Festival 2015

The Association of Chateau Liteň  extended the range of its activities

Brochure of Acitivities in 2015

Book, exhibition, master class and Prague Spring 2015 concert: For the year 2015 the Association of Chateau Liteň prepared range of its activities which were not limited only to music. 

After a very successful open-air concert A Tribute to Jarmila Novotná in 2014, the Association of Chateau Liteň started to cooperate with renowned representatives and institutions active in the area of culture.

In 2015, the Association of Chateau Liteň started to cooperate with the International Music Festival Prague Spring. Visitors of the festival had a chance to attend a concert of a young but already internationally recognized bass-baritonist Adam Plachetka (performing in Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New York) called A Tribute to Jarmila Novotná. He presented his younger colleagues who were – together with him – accompanied by Prague Radio Symphonic Orchestra conducted by Tomáš Brauner at the concert held on May 23, 2015 in Rudolfinum in Prague. The support of young artists at the start of their career was part of the legacy of Jarmila Novotná and one of the main pillars of the Association´s activities.

The Association of Chateau Liteň in the cooperation with Music and Dance Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague also prepared the master class with Adam Plachetka who, after his performance at the gala in 2014 became a member of the Advisory Board for the Jarmila Novotná Festival. The first run of the master class had held at the beginning of April 2015 at the premises of the Academy of Performing Arts. Two selected students got then a chance to continue together with other adepts in the second part of the class that took place in August 22–26, 2015 in the beautiful environment of Chateau Liteň – in the same place where the master class of Dagmar Pecková had held in 2014. The master class of Adam Plachetka was concluded by the concert of Adam Plachetka, Kateřina Kněžíková, and the graduates of this course – it took place on August 26, 2015 in the Chateau Liteň.

The Association was also working on a unique exhibition of opera costumes of Jarmila Novotná. This exhibition was prepared in the cooperation with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. This was the first time when the costumes of Jarmila Novotná owned by the Metropolitan Opera were lent to the Czech Republic. These costumes had been tailor-made for Jarmila Novotná; she had performed the roles of Cherub, Octavianus, Bartered Bride, or Violetta in them in the Metropolitan Opera but also in other famous opera houses. This special exposition were held in Prague’s Municipal House from September 9, 2015 till January 4, 2016.

The efforts of the Association were also devoted to the popularization of the name of Jarmila Novotná and the collection of information about her life and career. These activities were crowned by the publishing of the first monograph of this opera singer called Baroness in Opera written by renowned historian, publicist, scriptwriter, and writer Pavel Kosatík. This book is part of a larger serie of recognized biographies of famous Czech celebrities (Jan Masaryk, Olga Havlová, Ferdinand Peroutka, etc.). Similarly to other books written by this author, also this one is not focusing only on the professional activities of Jarmila Novotná but it brings very interesting political, cultural and historical information and inter-connections. The Association of Chateau Liteň funded 18 month research carried out in many Czech but also foreign archives this book is based on. This monograph can be purchased in our e-shop and Czech booksellers.

The book was presented to the public by Pavel Kosatík, the author of the book, and George Daubek, the son of Jarmila Novotná at the special event that was held on September 9, 2015 in Municipal House. This gala evening took a form of moderated discussion about the book with music program. Presentation of the book took then place in Prague and other cities through several composed evenings with music, reading and discussion with the author and interesting guests.

Jarmila Novotná Festival 2015 was held under the Auspices of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic and The Embassy of the United States in the Czech Republic.