This year the whole world is commemorating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the brilliant composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. January 12 2006 saw the beginning of a project comprising almost 250 concerts, operas, exhibitions and music festivals, which are being staged from January until December 2006 as part of the Mozart Prague 2006 project.
The Mozart Prague 2006 Association is made up of 17 institutions and companies. Thanks to support from the City of Prague it has been possible to organise this huge project which has been financed solely by the individual organisations and institutions.
An important event at the beginning of the year was the Gala concert which took place January 27, the day of what would have been Mozart’s 250th birthday, at the Estates Theatre. A live transmission from the concert was included in the world-wide ‘24 hours Mozart’ project and broadcast via the EBU network.
May 12 saw the beginning of the prestigious Prague Spring International Music Festival, which this year included some great performances of Mozart’s work.
We recommend the following events which are yet to take place as part of the Mozart Prague 2006 project:
22. 10. 2006, 19.30, Estates Theatre
Strings of Autumn
Don Juan in Prague
Agon Orchestra
Iva Bittová – Donna Elvíra
Adaptation and director: David Chambers
Arrangement and digital music: Matthew Suttor
Assistant conductor: Marko Ivanovič
Set: Darcy Scanlin
Costumes: Irina Kruzhilina
Video projection: Peter Flaherty
Conductor: David Levi
This modern adaptation of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni preserves Mozart’s original score and Da Ponte’s libretto while using digital technology – computer-generated music, graphics and video. A string quintet (made up of members of the Agon Orchestra) take part in the performance on the stage with the music they play digitally altered. This is a co-production between the National Theatre and The Brooklyn Academy of Music.
2. 11. – 26. 11. 2006 – THE PRAGUE PEOPLE UNDERSTAND ME
Exhibition
The focal point of the exhibition, which will take place at the Clementinum, is the collection of priceless period hand-written copies and printed editions of Mozart’s works. Efforts to preserve Mozart’s memory at the Clementinum include bringing the collection to life, further development of the collection and adding to the body of knowledge about Mozart and his works including recording documents relating to Mozart accessible here and abroad. This is and has been the work of the Mozart Memorial, founded in 1837, 4 years before the famous Mozarteum in Salzburg.
21. 11. 2006 – 28. 1. 2007 – Mozart’S PRAGUE
Exhibition
This exhibition will take place at the Clam-Gallas Palace and serve as the climax to the celebrations to mark the 250 anniversary of Mozart’s birth. It will show the composer’s relationship to the capital of the Czech lands and its inhabitants; It will remember the ovations which the great composer enjoyed in Prague, but also the period context of the city’s cultural life, in particular in the fields of music and theatre, the major personalities of the time and other events of the period, such as the coronation of Leopold II. It is symbolic that the exhibition, set to end January 27 2007, Mozart’s birthday, is taking place at the Clam-Gallas Palace, a place closely associated with one of Mozart’s visits to Prague.
2. 12. 2006 – MOZART GALA CONCERT
At the large hall in the Prague Congress Centre a concert will take place featuring a selection of the best-known arias and choir pieces from Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail, The Marriage of Figaro, La clemenza di Tito, Don Giovanni, Lucio Silla, The Magic Flute, Così fan tutte and Thamos, the King of Egypt in a grand song, choir and visual show. It will be performed by: Dagmar Pecková, Ivan Kusnjer, Alexandra Spurná, The Prague Chamber Choir and The Czech Chamber Philharmonic. Conductor – Vojtěch Spurný.
14. 12. 2006 – GALA Concert
Prague was the only city to bid Mozart farewell with a mass which took place at the Church of St Nicholas in the Malá Strana District December 14, 1791. Four thousand people came to pay their last respects to Mozart. At a concert 14. 12. 2006, the following Mozart works will be performed: Symphony No. 30 in D major, Bella ia fiamma - concert aria, Ch´io mi scordi di te? – for soprano, piano and orchestra and Symphony No. 39 in E major. Performed by: Eva Urbanová, The Prague Symphonic Orchestra, Conductor – Jiří Kout.
Just from this short list of the most interesting events taking place it is obvious that the second half of 2006 will feature some great performances of the works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
More information:
press@mozartprague2006.cz
www.mozartpraha2006.cz
www.mozartprague2006.com 
Mozart gala
