Shakespeare 460: Romeo & Juliet

The festival will close with the most famous playwright whose work has inspired composers for 460 years since his birth next year. To mark William Shakespeare’s anniversary, we will perform his most famous play Romeo and Juliet in four musical settings by composers from two centuries, accompanied by Les Ballets Bubeníček ensemble in a choreography by Jiří Bubeníček.

Artists

Prague Philharmonia
Tomáš Brauner – conductor
Jiří Bubeníček – choreography
Les Ballets Bubeníček – ballet ensemble
Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses – participants of the 2nd year of courses

Program

Vincenzo Bellini: Capulets and Montagues – Sinfonia
Charles Gounod: Overture to Romeo and Juliet
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Romeo and Juliet – Overture – Fantasia
Sergei Prokofiev: Selection from the suites from ballet Romeo and Juliet

Prague Philharmonia

Prague Philharmonia was founded in 1994 on the initiative of the world-famous conductor Jiří Bělohlávek under the original name of the Prague Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. In the 30 years of its existence, the orchestra has earned recognition throughout the music world thanks to its international tours, but also thanks to its internationally acclaimed albums and recordings. The Prague Philharmonia is praised for its unique sound, but also for its repertoire, which is mainly focused on the works of Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Jakub Hrůša, Julian Rachlin, Martha Argerich, Jefim Bronfman, András Schiff, Gil Shaham, Isabelle Faust, Emmanuel Pahud, Luciano Pavarotti, Diana Damrau, Plácido Domingo, Gautier Capuçon, Maxim Vengerov, Mischa Maisky, Juan Diego Flórez, Jonas Kaufmann and many others have performed with the orchestra.

Photo: Ivan Malý

Tomáš Brauner

Chief Conductor of the Capital City Symphony Orchestra graduated in oboe and conducting at the State Conservatory and in conducting at the Prague Academy of Performing Arts. He regularly collaborates with the Czech Philharmonic, Prague Philharmonia, Müncher Symphoniker, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and many others.

He is also an opera conductor and at the State Opera, the National Theatre and the National Moravian-Silesian Theatre he has conducted Puccini’s La Bohème and Tosca, Verdi’s Otello, Nabucco and Traviata, Bizet’s Carmen and many others.

He is a frequent guest of international music festivals such as Bad Kissingen and the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Parten-Kirchen, and in 2022 he made his debut in the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg.

Jiří Bubeníček

A sought-after choreographer and a former first soloist in Hamburg or at the Semperoper in Dresden has performed for example the role of Armand in Neumeier’s ballet The Lady with Camellias at the Paris Opera, for which he received the Benois de la Danse award.

In 1999 he started choreographing. Since then he has created over sixty choreographic works ranging from dance miniatures to full-length ballets, including Anita Berbera – Queen of the Night, Doctor Zhivago, The Piano, The Trial and Cinderella. He won the Europa in Danza Award for his ballet Carmen. He founded his own company Les Ballets Bubeníček. In 2017 he was honoured with the Silver Medal of the City of Prague. Since 2023 he has been organizing Bubeníček Ballet Masterclasses in Český Krumlov.