Tag: Smetana

A Statue Honoring Dvořák

When David and I planned our Prague trip, I knew I HAD to experience a concert featuring the Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.  He is my second favorite composer, after the German composer, Brahms.  Dvořák’s music is compelling, emotional and stirs your spirit.

Other notable composers, such as Bedřich Smetana and Leoš Janáček, were also influenced by the lands of the Czech Republic.  The Czech culture has a true love and respect for great music and great composers!  When we visited the Vyšehrad Cemetery filled with national heroes, we saw their final resting places.  After their deaths, the Czech people celebrate these composers across the country through monuments, statues and performance halls named in their honor.

Mozart also has a connection to Prague.  Prague proudly hosted the first performances of his operas Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito, and of his Symphony No. 38, also known as the Prague Symphony.

But before I could listen to the music of Prague, I needed tickets.  There is a great ticket office that sells tickets for all of the concerts and theater shows offered throughout the city.  Located in the Old Town Square, walk through the little alley between the buildings in front of the Týn Church, where the front doors of the church are.  Once in the alley, the ticket office is on your left.  There are a lot of options!  You can find your perfect combination of price, venue and style of music.  If in doubt, the friendly staff will help you make your selection.  Tickets are sold for the day of the event, or a few days out.

When picking our tickets, my first priority was to hear Dvořák.  We decided to use the concert as a way to visit a venue we otherwise would not have access to see.  We decided on a chamber ensemble performing at the Municipal House.   The two tickets cost 1,460 Crowns, or $70 total.  You will pay so much more for similar tickets in Vienna.  Take advantage of the prices and professionalism in Prague.

Exterior of Municipal House

The Municipal House is an incredible performance hall!  Located in the New Town next to the Powder Tower.  It is easily accessible from anywhere in the city.  The Municipal House is a block away from a major subway and tram stop.  Since it was just a few blocks from our hotel, we enjoyed the short walk.  I cannot imagine a building that exemplifies Art Nouveau more than this hall.  Every single detail of the exterior and interior was just beautiful!  We arrived a little early so we were able to explore a little bit.  There is a café on the first level and a bar/pub in the basement available to all.  In order enter the concert hall, you need tickets (although tours are offered during the day).  Since the group we saw perform rented the hall, certain features were not available.  A curtain covered the pipe organ, and the stunning ceiling glass feature was not lit.  Even so, these adjustments did not take away from our overall experience.

Municipal House Performance Hall

The music was excellent!  If you are not familiar with Dvořák, I suggest looking up the following pieces so you can learn a bit about him and hear the music we experienced that night:  Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95 popularly known as The New World Symphony, Slavonic Dances, and Songs My Mother Taught Me.  The New World Symphony was written when Dvořák lived in the United States for a short time.  In this piece, you can hear him exploring a new place.  The result is exciting and mesmerizing.  But throughout the piece you will hear a theme that is filled with longing and homesickness as he misses his country and home…just beautiful.  The Slavonic Dances make you want to be in a giant dance hall laughing and twirling around until your legs can’t move.  In Songs My Mother Taught Me, you can see a mother caring for her children, singing to them, and passing on a proud musical heritage to the next generation.  The concert also featured some works by Mozart.  After the concert, we meandered back to the Astronomical Clock in the Old Town Square and grabbed a little ice cream.

Now that I have visited the Czech Republic, experiencing first-hand the generous, kind people that are deeply rooted in their cultural identity, I am able to better understand Dvořák’s homesick when he wrote the moving notes of New World Symphony.