Sun, 28. 3. 2021, 7.00 p.m.

M DVOŘÁK CHOIR CENTENARY

Venue: Zlín Congress Centre  |  Organizer: Filharmonie Bohuslava Martinů, o.p.s.  | 

The 2020–21 season sees the centenary of the Zlín-based Dvořák Mixed Voice Choir and this anniversary is celebrated in March as the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra presents a concert reflecting the joint history of these two formations which began over 50 years ago, when the Dvořák Choir and the orchestra started working together in the 1950s. This collaborative venture between the two became stronger in 1968, when the choir became officially affiliated to the Gottwaldov State Symphony Orchestra, as the orchestra was called at the time. This move amounted to a step change for both musical bodies, making it possible for "the shoe-making town", as Zlín was nicknamed, to stage ambitious vocal-instrumental works in a hitherto unprecedented way, finally allowing the subscription series concerts to include heavyweight works such as Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Dvořák's Te Deum, Orff's Carmina Burana, Puccini's Messa di Gloria, and many more. Particularly noteworthy in this regard are the annual performances of Ryba's Czech Christmas Mass which have now become part and parcel of the Christmastide tradition in Zlín. The Dvořák Choir reverted to its independent status in 1993 for organisational reasons, but it still continues its artistic partnership with the Orchestra, albeit to a much lesser extent.

Over its history, the Choir has performed hundreds of works by many different composers in Zlín and the surrounding area, and tonight's centenary anniversary concert features Dvorák's Stabat Mater oratorio in a very eloquent musical expression of the suffering of a mother whose son is dying on the cross.

The Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by František Macek.