
Hradišťan in Latvia
19.05.2017 / 15:01 | Aktualizováno: 24.02.2020 / 09:21
On May 16, Hradišťan Dulcimer Band started their short tour over Latvia, Estonia and Belarus with a concert in Great Guild Concert Hall in Riga.
The concert was preceded by the promotion movie Czechia Has Marvelous People with English subtitles, which received a very positive response. Then the head of the Czech Embassy in Riga briefly introduced the Hradišťan music band in English and Latvian languages.
The Art Director Jiří Pavlica (violin, vocal), David Burda (clarinet, flutes, vocal) Milan Malina (dulcimer, vocal), Roman Gill (viola, vocal, percussion), Milan Gablas (contrabass, vocal), Josef Fojta (keyboards, percussion) and singer Alice Holubová further presented their Musical Dialogues.
First, Hradišťan presented to the audience three folk songs from the love theme collection by Leoš Janáček, followed by clarinet variations on folk melodies the choral Cjesarestvě našemu Gospody – Otvéšta Filosov Konstantin. This old Slavonic text used by Jiří Pavlica in his music is a liturgical language and one of the oldest preserved old Slavonic texts. After that, the ensemble presented the medieval song Stínání berana (Sheep decapitation). Velehradské tance (Velehrad's dances) belong to the 17th century - a melody from the monastery archive in Velehrad. The dulcimer instrumental dialogue performed a variation of the folk songs. Then, there followed the religious song about Virgin Mary by Bohuslav Martin. The Slavic Suite by Vítězslav Novák presented a dialogue of serious and folk music. The audience rewarded with great applause two songs O slunovratu, Modlitba za vodu (Solstice, Water Prayer) and Krátký popis léta (Short Description of Summer) as well as the popular Latvian folk song Bēdu manu lielu bēdu (My Great Sorrow).
From the very beginning, the music band managed to create a very friendly and converging atmosphere thanks among the others also to the percussion soloist Josef Fojta who performed a musical composition reminding us that time measures everyone equally, written by J. Pavlica inspired by cooperation with the South African musician Dizu Plaatjies.
The concert was attended by more then 400 guests. The concert was followed by a reception with Moravian wines produced by Vávra and Zlomek from Boršice and tasting of Moravian specialties.
The Latvian daily newspapers and Latvian radio announced about Hradišťan music band and their performance in Great Guild Concert Hall.
Thanks to the sponsorship of Latvian companies Rietumu Bank, Joker, FAN, Hotel Albert and the Czech companies Vodní zdroje Praha, Škoda Transportation, Budvar, Mattoni, Linet, Moravian winery Vávra and Zlomek and Česká zbrojovka Uherský Brod, it was possible to make a tour of Hradišťan.
Hradišťan music group will continue their tour to Estonia and Belarus.
The Czech Embassy in Riga wishes to thank not only the sponsors but also the Department of Public Diplomacy Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and Czech Embassies in Tallinn and Minsk without which cooperation the realization of this concert would not be possible.