Under the auspices of
Sir Tom Stoppard and Václav Havel
110th anniversary of the birth of the Jewish writer Jiří Weil
MAKANNA
Irena Kosíková:
ballet MAKANNA for voice, cello and orchestra (2010) based on
the novel "Makanna
- The Father of Miracles" by
Jiří Weil (1900-1959) - premiere
I. Makanna - the Rise
- Bahchee singer describing
Makanna
II. Makanna - the Prophet
- Bahchee singer describing
the miracle from Baghdad
III. Makanna - the Fall
Jan Talich - Conductor Jan Židlický
- Narrator František Brikcius -
Cello Talich Chamber Orchestra
Prague, Monday 24th May 2010,
7.30pm, Convent of St Agnes of Bohemia (U
Milosrdných 17, Praha 1) - Invitation
Project "Makanna"
commemorates the 110th anniversary of the birth of one of the most
important Czech writers, Jiří Weil, in the form of a concert
performance of the ballet based on his novel Makanna - The Father of
Miracles. This novel describes the rise and fall of a historical
person - a false prophet from the 7th century. … "Excavated from
ancient times, the alien oriental word becomes in this novel a living,
historical, colourful picture reminding us of not-so-distant tyranny.
The novel Makanna was written in 1940 and published under a cover name
in 1941, whose owner was tortured to the death in Mauthausen."
Jiří Weil
Novelist, literary critic, reporter,
translator and publicist Jiří Weil was born on 6th August 1900
in Praskolesy u Hořovic. After his graduation in 1919, he studied
Slavonic Philology and Comparative Literature at
the FF UK. He completed
his studies with a PhD in 1928. From 1922 he made several
visits to the USSR where between 1933 and 1935 he worked as a
translator and
publicist; later, after he was expelled from the KSČ, he spent six
months in Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and elsewhere). During
World War Two he refused Jewish transports, he spent time in hiding,
he was arrested, for five months he lived unregistered in a hospital,
he staged a false suicide and until the end of the war he lived in
illegality. From 1946-1949 he was redactor at the ELK publishing house
and from 1950-1958 a science employee of the Jewish Museum in Prague.
In
his work you can find his experience of the time he spent in the USSR
and of his visits to Germany, Switzerland, France and Poland. He was a
member of Devětsil, Blok, SČS (expelled in 1951, again readmitted in
1956). He published in Časopis českého muzea, in Kmen,
Avantgarda, Literární noviny (30th and 2nd half of 40th),
LN, Nový život, Host do domu, Věstník Židovské
obce náboženské … . He is mentioned in the Jewish
Yearbooks. He
translated works by Russian writers and co-edited an edition of
"Children's paintings on the Death stop. Terezín 1942-1944"
(1959). He wrote many short stories and novels, including
Moskva-hranice (1937, 2nd edition 1969 was forbidden), Dřevěná
lžíce (1938), Makanna, otec divů (1946), Barvy (1946), Život s
hvězdou (1949), Harfeník (1958), Žalozpěv za 77 297 obětí
(1958) and Na střeše je Mendelssohn (1960). He died on 13th December
1959
in Prague. In 2010 we commemorate the 110th anniversary of his birth.
Irena Kosíková
Czech organist and composer Irena Kosíková was
born in Prague into the
intellectual family of the prohibited philosopher Karel Kosík
and
literarary scientist Růžena Grebeníčková, the Herder
prize laureate.
She began her organ studies with Prof. Jan Hora, together with piano
lessons given by Prof. Eliška Kleinová and Prof. Arnoštka
Grünfeldová. Irena
Kosíková studied organ performance (Prof. Jaroslava
Potměšilová) and
conducting (with Prof. Karel Fiala) at Ježek's Conservatory. She was
refused to further her studies for political reasons. She took private
composition lessons with Prof. Miroslav Raichl. Finally after the
Velvet Revolution she was accepted at the Janáček Academy of
Music (JAMU) in Brno into the organ
class of Prof. Alena Veselá and Prof. Kamila Klugarová.
She graduated at the Academy
of Music (HAMU) in Prague, under the guidance of Prof. Josef Popelka.
Irena Kosíková
now gives organ concerts and is also intensively composing. Her
works have been performed in the Czech Republic, Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Israel, Poland, Russia,
Turkey, Sweden and the United Kingdom. As an organist she specialises
in the interpretation of organ works written by Johann Sebastian Bach:
including performances of the complete Organ Toccatas, Voluntaries,
Leipzig Chorals, The Art of Fugue, Organ Mass. More on http://www.iKosik.com .
Jan Talich
Jan Talich
studied at the Prague Conservatory and later at the Prague Academy of
Music under Václav Snítil. He received scholarships to
further his
education in both the USA with Shmuel Ashkenasi and then with Yfrah
Neaman at the Guildhall School of Music in England. In 1989 he won 1st
prize at the Václav Huml International Violin Competition in
Zagreb,
which launched his international solo career, playing with orchestras
and giving recitals throughout Europe and the USA. Jan Talich
has recorded several solo CDs of Czech music, as well as Beethoven and
Mozart concertos. He regularly gives masterclasses both at home and
abroad: in Telč, Dijon, Angers, Prades and the Conservatoire Superieur
in Paris. With the Talich Quartet he has performed to great acclaim,
regularly touring the
major venues of Japan, South America, Mexico and South Korea. As well
as conducting his own orchestra since its foundation he has, in the
last few years, begun to broaden his career as a conductor. He is
now increasingly asked to work as a guest conductor with many other
orchestras in the Czech Republic and abroad. Since2008/09
he has been chief conductor of Jihočeská
komorní filharmonie. Jan Talich plays violins J.
Gagliana 1780 and
A.Stradivarius 1729. Visit http://www.Talich.com .
Jan Židlický
Jan
Židlický
was born in 1949 in Prague. He graduated at Husova
bohoslovecká fakulta. His first placement was CČSH parish in
Hostomice pod Brdy.
Pastoral work of Jan Židlický ended StB Beroun.
Following years he
worked at heater room, at cemetery in Nový Bor, in factory Velox
Všeradice, in
"výměník" of Pražské teplárny, in
Orlické Hory Museum (OMOH). After
revolution in 1989 he was chief of culture department at the Rychnov
nad Kněžnou
office. Since 2000 Jan Židlický is priest of CČSH at the
Church of St.
Jan Křtitel na Prádle in Prague.
The Talich Chamber Orchestra
was formed in 1992 by the violinist Jan Talich Jr., the great-nephew of
the legendary Czech conductor Václav Talich. In recent years Jan
Talich, as the orchestra’s artistic director, has been devoting a large
part of his professional career to conducting the orchestra, whose
members are graduates of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and
winners of numerous prizes internationally and at home. The orchestra’s
members show a level of professionalism under the distinctive direction
of Jan Talich that guarantees the highest quality of musical
interpretation. The orchestra has received
strong acclaim from both Czech and foreign critics and artists. The TCO
performs regularly at a number of music festivals, such as the Prague
Spring and the Prague Autumn international music festivals, the
Český
Krumlov Chamber Music Festival, the Prague Music Festival, and the
Music Festival Talich's Beroun, and it also plays concerts abroad
(in Spain, France, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, Croatia and Italy).
The TCO
records CDs for Czech and foreign music companies (including the French
EMI Records). On the 250th anniversary of the birth of the W.A. Mozart
they recorded a new CD with compositions for violin and orchestra. The
violin solos are played by Jan Talich. For more details visit http://www.Talich.com .
