Brno’s Moravian Autumn Festival to celebrate Sir Charles Mackerras, the great champion of Czech music
The annual international music festival Moravian Autumn gets underway this Sunday in the Moravian capital of Brno. This year’s edition marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Sir Charles Mackerras, the world-renowned British conductor and lifelong champion of Czech music.
The opening concert of the 53rd Moravian Autumn Festival will begin with William Walton’s lively overture Portsmouth Point, a piece inspired by the bustle of a noisy harbour and often described as a real challenge for conductors.
Marie Kučerová, head of the Moravian Autumn Festival, explains the inspiration behind this year’s programme:
“Actually, the idea behind this year’s edition of the Moravian Autumn Festival was inspired by Sir Charles Mackerras himself as a great personality. That’s why we invited three excellent British orchestras to Brno—ensembles that were closely associated with Sir Charles.
“The first of these is the BBC Concert Orchestra. Its repertoire focuses on British music, particularly the more popular works by composers such as Sullivan, Walton, and Elgar—music that is extremely popular in the UK but not performed as often here in Czechia.
“We wanted to reflect this British side of Sir Charles Mackerras’s musical personality, as he was a great admirer of this repertoire. So, beginning the festival with Walton’s Portsmouth Point serves as a tribute to him.”
Alongside Walton, the opening night will feature more British classics, including one of Mackerras’s favourites, Elgar’s Enigma Variations.
The concert will then turn its focus to Czech music, culminating in Leoš Janáček’s Sinfonietta, one of the composer’s most celebrated works.
“It is a bold and powerful composition, known for its striking fanfares at the beginning and end. We agreed with the orchestra and its wonderful Finnish conductor, Anna-Maria Helsing, to include Sinfonietta as a special homage to Janáček.
“This performance will be further enhanced by the participation of the musicians performing the fanfares—the Prague Castle Guard and the Czech Police Band, the main ceremonial band from Prague. I believe this will make the finale truly festive and very popular with the audience,” says Mrs. Kučerová.
The choice of Janáček is no coincidence. As Kučerová explains, he was Sir Charles Mackerras’s most beloved composer, whose music he tirelessly championed throughout his career:
“Mackerras would spend countless hours in the Janáček archives, studying details of the composer’s manuscripts in order to stay as close as possible to Janáček’s original intentions. This deep study earned him great expertise and an international reputation as a true Janáček specialist.
“He often worked with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Prague orchestras, but he also brought his knowledge and love for Janáček’s music to the United Kingdom. It was he who introduced Janáček to British audiences, who have loved his music ever since. From there, Janáček’s music spread across the world.”
Over the course of the two-week festival, audiences can look forward to works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Handel—three of Mackerras’s most cherished composers. The festival will also highlight Mackerras’s passion for Baroque music with a performance of Handel’s opera Solomon.
In addition to the BBC Concert Orchestra, two other leading British ensembles will appear at this year’s festival—the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, both of which enjoyed long collaborations with Mackerras.
Before the opening concert, the Leoš Janáček Foundation will present the Sir Charles Mackerras Award to a Czech conductor under the age of forty. The ceremony will be attended by his daughter, Catherine, and, as Mrs. Kučerová points out, it is only the second time the award will be presented.
“The first recipient was the now internationally renowned conductor Jakub Hrůša. It is therefore a very prestigious award, and we are eagerly anticipating the announcement of this year’s winner. However, the name remains a closely guarded secret and will only be revealed at the opening concert.”
For those unable to make the trip to Brno, Sunday’s opening concert in the Janáček Theatre will be broadcast live on Czech Radio’s Vltava station.
