Free open air concert in the Wallenstein Garden fuses different kinds of music together
The Wallenstein Garden will host an outdoor concert Wednesday evening, with music being performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra and directed by Czech conductor Jan Kučera. The show will present classical music and also the soundtracks of famous films. We spoke to the program coordinator Martin Rudovský about what’s in store.
Can you tell us about what’s in store tonight at the free concert in the Wallenstein Garden?
“It’s been our tradition since the 1940’s to do this concert in the Wallenstein Garden, but we re-established it again in 2014 with an annual opening of the season. The conductor for this season in the garden is Jan Kučera, and we perform mainly film, opera, and concert music.”
Is there anything interesting to know about the conductor of the show, Jan Kučera?
“He is really exceptional, he’s a completely universal conductor. An arranger, a very good composer, and a very good moderator of the show. He does many shows across the Czech Republic. He’s quite famous and we love him, he has no problem talking, conducting, and composing for these concerts, he’s a really special guy.”
What about the music being played tonight, what’s in store for the program?
“It’s a three part show, about one hour and 15 minutes. We will start with symphonic music – La forza del destino overture by Giuseppe Verdi, then we move into music by Bedřich Smetana, his work Vltava from My Country. Then a few Neapolitan songs will be performed with the great Czech tenor Daniel Matoušek, and finally film music from Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, The Sting, and Chariots of Fire, and also some melodies from Czech fairy tales.”
Why is it important to have these free events where people can come and listen to this kind of music?
“It’s very important to attract new audiences, especially families with children. For normal classical concerts, it’s not so easy for everybody to come to the Municipal House or other big venues. But open air concerts that mix genres of music are a great presentation of classical music for the whole of society.”
Looking outside the window, the weather isn’t too great, but what are the plans to deal with temperamental weather?
“We have already played in the rain three years ago, and since the orchestra is covered by the Sala Terrena in the garden it’s not so bad, and the public always comes with umbrellas. But I did check the weather, and around 4pm the weather looks promising and there might even be sun.”
The concert begins at 5pm tonight in the Wallenstein gardens. More information can be found here.
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The Wallenstein Garden: where history and beauty meet
The second largest park in Prague's city centre, the Wallenstein Garden was built by Albrecht von Wallenstein and modelled after an Italian mannerist garden.
