Music of the Czech Lands - The Janáček Brno Festival

The second city of the Czech Republic and capital of Moravia, Brno is among the loveliest and most interesting cities of the former Habsburg Empire. A showcase for historic architecture spanning many centuries and scene of a rich cultural life, it nevertheless remains strangely overlooked by tourists – which is part of its charm. This tour provides delicious immersion in the music of Bohemian and Moravian composers – Leoš Janáček, Antonín Dvořák, Pavel Haas, Bohuslav Martinů and others.

This is only the tenth edition of the biennial Janáček Brno Festival but it has already achieved international acclaim. Brno was home to Leoš Janáček for much of his life, and the theatre that bears his name, opened in 1965, is a superb venue for a wide variety of opera. Here we see Jenůfa, one of Janáček’s most powerful and personal works; composed over nine years during the illness and death of his daughter Olga. Under the baton of Jakub Hrůša, the internationally acclaimed Bamberger Symphoniker brings this tragic tale of love, shame and sacrifice to life. Hrůša and the Bamberger Symphoniker return for an orchestral concert including Janáček’s rarely heard Jealousy, Dvořák’s The Wild Dove, and Bruckner’s majestic Fourth Symphony.

Complementing these grand performances are two piano recitals in more intimate settings. At the Leoš Janáček Memorial – the composer’s home for the final 18 years of his life – a student from the Janáček Academy perform works by Janáček, Haas, and Kaprál. At Villa Löw-Beer, an elegant early 20th-century Art Nouveau residence, pianist Tomáš Víšek presents a more international programme including works by Martinů, Milhaud, Stravinsky, and Gershwin.

The tour concludes with a performance of The Makropulos Affair, a haunting meditation on immortality, as Janáček transforms Karel Čapek’s play into an emotionally charged opera about the human desire for meaning.

The performances are interspersed with expert-led visits to the architectural and historical riches of Brno and wider Moravia. Among them is Villa Tugendhat, a masterpiece of Modernism by Mies van der Rohe; the Baroque monastery at Rajhrad; and the magnificent château at Valtice, once a seat of the Liechtenstein family. The walks, talks, and excursions deepen the connection between the music and the region, while time is also reserved for rest or independent exploration.