Festival 2021

Rusalka in the Park

Open-air concert performance of the most famous parts of Antonín Dvořák´s Rusalka opera with a multi media scenic show by the Caban brothers.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Jarmila Novotná Festival and the 120th anniversary of the Rusalka opera premiere an exceptional summer open-air Rusalka in the Park took place.

It was a concert performance of the most famous parts of Antonín Dvořák´s Rusalka. The invitation to the project was accepted by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, which performed under the baton of Robert Jindra. The main role of Rusalka was played by one of our most sought-after sopranos, Kateřina Kněžíková. The role of the Prince was taken by the talented Richard Samek, the role of Vodník was played by Jan Martiník and the roles of the Foreign Princess and the Witch by Jana Kurucová. Graduates of the Interpretation Courses in Liteň – Jarmila Balážová, Markéta Böhmová and Tamara Morozová were introduced in the roles of Žínka. 

Music, singing, dancing on a large space in the castle park directed by the Caban brothers.

The concert took place on August 28, 2021 at 8 pm in the Chateau park in Liteň.

Interpretation Courses in Liteň 2021

Interpretation courses in Liteň 2021 took place, this year in June already, from 14th to 18th under brand new pedagogical guidance. We also prepared something special in this area for the annual 10th Jarmila Novotná Festival. The famous former Dutch singer and now world-renowned opera singing tutor Margreet Honig, an author of the book “True Singing”, which we published in 2019, honored us with her visit. She was inviting her long-time student, the acclaimed Czech soprano Simona Houda Šaturová, to take on the lecturer’s tandem at the eighth courses. Mrs. Šaturová took on the role of a lecturer for the first time in her career and we were more than happy that she chose our courses in Liteň.

For the last evening, June 18th, we prepared the final concert as usual, which cannot be missed in any year of the festival. 

ZUŠ Open

On Sunday, October 3, the chateau complex in Liteň hosted for the third time a parade of art schools of the Central Bohemian, Prague, Plzeň and Pardubice regions as part of the national ZUŠ Open festival, which was established under the patronage of the opera singer Magdalena Kožená. The rich program across all artistic disciplines attracted more than 500 visitors. This year, more than ever, the attention was drawn to the benefits and importance of art education, which has been significantly affected by the pandemic lasting more than a year.

The program was opened by choirs, instrumental ensembles including harps and guitars from Central Bohemian ZUŠ schools and the popular band ODDechovka from ZUŠ Beroun, which did not disappoint this year either. A different kind was a show of an ensemble of historical music and dance from the Prague ZUŠ “U půjčovny“, dancers from the Beroun ZUŠ performed interesting author choreographies.

The original MAFI singing duo from Hořovice and the talented scholarship holders of the MenART Academy, who together with other instrumentalists prepared a „tea at five“ as a form of a concert in the Čechovna hall, stood out among the performers. The art section of ZUŠ Beroun and ZUŠ Kouřim was also particularly successful this year, and the landscape paintings and other works of the pupils literally merged with the picturesque environment of the chateau park. The exhibition of art works was traditionally located in the orangery.

As in the previous year, a voluntary entrance fee was collected. Its´ proceeds amounted to CZK 6,391 and our organization matched it to a total of CZK 10,000. This amount was donated to support the repair of a historic chapel niche of St. Jan Nepomucký in Liteň, which is located in close proximity to the chateau grounds and the church and thus supported the development of the region.