Chamber Music Festival
The Chamber Music Festival Foundation has been annually organizing the Chamber Music Festival between end of June and beginning of July.
This Foundation has been established in 1991 and in its activity it hails back to the classical music festival with the longest uninterrupted tradition in Český Krumlov (since 1987). Thanks to co-operation with the Prague Spring International Music Festival there have been many famous musicians performing in Český Krumlov since 1998.
Each year the Festival also includes a special project called Baroque Night on the Castle of Český Krumlov®. The Chamber Music Festival tries to reconstruct the Baroque celebrations in co-operation with the Baroque Theatre Foundation. The evening celebrating music, dancing and the opera takes place in the interior and exterior of the Český Krumlov castle. The programme commences on the IVth Castle courtyard with a festive toast accompanied by several musical bands. Attendants will be carried over into a Baroque ball with dancing, ballet and theatrical performances taking place in the Masque and Mirror Halls. Later the guests will move through the Cloak Hallway into the most remarkable treasure of the Český Krumlov Castle - the Baroque Theatre.
The Baroque opera performance takes place in the exceptional authentic atmosphere of an original Baroque Theatre. This Theatre had been constructed towards the end of the 17th century during the reign of the Eggenbergs. They have tried to establish Venetian opera in Krumlov, ordering scores of some famous musical pieces. It is not clear however if these operas were performed in the Theatre or not. The other notable period of Krumlov is the peak period of Napoli opera. Many scores had been preserved from this period, dating from the time when the Theatre acquired its present shape in 1768 when the Castle was held in the Schwarzenberg possession. These events form a basis for present time reconstructions which refer to late Venetian-style opera by composers such as Polaroll (several operas authored by him exist in the Krumlov castle archive) and also operas from the second half of the 18th century.
Information on composition and arrangement of the celebrations are based on records from the castle archive and on a book from 1729 by Baron Bernard van Röhr. This is an entirely new approach to musical productions based on authenticity of the environment as well as authenticity of the featured music and dancing. The entire evening is held under the principles of Baroque celebrations and is full of dancing, music, theatre, promenades, experience gastronomy, nobility, elegance but also full of mischief and joy in a magical atmosphere created by the flickering candlelight and taking place in the historical interiors and exteriors of the castle.
The Chamber Music Festival Český Krumlov tries to address no only fans of classical music but also of other musical genres. Therefore each year one of the concerts is themed around a "non-classical" musical performance. High quality of performing artists is a priority for this concert as well.