Reviews
A musical display that makes it worth spending summer in the city.
Deník N
The Summer Festivities of Early Music are not intended for mere musical and social effect but rather as a musical enterprise backed up by expertise and with purely artistic ambitions.
Klasika Plus
Collegium Marianum has once again demonstrated its unwavering prowess in terms of music and festival organisation; all that remains is for us to look forward to this concert.
Klasika Plus
It is safe to claim that whichever performance from their programme offer you will choose,
you will not be disappointed.
Harmonie Magazine
The Summer Festivities of Early Music have been proving over and over again that there is much to discover in the field of pre-Romantic music.
idnes.cz
It is always a great joy to be present at concerts at the Summer Festivities of Early Music.
The atmosphere is unique and the historical venues enhance the effects of the performed music.
The symbiosis, however, is not simply a by-product; it is the result a careful planning and critical choice. It is for having something to convey that the festival primarily deserves praise. .
Lidové noviny
Summer Festivities of Early Music have become a guarantee of wonderful music experiences enhanced by the beauty of the architecture in which they take place.
Lidové noviny
During the 20 years of its existence the Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague have won the hearts of many music lovers and Early-Music enthusiasts.
Harmonie Magazine
The organizers of the Summer Festivities of Early Music have shown they have much to offer to their public.
Opera PLUS
The international music festival has once more confirmed its main prerogatives: ingenuine programming in combination with brilliant performance.
Lidové noviny
It is hard to find a reason to spend summer evenings anywhere else than at one of their concerts.
Aktuálně.cz
This international festival is distinctive in its inspiring dramaturgical exclusiveness, its selection of performers, including “exotic” ensembles with instruments unknown in this country, as well as its choice of concert venues.
Lidovky.cz
Overall, the Summer Festivities of Early Music is one of the best choices in our country when it comes to early music concerts.
iDnes.cz
The Summer Festivities of Early Music continue to be a unique and ambitious highlight of Prague’s classical music scene each summer.
iDnes.cz, Věra Drápelová
The extraordinary evening in beautiful Troja Chateau and its illuminated gardens left a dazzling impression and also presented Portuguese music at its finest.
The atmosphere of the noble court and the vibrant, sunny countryside breathed on the audience.
Aktuálně.cz, Martina Heroldová
Thanks to the Summer Festivities of Early Music international festival, the audience was able to experience a very special musical evening in the hall of Troja Chateau on a sultry Monday evening.
It was one of those evenings when, like a small child, you don’t want to go to sleep; you want the fairy tale to continue for another hour so you can stay just a little longer in the magical world of dense Neapolitan chords, letting your heart beat to the rhythm of the southern Italian temperament for a few more moments.
Harmonie, Čeněk Svoboda
About halfway through the concert, I realised one of its effects: it was as if time had stopped.
The opening concert of the twenty-fifth edition of the Prague Summer Festivities of Early Music festival can truly be considered a dramaturgical gem.
KlasikaPlus.cz, Daniel Pinc
The Summer Festivities of Early Music festival has been a diamond in Prague’s summer music scene for twenty-five years.
Polyharmonie, Luboš Stehlík
The opening of this year’s twenty-fifth edition of the Summer Festivities of Early Music festival was accompanied by unforgettable experiences.
NE-BE.cz, Lenka Strnadová
A phenomenal event that has been bringing music to Prague’s monuments, churches, monasteries, chateaux and other spaces with a genius loci for almost a quarter of a century.
Every year the organisers tirelessly come up with original thematic blocks and invite great musicians, while remaining both inventive and surprising. They introduce Europe’s top musicians and ensembles to Prague audiences.
Few events have such a consistently unique atmosphere as the concerts of this series, with each guest ensemble managing to bring amazing energy and enthusiasm to the audience, while repeated encores and applause are a matter of course.
Lidové noviny, Jana Machalická
Overall, the Summer Festivities of Early Music is one of the best choices in our country when it comes to early music concerts. The festival does not make any concessions in its intention not to rely only on proven Baroque evergreens and the listener can thus get acquainted with lesser-known, but no less interesting composers or compositions.
iDnes.cz, 9. 8. 2023, Věra Drápelová
The Summer Festivities lived up to its reputation. The festival is still able to bring new impulses to the increasingly rich range of early music concerts in our country.
Lidovky.cz, 11. 8. 2023, Helena Havlíková
The sophisticated dramaturgy combined with an excellent artistic performance created an unforgettable experience. Simply put, a brilliantly structured concert.
Klasikaplus.cz, 19. 7. 2023, Jan Baťa
This international festival is distinctive in its inspiring dramaturgical exclusiveness, its selection of performers, including “exotic” ensembles with instruments unknown in this country, as well as its choice of concert venues. And last but not least, the high standard of the programme booklet, including translations of the vocal lyrics.
Lidovky.cz, 5. 8. 2022, Helena Havlíková
The input of Collegium Marianum – Týnská škola, the organiser of the festival and master classes, is meticulously perfect in all components of its activities – dramaturgy, production, promotion (prepared materials and programme), its highly responsive and sensitive attitude to the audience, as well as its close relationship with its sponsors and foreign colleagues – where mutual cooperation of the entire community, I assume, facilitates the creation of quality programming and interpretation and saves resources. That is why the festival remains so attractive for donors and audiences interested in the given genre and style.
Opera PLUS, 26. 7. 2022, Lenka Dohnalová
How do you recognise a good festival? It has a long-term concept, a stable and growing listener base, a dramaturgy that satisfies both the layman and the informed listener and holds its own even in a global context, quality texts in the programmes and good organisation. All of the above applies to the Summer Festivities of Early Music. It is hard to find a reason to spend summer evenings anywhere else than at one of their concerts.
Aktuálně.cz, 20. 7. 2022, Dita Hradecká
A musical display that makes it worth spending summer in the city.
Deník N, 21. 7. 2021, Dita Hradecká
In the programme for this 22nd year, its organizers put on an original series of concerts that, in combination with sensitively chosen historical locations across Prague, can still inject new impulses into the ever growing offering of early music concerts – both through its selection of ensembles and a repertoire that has rarely or never been heard in this country.
Lidové noviny, 6. 8. 2021, Helena Havlíková
We are already accustomed to the Summer Festivities of Early Music brimming with imaginative concert programmes. However, lately they have also surprised us with the wide range of places where concerts take place. We discover not only the beauty of early music, but also the beauty of many churches and heritage buildings that we may not have visited for many years.
Klasika Plus, 26. 7. 2021, Aleš Bluma
Collegium Marianum has once again demonstrated its unwavering prowess in terms of music and festival organisation; all that remains is for us to look forward to this concert.
Klasika Plus, 29. 7. 2020, Kryštof Tulis
… The Summer Festivities of Early Music are not intended for mere musical and social effect but rather as a musical enterprise backed up by expertise and with purely artistic ambitions.
Klasika Plus, 24. 7. 2020, Petr Veber
Although the start of the third decade of the Summer Festivities of Early Music was impacted by epidemiological restrictions, the organisers, led by Director Josefína Knoblochová and Chief Repertory Adviser Jana Semerádová, were flexible in adapting the festival arrangements without compromising its excellent reputation. They stayed true to the Festivities’ imaginative programming, which, along with carefully selected venues in historical parts of Prague, continues to breathe new life into an ever-expanding offering of early music concerts.
lidovky.cz, 22. 8. 2020, Helena Havlíková
It is always a great joy to be present at concerts at the Summer Festivities of Early Music. The atmosphere is unique and the historical venues enhance the effects of the performed music. The symbiosis, however, is not simply a by-product; it is the result a careful planning and critical choice. It is for having something to convey that the festival primarily deserves praise.
Lidové noviny, 31. 7. 2019, Jana Machalická
The Summer Festivities of Early Music have celebrated its 20th anniversary this year and they have been proving over and over again that there is much to discover in the field of pre-Romantic music.
idnes.cz, 7. 8. 2019, Věra Drápelová
During the 20 years of its existence the Summer Festivities of Early Music in Prague have won the hearts of many music lovers and Early-Music enthusiasts. Most likely, they cannot imagine the summer without the unique music event and they plan their summer holidays according to the dates of concerts.
... The final performance, ‘An Evening for the King’, concluded the festival with royal splendour. In the full Dovrak’s Hall of the Prague Rudolfinum, the visitors were presented with a programme that honoured the musical tradition at the French royal court during the reign of Louis XIV, XV and XVI. The programme was dedicated to French opera of the High-Baroque period and it sought to emulate the atmosphere of the festivities at the Versailles castle in the 18th century.
.... the standing ovation was addressed not only to the last night’s performance but the previous 20 years of the festival!
Harmonie Magazine, 7. 8. 2019, Markéta Vejvodová
The 19th edition of the Summer Festivities of Early Music confirmed once again that its organizers pay a lot of attention to programming and that they have good taste.
idnes.cz, 9. 8. 2018, Věra Drápelová
The Summer Festivities of Early Music have shown once again that they are able to bring into the increasingly mapped territory of Early Music new impulses and styles.
Lidové noviny, 14. 8. 2018, Helena Havlíková
It is safe to claim that whichever performance from their programme offer you will choose,
you will not be disappointed.
Časopis Harmonie, 5. 7. 2017, Luboš Stehlík
Summer Festivities of Early Music have become a guarantee of wonderful music experiences enhanced by the beauty of the architecture in which they take place.
Lidové noviny, 26. 6. 2017, Helena Havlíková
The organizers of the Summer Festivities of Early Music have shown they have much to offer to their public.
Opera PLUS, 1. 8. 2017, Karel Veverka
Even in as it has concluded its 18th edition, the international music festival has once more confirmed its main prerogatives: ingenuine programming in combination with brilliant performance.
Lidové noviny, 9. 8. 2017, Helena Havlíková
Each year they come with something new and they always manage to take the audience by surprise.
MF DNES, 9. 7. 2016, Věra Drápelová
During the seventeen years of their existence, the Summer Festivities of Early Music have disproved the idea that it is impossible to organize a serious musical festival (i.e. other than intended for tourists) during the summer season in Prague.
Also, their prestige has grown: the performers of this year’s festival are so distinguished that any other important European festival of Early Music would be happy to host them..
Hospodářské noviny, 13. 7. 2016, Frank Kuznik
[…] The Summer Festivities of Early Music are the only event in this period based on a thought-out concept.
[…] Each year, the festival takes a lot of care looking for new themes, connections, and performers.
www.idnes.cz, 13. 7. 2016, Věra Drápelová
The Summer Festivities of Early Music have again unearthed hidden treasures
Lidové noviny, 9. 8. 2016, Helena Havlíková
The festival offers original programming with a specific binding theme and is thus a marked, refreshing presence on the parched cultural map of the city in the summer.
MF DNES, 5. 8. 2016, Věra Drápelová
The Summer Festivities of Early Music count amont the well-established festivals, organized by real connoisseurs in the field of early music. They invite audiences to beautiful concert venues and offer interesting programming ideas.
Opera PLUS, 26. 7. 2016, Čeněk Svoboda
The programme of the festival, as erudite and refreshing as has become a tradition with the Summer Festivities of Early Music, discovers for the listeners ever “new” treasures of medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque music, together with their reflections in contemporary musical performance. Another prerogative and constant “bonus” of this cultural event has been the choice of venues so that they would correspond with the milieus which witnessed the performed music when it was first composed.
Lidové noviny, 27. 6. 2015, Helena Havlíková
The classical music offer in the summer Prague is traditionally dominated by the Summer Festivities of Early Music. This is due to their ever innovative, attractive programming and the high quality of performance by musicians from various countries abroad.
MF DNES, 22. 7. 2015, Věra Drápelová
Summer Festivities of Early Music are a project whose specialization and original programming are unparalleled in this country. Each year the programme leaves us astounded at the ever new themes, the brilliant musicians from all over Europe, and the inventiveness of the organizers who are still able to come up with new historical spaces suitable for concerts.
Lidové noviny, 16. 7. 2014, Jana Machalická
The Summer Festivities of Early Music have created and held over the past fifteen years a stable position on the Prague festival map in the summer, counting among the most prestigious festivals in this country. The visitors know that they can rely on the high quality of performance and programming. All the festival projects, which have taken place in carefully chosen historical venues, were more than well attended.
Lidové noviny, 8. 8. 2014, Helena Havlíková
Oživit starou hudbu a představit různé možnosti, jak na to. To je cíl mezinárodní festivalu Letních slavností staré hudby.
Lidové noviny, 23. 7. 2014, Helena Havlíková
To bring historical music back to life and to show diverse ways in which it can be done. That is the goal of the Summer Festivities of Early Music international music festival.
Art. ihned.cz, 14. 7. 2014, Frank Kuznik
Summer Festivities of Early Music are one of the prominent festivals in this country. Among its highlights are the diverse and thought-out programming and the choice of historical venues in which music of historical significance is performed.
Mladá fronta DNES, 28. 7. 2014, Věra Drápelová
Summer Festivities of Early Music will Offer Music for the Altar as well as Music for the Coronation of Charles VI.
Although the 15th edition of the Summer Festivities of Early Music does not commence till Monday, in a sense it started this March when its director, Ms. Markéta Semerádová, received an honorary title of the French Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. The French government has bestowed the title of Chevalier on Ms. Semerádová for her merit in the presentation of French baroque culture in the Czech Republic: upon her invitation, the festival has hosted world-renowned artists and vocal soloists such as Philippe Jaroussky, Claire Lefilliâtre, and Jean-François Novelli.
