Czech Chamber Orchestra Masters Unusual Surroundings
The Czech Chamber Philharmonic played their first concert of the season last Friday evening in a most unusual venue - a former communist party hotel in Prague 6.
The Crowne Plaza, which for some years was a Holiday Inn, has hosted the talented orchestra for four years. Artistic director Zdenek Adam says audience members donn't mind travelling to a hotel in a suburb of Prague for the concerts.
"It was very nice of the management of the Hotel Crown Plaza to let us play our concerts here. The number of listeners who like concerts in different venues has been increasing gradually, and now they're completely sold-out. People send us emails thanking us. We've chosen a popular repetoire - people just like coming here."
The concerts are held in a small ballroom in the hotel which seats around 350. The audience members are so close to the orchestra they're practically sitting on the musicians' laps. The 26-member orchestra is serious about the music, give a first rate performance, and still manage to create a cozy, relaxed atmosphere. The hotel contributes to this atmosphere - offering a complimentary glass of wine to concert-goers at intermission.
One Prague resident who sat in the second row said she enjoyed the proximity between musicians and audience:
"It's a nice thing, that you can be closer and to see a little bit closer what's really going on behind. It's very friendly."
Another concert-goer who lives in the suburb of Prague 6 also appreciated the atmosphere:
"I'm thoroughly enjoying the concert so far, it's great. I think it's more relaxing, I and it makes it more - it's informal - so I guess a little more enjoyable."
Others appreciated the location itself. One man said:
"The acoustics were wonderful in this room and it's a very interesting building - it's the first time I've been to the building, so it's a very interesting building and also it's a very nice small and intimate atmosphere, so I really enjoyed it very much."
The feelings of rapport between the musicians and their audience seem mutual. Costin Anghelescu plays violin for the orchestra:
"It's smaller - it's a little cozier - it's a little more intimate - it's a friendly kind of place, where the people are sitting a metre and a half next to us, so it's like, it's quite like a home, a kind of home concert."
The season runs until June, and the nearly monthly concerts vary between popular programmes such as the all Czech line up at the season's opening on Friday, to evenings of Baroque and Classicism, the conductor Vojtech Spruny's specialty.
The price of tickets is remarkably low at 220 Kc per concert, and 1,360 Kc. for a season subscription.
