from
Helmut Mauró
The problem is old and concerns not only the relationship between Czechs and Germans from 1938, but also that to the Austro-Hungarian Austrians before 1917. Basically, it is about the struggle of the Czech national movement against a dominant German-speaking culture, which in part continues to this day. This also applies to the great musical tradition in this country, which is therefore hardly visible any more. To change this, the Norwegian opera director Per Boye Hansen, artistic director of the National Theater and the State Opera in Prague since 2019, has now installed a festival with the generous financial support of the German Foreign Office. It was dedicated to the work of the composer Alexander Zemlinsky, with numerous performances, including a late world premiere of his opera fragment “Malva”. Karl-Heinz Steffens, clarinetist and conductor, music director of the Prague State Opera since 2019, led the State Opera Orchestra with choir and soloists quite convincingly, although one could imagine that a staged performance with an even more differentiated orchestral sound and soloists would have an even greater effect .