The celestial knights and Concertina Praga finalists arrived at the Jindřichův Hradec château. The winners’ concert offered works by Tchaikovsky, Smetana or Martinů

19. leden 2022 09:01

Young musical talents rang out the Masquerade Hall of the Český Krumlov Castle on Monday. The South Bohemia Festival of the Concertino Praga radio competition started there. The series continues on Tuesday in Třeboň, on Wednesday the musicians go to Bechyně and on Friday they will perform at the castle in Jindřichův Hradec.

"I am very excited because I will be playing four concerts in very nice halls and I will be playing for the audience," said Slovak pianist Ryan Martin Bradshaw, who won the solo category, before the concert in Český Krumlov. "It's a great competition and a very prestigious competition, I will definitely have great memories of it," he added.

Violinist Kristián Mráček and cellist David Pěruška are also looking forward to the South Bohemian concert series. The duo won in the chamber category. "It is definitely a great success for us and it is a reward for the work we have done. We believe that this success will take us further, enrich us artistically and give us a lot of experience. Of course, recording on the radio will be a great experience, we are looking forward to it," commented Kristián Mráček.

The pair had to rehearse together in a limited mode during the pandemic. "We had a big advantage in that we are a duo, not a trio or a quartet. It was easier to get two people together, but we had limited time to prepare the program. It was time-consuming," the violinist added.

This year, the expert international juries of the Concertino Praga competition selected from 86 entries. "It's an increase and in the covid era it surprised us very much. We didn't expect so many entries in the chamber category, where we have 28 ensembles, plus 58 soloists," said Simona Hopfingerová, the competition's producer.

The winners in both categories receive a scholarship of five thousand euros, which they can use for further musical development or to buy a new instrument.

author: Petr Kubát
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