35th International Music Festival Janacek May Ostrava
The Year 2010 had particular significance as the 150th anniversary of the birth of the great composer Gustav Mahler. With this in mind, we prepared a special concert for the 17 May 2010 which formed a prologue to the festival. The concert at the Antonín Dvorák Theatre featured outstanding mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková and the celebrated tenor Jaroslav Brezina joined by the Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Petr Altrichter in a performance of Mahler´s monumental work Das Lied von der Erde (The Song on the Earth).
The first notes of the 35th Year of the Janácek May International Music Festival sounded on 24 May 2010 in magnificent manner with Janácek´s Sinfonietta and Dvorák´s New World Symphony performed by the legendary Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by the great Zdenek Mácal. The three weeks until 13th June were packed with beautiful concerts featuring works by Bohuslav Martinu, Antonín Dvorák, Bedrich Smetana and other great international composers.
The festival consisted of twenty five concerts of various genres, and the spoken word was not be missing either. The concerts took place in Opava, Frýdek-Místek, Ludgerovice, Kravare, Krnov and, for the first time, in Havírov and Orlová. In the Moravian-Silesian metropolis – Ostrava, festival performances were held for the first time at the Acord Cultural Centre in Zábreh and in the beautiful recital hall of the Rothschild Chateau in Vítkovice.
In this Jubilee Year, we met a number of distinguished personalities as well as rising stars for the first time. These included outstanding young violinist Eugen Ugorski and international award-winning soprano Inessa Galant. Return visits by great artists were also something to celebrate this year. Great American pianist Garrick Ohlsson was glad to accept our invitation and after a long pause, we welcomed once again the splendid Prague Philharmonic Choir, internationally renowned conductor Ondrej Lenárd and that remarkable jazzman Karel Ruzicka.
