20
SA
SEPTEMBER 2025
SA
Dvořákova Praha 2025 | Epic of Gilgamesh
Saturday 20 September, 8.00 pmDvořák Hall, Rudolfinum, Prague, CZ
Dvořákova Praha 2025 – A Tribute to the Schumanns & Gilgamesh
Clara SCHUMANN: Piano Concerto in A Minor, Op. 7
Robert SCHUMANN: Cello Concerto in A Minor, Op. 129
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: The Epic of Gilgamesh, H 351, oratorio for soloists, narrator, mixed choir and orchestra
Prague Philharmonia
Prague Philharmonic Choir
Robert Kružík (conductor)
Lukáš Vasilek (choirmaster)
Steven Isserlis (cello)
Onutė Gražinytė (piano)
Simon Callow (narrator)
Lucy Crowe (soprano)
Kyle van Schoonhoven (tenor)
Derek Welton (bass-baritone)
Jan Martiník (bass)
The concert on 20 September offers an exceptionally varied musical experience. The first half of the evening will open with Clara Schumann’s rarely performed yet powerful and technically demanding Piano Concerto, presented by the Lithuanian soloist Onutė Gražinytė. This will be followed by the beloved Cello Concerto by her husband Robert Schumann, featuring the legendary British cellist Steven Isserlis.
The second half of the concert will take on a different tone, presenting one of the major works by Bohuslav Martinů. His The Epic of Gilgamesh, an oratorio for soloists, narrator, mixed choir and orchestra, matured in the composer’s mind for fourteen years. The premiere took place in Basel on 23 January 1958 and proved a great triumph for Martinů. The piece was also performed that same year at the Prague Spring Festival.
In this four-thousand-year-old text from ancient Mesopotamia – the oldest surviving literary work in the world – Martinů found, in his own words, “a powerful and almost painfully urgent longing for answers we still struggle to find today.”
The role of the narrator in Prague will be performed by the acclaimed British actor Simon Callow, known from Miloš Forman’s Amadeus and Mike Newell’s Four Weddings and a Funeral. Also appearing at the Rudolfinum will be soprano Lucy Crowe, bass Jan Martiník, baritone Derek Welton, and the Prague Philharmonic Choir. The Prague Philharmonia will be conducted by Robert Kružík.
More information: https://www.dvorakovapraha.cz/en/program-2025/a-tribute-to-the-schumanns-and-gilgamesh
