Tradiční festivalová ouvertura Po stopách Antonína Dvořáka nás v letošním roce zavede do Olomouce. Hanácká metropole, proslulá svou bohatou historií a cennými uměleckými památkami, byla v průběhu let svědkem řady skladatelových návštěv. U zrodu Dvořákova vztahu k městu stál jeho přátelský vztah s kanovníkem olomoucké kapituly Jindřichem Geislerem. Ten byl zároveň i oddaným organizátorem místního hudebního života a dlouholetým předsedou zdejšího čilého hudebního spolku Žerotín. A právě díky Dvořákově spolupráci s Žerotínem se v Olomouci podařilo opakovaně zorganizovat koncerty, které ve své době patřily k vrcholným kulturním událostem města. V letech 1884–1898 zde skladatel za neobyčejného zájmu místních obyvatel celkem jedenáctkrát dirigoval vlastní skladby, převážně velká vokálně-instrumentální díla. Mimo jiné zde poprvé v českých zemích zaznělo Te Deum a odehrála se zde rovněž evropská kontinentální premiéra Requiem. Dvořákův vztah k Olomouci a jeho hudebnímu spolku Žerotín je rovněž dokumentován skutečností, že své nejrozsáhlejší duchovní dílo, oratorium Svatá Ludmila, spolku věnoval.

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A graduate of the Prague Conservatoire, where she studied under Prof. Jarmila Krásová, Veronika Mráčková has taken part in masterclasses led by Tom Krause, Peter Dvorský, Magdalena Blahušiaková, Jiří Kotouč, and Nikolaus Hillebrand, and she participated at the International Master Class under Joan Metelli.

Her operatic roles have included Orlofsky in Strauss’s Die Fledermaus, Cherubino in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, and the Second Lady and Second Child-Spirit in Mozart’s Magic Flute. At the 2006 festival Pounding on the Iron Curtain, held under the auspices of the National Theatre, she appeared at the Estates Theatre in the main role of the modern opera Beng! by Jiří Doubek. In 2003 she took part at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition, where she won a prize for interpretation.

She devotes herself to giving concert performances, collaborating with Czech orchestras and chamber ensembles, and promoting contemporary works. Since 2001, she has been cooperating regularly with the Prague Chamber Choir.

She is a soloist with the Baroque ensemble Hof-Musici, with which she has sung roles in modern-era premieres of Baroque operas including Sesto in La Clemnenza di Tito, Linceo in Ipermestra, and Eneas in Enea in Caonia by J. A. Hasse, Marte in L’Unione della Pace, e di Marte by A. Vivaldi, the title role in Vivaldi’s opera Argippo, Armida in the anonymous Italian opera La Confusione Esperta, Abdone in the oratorio Il Sacrificio di Gefte by Giuseppe Porsile, and the title role in Siface by N. Porpora. She appears at festivals at home and abroad, including Venice’s Festival Galuppi, the Varaždin Baroque Evenings in Croatia, Vienna’s Sonntagskonzerte im Liechtensteinmuseum, and the Handel Festival Japan in Tokyo.

Marek Žihla was born in Rakovník, and since 2018 he has been studying classical singing at the Prague Conservatoire. In 2019 he took part at the Bohuslav Martinů Song Competition, where he became the overall winner. He also won the Zora Jehličková Prize and the Artist’s Life Foundation Prize. That same year, he took part in the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary, where he was the winner of the Opera Hopes category. In the 2020/21 theatrical season, he made his debut at the festival Smetana’s Litomyšl, where he appeared in Bohuslav Martinů’s opera Ariane in the role of an Athenian Warrior. That same month he also made his debut as Vašek in Bedřich Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride.

Since the 2021/22 season, he has been making regular guest appearances in opera productions at the J. K. Tyl Theatre, where he introduced himself as Evandro in the opera Alceste by Christoph Willibald Gluck. In the 2022/23 season, he is appearing as the Governor, Prince Ragotski, and Vanderdendur in Leonard Bernstein’s opera Candide.

In the 2021/22 season, he made his debut on the stage of the South Bohemian Theatre. He has appeared as the tenor soloist in G. F. Handel’s oratorio Messiah. For that part, he was nominated for a South Bohemian Thalia Award. He also appeared there as the First Armoured Man and the First Priest in Mozart’s Magic Flute, the First Philistine and the Messenger in Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns, and the tenor soloist in a staged version of Ryba’s Czech Christmas Mass. At the Moravian Theatre in Olomouc, he has appeared in the role of Emperor Tito in the opera La Clemenza di Tito. He appears regularly at the festival Zlatá pecka, presented by the opera singer Dagmar Pecková.

Radek Martinec je studentem posledního ročníku pražské Akademie múzických umění ve třídě doc. Heleny Kaupové. Během studia se stal laureátem několika pěveckých soutěží jako Mezinárodní soutěž Antonína Dvořáka, Duškova pěvecká soutěž, Stonavská Barborka nebo Pražský pěvec. Absolvoval uměleckou stáž na Hudební univerzitě Fryderyka Chopina ve Varšavě. Aktivně se účastnil masterclass s českými i zahraničními umělci, k nimž patří např. K. Kněžíková, Z. Klauda, M. Cukrová, J. Rappe. Získává uměleckou praxi v operních projektech, v poslední době například jako Marco z Pucciniho opery Gianni Schicchi v režii E. Rucinské (Teatr Wielki ‒ Opera Narodowa ve Varšavě), nebo Lovec a Hajný v Dvořákově Rusalce (Památník A. Dvořáka ve Vysoké u Příbramě). Na koncertních pódiích získává praxi také v tvorbě kantátové (E. Grieg ‒ Peer Gynt, A. Dvořák ‒ Te Deum) a soudobé hudbě (A. Závodný ‒ Šerosvit).

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The Žerotín Academic Choir, established in Olomouc in 1880, soon became one of the most important organisers of Czech cultural events in Moravia. It gave concerts and opera performances and worked with leading Czech artists (J. B. Foerster, Emmy Destinn). Of the greatest importance was its cooperation with A. Dvořák, who conducted the Žerotín Academic Choir several times, entrusted it with the first Czech performances of some of his cantatas, and dedicated to it his oratorio Saint Ludmila. It was also thanks to Žerotín’s activities that a music school was founded in Olomouc as well as a symphony orchestra—the present-day Moravian Philharmonic.

The choir’s repertoire encompasses all stylistic periods as well as arrangements of spirituals, folk music, and popular songs. Since 1999, the Žerotín Academic Choir has been working with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc, regularly performing on the orchestra’s subscription series and at special concerts in works for choir and orchestra (e.g. Mozart: Requiem, Salieri: Requiem, Rossini: Stabat Mater, Britten: St. Nicolas, Gershwin: Porgy and Bess, Orff: Carmina Burana, Dvořák: Stabat Mater, Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms, Poulenc: Gloria etc.). Besides many concerts in the Czech Republic, the choir has also appeared in countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Slovakia, Greece, Italy, and Croatia.

Pavel Koňárek is a graduate of the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, and he studied choral conducting under Josef Pančík and orchestral conducting under Jan Zbavitel. He has been employed at the National Theatre in Brno since 1997, first as an assistant choirmaster, then since 2000 as choirmaster. In 2016 he took over as chief choirmaster of the opera chorus at the Janáček Opera, a position held for many years by Josef Pančík. So far, he has prepared nearly 50 productions with the chorus of the Janáček Opera, and he has taken part in preparing dozens of others. With the National Theatre of Brno, he has appeared not only in many European cities, but also in Japan, Oman, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Since 1995 he has been the artistic director and choirmaster of the Žerotín Academic Choir in association with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc. Under his leadership, the choir has given about 300 concerts at home and around Europe, and it performs regularly at renowned Czech music festivals. It has recorded for SW Rundfunk in Baden-Baden, on the Vienna Modern Masters label, and for Czech Radio, and it has become a laureate of several choir competitions.

Pavel Koňárek is also engaged at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts in Brno, where he teaches choral conducting, and at the Conservatoire of the Evangelical Academy in Olomouc. He regularly receives invitations to teach choral singing courses, and as a choirmaster he works with the Moravian Philharmonic in Olomouc on the realisation of recordings for foreign partners.

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