some facts about the place, so I can enjoy it even more and illuminate my companions with history and art knowledge :)
It was a bit of a hassle finding a culture-deprived pal who would want to be my plus one, I almost considered not going, but in the end I was saved and enjoyed a very lovely night out, feeling all fancy :)
The programme of the evening was a rather romantic collection of music, starting off with a capella choir performing a selection from the Night Vigil (sometimes wrongly titled Vespers) by Rachmaninov. I was blown away: Firstly, as an amateur choir singer, by the skill and the quality of the sound the Prague Philharmonic Choir produced. Secondly, as a Czech and a religious person, I was moved. The Slavic part of my heart rejoiced in the beautifully Russian choral loveliness. Here's a little snippet ;)
I seem to be continuing the Russian theme, don't I? (Just finished watching BBC's War & Peace adaptation. It was ace! )
Second piece of the night was a lyrical poem called Il Tramonto, aka The Sunset, by an Italian composer I'd never heard of. Turns out he wrote the music to an Italian translation of a text by P. B. Shelley. #romantic. The mezzo-soprano solo was performed by Dagmar Pecková, a very famous Czech opera singer, so I was glad that I got to see/hear her. Even if it was just for this one little piece, which if I'm to be honest, I wasn't that impressed with.
To conclude the first half of the concert we were offered the Czech premiere of Magnificat composed by José Cura himself. "I wrote the Magnificat in 1988," he writes in the programme, "It was the International Marian Year, as declared by Pope John Paul II, and the year my wife, after having miscarried twice, found herself pregnant a third time. That third time, evidently, seemed to be the providential one." It took 27 years for the piece to be picked up from the drawer. Choir, orchestra, soprano solo.... It was very unconventional and unexpectedly poweful. To me it almost seemed to tell a story, transforming the lyrics into music in a slightly descriptive way, which is not what I am used to hearing (and singing) in Magnificat. It felt so special to witness the author presenting his own work in person!
After the interval we immersed in Rachmaninov's Symphony no. 2 in E minor Op. 27.
I had never heard anything so romantic in my life! In both senses of the word :) A true representative of Romanticism and also it made your heart flutter in a very special way. I had shivers down my spine and actually cried a couple of tears. That's how moving it was. Here's the Adagio - the 3rd movement of the symphony and also the most romantic part, in my opinion.
I went home absolutely mesmerised and totally in love with Rachmaninov and live performances by such a marvellous ansamble as the Prague Symphony Orchestra is. I've always loved live music. Good live music. There's nothing like it. But the sheer magnitude of the sound coming from a proper big orchestra, the skill and professionality of all those musicians who pull together to do this... It's really something quite extraordinary!
Result: I am now trying to figure out exactly how much money I can afford to spend on classical music concerts. For I worry I won't be able to win tickets to all those that interest me. Last year was a year full of theatre for me. Maybe I should make 2016 a year full of music :)
When was the last time you went to a classical music concert? Have you ever? Or is classical music something you try to avoid, because it doesn't agree with you ;) Let me know :)
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