Lucie Vagenknechtová – soprano
Daniel Klánský – bass-baritone
Lukáš Klánský – piano
Program:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Le nozze di Figaro / The Marriage of Figaro KV 492
“Cinque, dieci, venti... Se a caso Madama” / “Five, ten, twenty... If Madam should call you,” duet of Susanna and Figaro from Act 1
“Hai già vinto la causa... Vedrò, mentr’io sospiro” / “You’ve already won... While I sigh in longing,” aria of the Count from Act 3
“Porgi amor, qualche ristoro” / “Grant, love, some relief,” aria of the Countess from Act 2
“Crudel! Perchè finora” / “Cruel one! Why do you leave me,” duet of Susanna and the Count from Act 3
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Rondo in D major for piano K 485
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Don Giovanni KV 527
“Notte e giorno faticar” / “Toil night and day,” aria of Leporello from Act 1
“Ah! Chi mi dice mai” / “Ah! Who could ever tell me,” aria of Elvira from Act 1
“Là ci darem la mano” / “There we’ll join hands,” duet of Zerlina and Don Giovanni from Act 1
Fryderyk Chopin
Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27 No. 2
Bedřich Smetana
The Devil's Wall
“Only one woman's beautiful face,” aria of Vok from Act 1
Antonín Dvořák
Rusalka
“Song to the Moon,” aria of Rusalka from Act 1
Antonín Dvořák
Jacobín
“We wandered abroad,” duet of Julie and Bohuš from Act 2
César Franck
Panis Angelicus / Bread of Angels
Adolphe Adam
Cantique de Noël / O Holy Night
John Francis Wade
Adeste Fideles / O Come, All Ye Faithful
The operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) and Don Giovanni were composed within the span of a year and a half. The last decade of Mozart’s life, spent in Vienna, was marked by a hectic work pace, during which he created great, immortal works, as well as smaller pieces such as Rondo in D major KV 485, which Mozart wrote in January 1786, during the time he was composing the two mentioned operas. Le nozze di Figaro, with a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, was adapted from a comedy by French playwright Pierre Beaumarchais. The premiere took place on May 1, 1786, at the Vienna Court Theater, conducted by Mozart himself, and by December of that same year, it was performed in Prague at the Nostitz Theater. Due to its success, Mozart was invited to Prague, where he arrived in January 1787, held a concert, conducted a performance of his opera, and left with a commission for a new work. The librettist was once again Lorenzo Da Ponte, who was not the first to adapt the theme of the “punished libertine.” His libretto, enhanced by Mozart’s genius music, gave birth to the “opera of operas” Don Giovanni, which premiered at the Nostitz Theater on October 29, 1787.
The Nocturne in D-flat major, Op. 27, No. 2 by Fryderyk Chopin (1810–1849) forms a mood transition to arias from Czech operas. The two Nocturnes of Op. 27, one in a minor key and the other in a major key (the fundamental tones of both pieces, C-sharp and D-flat, are enharmonically interchangeable), were published in 1837 and dedicated to Countess Thérèse d’Apponyi, wife of the Austrian envoy to Paris.
The libretto by Eliška Krásnohorská for the last completed opera of Bedřich Smetana (1824–1884), The Devil's Wall, draws from a folk legend related to the founding of the monastery in Vyšší Brod, the Vltava River, the noble family of the Rosenbergs, and their prominent member, Vok Vítkovic. Smetana wanted to create a comic opera, but the librettist lamented that she was struggling to incorporate humor. The result was a work of mixed style with beautiful music, consistently posing new challenges to directors. Vok’s aria, in which he recalls his long-lost love, is one of Smetana’s most beautiful lyrical scenes.
The song of Rusalka from Act 1 of the opera Rusalka by Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904), set to a libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil, was first performed on March 31, 1901, at the National Theatre in Prague. The story of the unlucky nymph who pays for her love for a human with banishment from her circle of sisters, and the unfaithful prince who must die in her arms, “is Czech in spirit, fairy-like in expression, and predominantly lyrical in invention,” as an early critic remarked. Soon afterward, Rusalka became the second most-performed Czech opera.
Twelve years before Rusalka, on February 12, 1889, the first version of Dvořák's opera Jacobín premiered at the National Theatre, with a revised version debuting on June 19, 1898. The opera’s title and setting have little in common with the French Revolution and the Jacobins; it merely shares the time period. In the duet from Act 2, the married couple Julie and Bohuš return to Bohemia after years abroad and express their love for their homeland.
The final three pieces of the program are drawn from sacred music. A substantial part of the work of César Franck (1822–1890) is devoted to church music. The motet Panis Angelicus (Bread of Angels) on a text by Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) was originally composed in 1872 for tenor or soprano, harp, cello, and organ, set to the penultimate stanza of a hymn for the Feast of Corpus Christi: “The bread of angels becomes the bread of men...”. Franck later included the motet in his Mass Op. 12, though it became a popular concert piece in its own right. The beloved Christmas song Cantique de Noël was composed by French composer Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) in 1847 at the request of a clergyman, set to the poem “Minuit, Chrétiens” (It is Midnight, Christians) by French winemaker and poet Placide Cappeau. The traditional Christian and immensely popular Christmas hymn Adeste, fideles is attributed to John Francis Wade (1711–1786), who lived in exile in Douai, northern France.
Lucie Vagenknechtová
Graduated from the Pardubice Conservatory in 2012 and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague in 2019. She has received several awards in competitions, including 2nd prize at the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition in Karlovy Vary. In her artistic career, she has collaborated with the Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, Hradec Králové Philharmonic, North Bohemian Theatre of Opera and Ballet, Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, and other ensembles. She has performed at music festivals such as Smetana’s Litomyšl, Music Holidays in Prague, Pardubice Music Spring, Harriet Parish Festival, and others.
Her first stage experience was the role of Papagena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute at the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec. Her other Mozart roles include 2nd Lady in the same opera, the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni, which she performed at the Estates Theatre in 2018. Her repertoire also includes Mařenka in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride and the title role in Carl Orff’s opera The Clever Girl. In October 2019, she made her international debut with the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Kazushi Ono at the Barbican Centre in London, performing the soprano part in Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, which was broadcast live on Mezzo TV.
Daniel Klánský
Bass-baritone Daniel Klánský is a laureate of several vocal competitions, a finalist of the Antonín Dvořák International Singing Competition, and the overall winner and holder of the Czech Radio Award at the Bohuslav Martinů International Song Competition. Since May 2015, he has been a guest artist at the National Theatre, where he performed in Jan Kučera’s opera Rudá Marie, Václav Kašlík’s Krakatit, and as the Indian in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride. At the State Opera, he appeared in the Czech premiere of Benjamin Britten’s opera Billy Budd and in the same venue performed as the High Priest in Verdi’s Nabucco, a role he also portrayed at the J. K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň. Other roles on Czech stages include Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème, Pappacoda in Johann Strauss’s operetta A Night in Venice, Duke Robert in Tchaikovsky’s opera Iolanta, Marco in Puccini’s one-act opera Gianni Schicchi, and others. At the Olomouc Baroque Festival, he played the role of Epicurean in the carnival baroque opera Facetum musicum, Sylvan in Endymio, and Ferildo in Yta Innocens, performed by Ensemble Damian. As a soloist, he has performed with many Czech orchestras, including in performances of Dvořák’s Te Deum and Stabat Mater, Mozart’s Requiem and Coronation Mass, and others. He regularly performs at music festivals such as Smetana’s Litomyšl, Václav Hudeček’s Academy in Luhačovice, Music Holidays in Prague, Olomouc Baroque Festival, Monastery Music Festival in Šumperk, and others.
Lukáš Klánský
Pianist and conductor Lukáš Klánský graduated from the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, specializing in piano and conducting. In 2018, he won 2nd prize at the Hans von Bülow Competition in the discipline of conducting from the piano, a skill he has been focusing on intensively in recent years. With the Pardubice Chamber Philharmonic, he recorded Mozart’s piano concertos, performing as both soloist and conductor.
Lukáš Klánský is in high demand as a soloist and chamber musician. As a member of the Lobkowicz Trio, he and his colleagues Jan Mráček and Ivan Vokáč won first prize and the audience award at the Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach in 2014. The trio has performed at major festivals in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring, Dvořákova Praha, Janáček May, St. Wenceslas Music Festival, Václav Hudeček’s Music Holidays) and on international stages. With violinist Jan Mráček, he has performed at the Ankara Music Festival, Lago Maggiore Musica Festival, Kammermusik um Halb Acht in Basel, Nafplio Festival in Greece, and Berlin’s Konzerthaus. He teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, in both the Department of Keyboard Instruments and the Chamber Music Department.
