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Czech version
We are
sorry to announce that the Valtice Festival is not taking place this
year.
The
Festival Management makes the effort to gain financial and
organizational support
that will
ensure the existence of the Feast in the next years.
VALTICE FESTIVAL
A MAGNIFICENT
BAROQUE FEAST
The Valtice Feast returns to the original
concept behind the festival in 1990. Based upon the founders’
research into Baroque and Classical festivities, the festival
featured local talents, at times in partnership with visiting stars,
and thus permitted a harmonious programme that stood alone among
other festivals for its remarkable refinement and originality.
For this reason The Valtice Festival focuses on young, internationally
acclaimed soloists and members of renowned Czech and international
ensembles, who will join together in an unique ensemble,
Les Musiciens du Château.
This ensemble plays in various guises throughout the entire
programme.
A spirit of reverie and carnival runs throughout the weekend, from
first grand appearance of Les Musiciens du Château and fireworks on
Friday evening, to the masked ball on Saturday evening, when even
guests themselves are to be transformed into masked players on the
magical stage and moonlit gardens of the Valtice chateau. The
carnival only subsides with the radiant sound of organ, voice and
strings echoes in the heights of the chapel dome and when merry
voices of the apotheosis of wine and song fade into the green
rolling hills.
The annual Valtice Baroque Festival brings together guests dedicated
to reviving the rich cultural spirit of the Valtice chateau and the
social and economic life of the Lednice-Valtice region. Festival has
never been the usual “arrive, perform and leave” event; since its
beginning in 1989, young Czech and international artists create a
special programme for the Festival weekend where every performance
is at the same time a premiere and derniere that cannot be enjoyed
anywhere else -- not least because of the beautiful natural setting
and magnificent architecture.
Gathering each year to enjoy a weekend of performances, Moravian
wine and entertainment in keeping with the magical and sumptuous
spirit of the Baroque period, Valtice devotees are guardians to the
Festival’s flagship project -- an ambitious long-term plan to
restore the Valtice´s Baroque Castle Theatre to its original
grandeur and make it a regional and international center of Baroque
Opera and Theatre in central Europe.
***
Perhaps the atmosphere is best characterised in the words of former
festival guests:
I am writing to thank you for the delightful week-end we passed
at the Valtice Festival. You provided us with an ideal mixture of
art, relaxation, excellent food, wine and good company in the most
splendid surroundings.
(Ambassador of the
Netherlands, R. J. van Houtum, 1999)
The Valtice Festival is situated in a cultural region that is
exceptional thanks to its combination of architectural treasures and
sensitively cultivated park-like landscape. It is a unique festival,
which has not fallen into the grasp of commercial thinking like most
European music and theatre festivals, but has retained its
personality both through the choice of its artistic program as well
as the audience it attracts. I don’t know any other place so free of
snobbery that can offer one such a pleasurable time.
(Karel J. Schwarzenberg,
2000)
And from the European press, the festival has been called:
A musical time machine (The Independent, London, 1990)
The rebirth of Renaissance (BBC, 1990)
A festival for the five senses (Czech TV, 1998)
Elegant concerts, picnics, feasts and fireworks (The Times,
London, 1992)
Totalerlebnis (Die Presse, 1990)
Baroque for the ears, eyes and taste buds (Die Presse, 1992)
The birth of a new tradition (Lidové noviny, 1992)
***
It is sadly impossible to
state the names of all artists who have helped in a important way,
thanks to their enthusiasm and high level of musicianship, to
overcome the limited financial resources of the Festival organisers.
Lets name some of them:
Magdalena Kožená, Isabelle Poulenard, Gabriela Demeterová, Jana
Lewitová, Letizia Dradi, Ilona Bedrnová, Jiří Kotouč, Jaroslav Tůma,
Jiří Stivín, Pavel Šmok, Pavel Klikar, Marek Štryncl, Robert Hugo,
Tomáš Hála, Camerata Renesex, Musica Antiqua Praha, Capella Regia
Musicalis, Musica Florea, Ritornello, La Gambetta, London
Madrigalists, Ensemble Philidor,Dama-Dama, Giovanni Octet, Hradišťan,
Teatro Pyroboli and, of course, National Theatre, Prague, with the
soloists, ballet and orchestra.
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