An extraordinary cultural event was held on 17th September 2014 as part of the music festival Dvořák’s Prague: The world premiere performance of Dvořák’s first opera, Alfred, was performed in the original version with German text. Despite the fact that Antonín Dvořák is one of the most well-known composers worldwide, many of his compositions are rarely performed. In case of this realisation of Alfred, more than dramaturgical decisions were required. Musicians, producers, and also musicologists have taken part in this ambitious project.
Institutions such as the Department of Music History, the Institute of Ethnology, the Academy
of Sciences of the Czech Republic, p.r.i., contributed to the successful realisation of this
project with demanding tasks, including preparation a new edition of the sheet music and the score
with the original German text.
In addition to the music festival
Dvořák’s Prague and the Department of Music History, other partners were Czech Radio, the
Arco Diva agency, and the Czech Ministry of Culture and German-Czech Future Fund.
The opera
Alfred was performed by Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Czech Philharmonic Choir of
Brno and distinguished soloists, conducted by German conductor Heiko Mathias Förster. The concert
performance in the Dvořák Hall in Rudolphinum was not the only result of this exemplary
cooperation between these institutions: a CD recording has also been produced as a result of the
rehearsals and concert, as a significant “world premiere recording” contribution to Dvořák’s
discography.
18 Sep 2014
