16 July 2022, 7.30 p.m., Courtyard of the Municipal Authority
In Honour of Ema Destinnová
Eva Hornyáková / Slovakia – soprano
Hradec Králové Philharmonic
Miriam Němcová – conductor
Program:
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Armida – overture to the opera
"Za štíhlou gazeou" - Armida's aria from the first act of the same name opera
Rusalka - overture to the opera
„Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém“ - Rusalka's aria from the 1st act of the same name opera
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Furiant from the opera Prodaná nevěsta
„Ach, jaký žal… Ten lásky sen“ - recitatives and Marenka's aria from the 3rd act of the opera Prodaná nevěsta
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893)
Polonaise from the opera Eugen Onegin
„Puskaj, pogibnu ja… Ja vam pišu“ - Tatiana's aria from the 1st act of the Eugene Onegin opera
Break
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
Nabucco - overture to the opera
Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924)
„O mio babbino caro“ - Lauretta's aria from the opera Gianni Schicchi
La tregenda - intermezzo 2nd act of the opera Le Villi
„Un bel dì, vedremo“ - Aria Cio-Cio-San from the 2nd act of the opera Madama Butterfly
Intermezzo – overture to the opera Edgar
Francesco Cilèa (1866-1950)
„Io son l’umile ancella“ - Aria by Adriana Lecouvreur from the 1st act of the same name opera
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Carmen - overture to the opera
Charles Gounod (1818-1893)
„O, Dieu! Que de bijoux… Ah! je ris de me voir si belle“ - recitative and aria by Markéta from the 3rd act of the opera Faust
Eva Hornyáková undertook vocal studies at the Conservatory in Košice and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava, since when she has successfully taken part in international singing competitions in Dresden, Athens, Bayreuth, Vienna, and elsewhere. In 2006, she made her debut at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava and became its soloist. She has performed in Spain, Germany, and with her home ensemble in Cyprus and Japan and played the role of Mařenka in the production of The Bartered Bride and Micaëla in Bizet's Carmen at the open-air festival in Gars am Kamp, Austria. Her lyrical roles include Mimi in Boheme, Pamina in The Magic Flute, and Marguerite in Gounod's Faust, for which she won the Hudobný život magazine Opera Critique Award. Eva Hornyáková's concert repertoire includes works by Mahler, Brahms, Beethoven, Verdi, Dvořák, and others.
Miriam Němcová studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague with Václav Neumann and on study visits at the Bach Academy in Stuttgart with Helmuth Rilling. She has worked with the Prague Chamber Opera and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra, as head of opera at the F. X. Šalda Theatre in Liberec, and with the National Opera in Prague. Miriam Němcová has been head of the conducting department at the Prague Conservatory since 1995 and conducts its own Symphony Orchestra. She has taught many international conducting courses and has worked, and works, as a guest conductor at home and abroad, as the artistic director of the Praga Sinfonietta orchestra, the Vox Pragae choir, and the Czech National Choir, and as a permanent guest of the Hradec Králové Philharmonic.
The Hradec Králové Philharmonic was founded in 1978 under the name of the Hradec Králové City Orchestra. The ensemble was renamed the Hradec Králové Symphony Orchestra a year later, then in 1987 the State Symphony Orchestra Hradec Králové, before taking its current name in 1993. A significant period in the history of the ensemble is linked to the name of František Vajnar, who was chief conductor between 1991 and 2001. Ondřej Kukal, 2012-2018, and Andreas Sebastian Weiser, 2001-2012, followed Vajnar and Swiss conductor Kaspar Zehnder has been the orchestra’s chief conductor since the 2018/2019 season. The Philharmonic performs at major festivals at home (Prague Spring, Smetana's Litomyšl, Janáček's Hukvaldy, Český Krumlov, etc.), on European stages in Vienna, Leipzig, Geneva, Antwerp, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and elsewhere, and in Belgium, France, Italy, Poland, Spain, and Switzerland. It records for Czech and foreign labels and for Czech Radio. The orchestra first organised the Music Forum Hradec Králové festival in cooperation with Czech Radio Vltava in 2005, since when it has performed the Czech premieres of works by Alfred Schnittke, Krzysztof Penderecki, Hans Werner Henze, Sofia Gubajdulina, Arvo Pärt, and others.
