Bohuslav Martinů Days 2026 | Prologue at the Elbphilharmonie

This year, the Bohuslav Martinů Days Festival is crossing borders and inviting audiences on an exclusive spring excursion to one of the world’s most modern concert venues. On Thursday, April 16, 2026, a festive Prologue will take place in the recital hall of Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, featuring works by Czech masters performed by top soloists and the rising generation of young artists.

From Parisian modernism to the Terezín memento

The evening’s program is built on contrast and powerful emotions. The concert opens with Bohuslav Martinů’s Duo for Violin and Cello No. 1. This composition, in which the influence of the Parisian avant-garde meets the rhythms of 1920s jazz, places extraordinary technical demands on both performers in terms of rhythm and ensemble playing.

The concert’s profound human dimension is provided by works from composers whose lives and creative output were tragically marked by the war. The program will feature the Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello, which Gideon Klein completed in 1944 in the Terezín ghetto just nine days before his deportation to Auschwitz. This will be followed by the Wind Quintet, Op. 10, a masterpiece by Pavel Haas, a composer who shared a similar fate. 

The second half of the evening will return to the legacy of Bohuslav Martinů. The program will feature his Eight Preludes for Piano from 1929, characterized by strong syncopation and stylized period dance rhythms, and Les Rondes, a masterpiece of chamber music composed during the composer’s stay in Paris in 1930 and inspired by Moravian circle dances.

A dialogue between generations and nine top-tier performers

Nine outstanding musicians will perform in various chamber ensembles in the recital hall of the Elbe Philharmonic Hall. Renowned performers and educators will join forces on stage in a creative dialogue with exceptional young talents from Germany, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Taiwan, and the Czech Republic.

“Our collaboration with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and other partners allows us to present Czech music in the best possible light and at the highest international standard,” says Irvin Venyš, the festival’s director.

The concert is the result of a collaboration between the Bohuslav Martinů Days Festival, the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg, the Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts (AMU), the Prague Conservatory, and the Society of Concert Artists.

More information: https://martinufestival.cz/koncert/prologue-elbfilharmonic
https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/whats-on/bohuslav-martinu-days-prologue/27774

Bohuslav Martinů Days 2026 | Prologue at the Elbphilharmonie

Thursday 16 April​ 2026, 7.30 pm
Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg, Germany

Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Duo for Violin and Cello No. 1, H 157
Gideon KLEIN: Trio for Violin, Viola, and Cello, WV 23
Pavel HAAS: Wind Quintet, Op. 10
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Eight Preludes​ for piano, H 181
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Les Rondes, H 200

Matouš Zukal (piano)
Niklas Liepe (violin)
Jan Novák (violin)
Amber Pan (viola)
Petr Nouzovský (cello)
Tim Kadlec (flute)
Jan Souček (oboe)
Irvin Venyš (clarinet)
Christian Kunert (bassoon)
Joseph Longstaff (French horn)
Hyeounjun Lee (trumpet)