Prague prepares great celebrations for Mozart's 250th birthday

The Theater of Estates - or Stavovske Divadlo - is the last existing theater where Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart featured his operas. Mozart lived in Prague for some time, and composed a number of pieces here, such as the Prague Symphony and the opera Don Giovanni. The city is proud of the heritage of the great composer and since next year is the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth, Prague is already now planning great celebrations.

The director of the Mozart Praha 2006 project, Jiri Hubac, says that even though Mozart's birthday is on January 27th, musical and other events associated with the anniversary will be organized all year round.

"The 27th January will be of course the main day. There will be a festive concert at the Theater of Estates - I suppose it will be offered to the whole world through the EBU TV network. We plan a number of other exceptional concerts throughout the whole year, but there will also be different exhibitions, such as 'Mozart and the Theater of Estates'. We are also planning to bring a part of a Viennese exhibition to Prague, which could be in November and December exhibited in the Municipal House."

But moving a part of the Viennese exhibition to Prague is not the only event at which these two Mozart cities cooperate.

Franz Patay, director of the Viennese Mozart's Year:

The Theater of Estates

"The city of Vienna and the city of Prague want to work on sustainable projects, not only in 2006 but also in the years to come. There is already one big TV project confirmed. It is called '24 Hours of Mozart' - it is a TV Project that will travel around the globe starting in Japan and later coming to Europe. We are cooperating with Prague, Salzburg and other cities to realize this big project when the whole world will be able to receive Mozart's music for 24 hours."

The Mozart's celebrations in Prague will be accompanied by all kind of musical institutions - orchestras, theaters, museums, and the famous Czech Philharmonic Orchestra will be no exception, says its director, Vaclav Riedelbauch.

"We have prepared a very special concert with an Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck who is very popular in Prague. It should be a demonstration of a certain continuity of the Austrian Empire. The Czech Republic belongs to the same cultural region and Mozart belongs to Prague. We also prepare a special program with Prague compositions by Mozart, such as the 'Prague Symphony' or the 'Clarinet Concerto' which was also played during Mozart's visit in Prague."

And not only big concert halls and theaters, but also streets, parks and other public places will be full of events celebrating the anniversary. So if you are a fan of Mozart's music, don't forget to put visit of Prague into your next year agenda.