140th Anniversary of Dvořák’s “The Spectre’s Bride” to be Celebrated with Special Concert

The Smetana Hall of the Municipal House will be the setting for an extraordinary musical experience.

On October 30, 2024, at 7:30 p.m., a special concert will take place to celebrate the 140th anniversary of Antonín Dvořák’s famous cantata “The Spectre’s Bride”.

This project will feature one of the leading Czech orchestras, the Prague Philharmonia, under the baton of renowned conductor Petr Altrichter.

The atmosphere will be further enhanced by the performance of the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno, led by acclaimed choirmaster Petr Fiala.

The solo parts will be performed by Czech artists – soprano Veronika Rovná, baritone Roman Janál, and tenor Richard Samek.

The cantata The Spectre’s Bride is one of the most significant works of 19th-century Czech music. Antonín Dvořák composed it to the text of a ballad by Karel Jaromír Erben, which is part of his famous collection Kytice. The work tells a dramatic and mystical story of love, death, and supernatural forces.

The Spectre’s Bride was originally commissioned for the Birmingham Musical Festival in 1885, but Dvořák insisted that the premiere take place in Bohemia first, and only afterward in England.

The intention to perform and record The Spectre’s Bride in concert, with a CD release and a limited edition of vinyl records, was born out of the need to revive this masterpiece, which has been rarely performed in recent years.

The last recording was made twenty years ago, and to date, there are only four recordings with exclusively Czech performers (1961, 1994, 1996, 2001).

The musical direction will be in the hands of Jiří Gemrot, with sound engineering by Karel Soukeník.

Tickets for this unique concert are available on the GoOut website.

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