Over to Prague this week for a concert (as well as a studio performance) by the Czech Radio Symphony. The program is pretty varied, with works by Ctirad Kohoutek, Bohuslav Martinu and Vatisla Novak.

With the strange Google translation of the Czech Radio page, the english translation of the Kohoutek piece is Monolith but it's Czech name is Pocta Zivotu. Either way, I'm completely unfamiliar with it. I am familiar with the other piece, the Martinu Concerto for Flute, Violin and Orchestra and the Symphony Number 3. Conductors of the pieces are, Ondrej Kukai for the Kohoutek, Jan Kucera for the Martinu Concerto (with Martin Valek and Jiri Valek soloists), Peter Vronsky for the Novak and Vladimir Valek for the Martinu Symphony.

A really nice concert and especially nice if you're a Martinu fan.

The concert is split up into two parts - the first part (top player) is the Kohoutek and Martinu Concerto and the second part (bottom player) is the Novak Serenade and Martinu Symphony Number 3.

Here are the Google English and original Czech notes:

Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. Symphony Orchestra for the monolith (16 min). Conductor: Ondrej Kukal. - Bohuslav Martinu: Concerto for Flute, Violin and Orchestra (19 min). Soloists and George Martin Valek Valek. Conducted by Jan Kucera. - Vitezslav Novák: Serenade for Small Orchestra in D major, Op. 36 (24 min). Conducted by Peter Vronsky. - Bohuslav Martinu: Symphony No. 3 (29 min). Conducted by Vladimir Valek. (90 min)

Ctirad Kohoutek: Pocta životu. Symfonický monolit pro orchestr (16 min). Řídí Ondřej Kukal. - Bohuslav Martinů: Koncert pro flétnu, housle a orchestr (19 min). Sólisté Martin Válek a Jiří Válek. Řídí Jan Kučera. - Vítězslav Novák: Serenáda pro malý orchestr D dur op. 36 (24 min). Řídí Petr Vronský. - Bohuslav Martinů: Symfonie č. 3 (29 min). Řídí Vladimír Válek. (90 min)

Announcements are in Czech and for some reason, the concert is in Mono. But . . it's worth it.

Over to Prague this week for a concert held this past Friday (the 15th), featuring winners of the Czech Radio International Competition in a program of Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart and Haydn. The concert features winners, Veronica Hrdovo, Guitar - Julie Svecena, Violin and Anastasia Vorotnaja, Piano with the Czech Radio Symphony conducted by Alfonso Scarano. As always, the concert is complete, with the first half (Vivaldi and Bach) on the top player and the second half (Mozart and Haydn) on the bottom. Announcements are in Czech, but not a whole lot.

Here's the program:
Live concert of laureates from the International Radio Competition Concertino Praga 2010 from the Bethlehem Chapel in Prague. Veronica Hrdovo soloists (guitar), Julie Svěcená (violin), Anastasia Vorotnaja (piano), Russia. Radio Symphony Orchestra. Conductor Alfonso Scarano. Margaret Vejvodová , announcer. 1. Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra in D major. -2. JS Bach: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in A minor BWV 1041st - 3. WA Mozart: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 23 in A major K 488th -4. Joseph Haydn: Symphony No. 45 in F sharp minor, Hob I/45. Farewell. (134min.)

This concert definitely ranks high on the Anti-Road Rage Wednesday charts.

Enjoy.

(Martin Valek tackles the Ladislav Simon violin concerto - oh . . not familiar?)

Hitting unfamilar territory on the one hand and a staple of the concert hall on the other. This week's concert comes from Prague via Czech Radio and a live concert by the Czech Radio Symphony conducted by Vladimir Valek and featuring violinist Martin Valek (no mention if they're related). First up is by contemporary Czech composer Ladislav Simon: Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. Simon has composed a huge amount of music, ranging from symphonic and chamber to Jazz, electronic and TV scores. The violin concerto is nicely atmospheric without straining nerves - it's a nice introduction if you're not all that familiar with contemporary classical music. It won't assault you and take you hostage. And the second half is the old warhorse Brahms: Symphony Number 2. But I like the sound of this orchestra, especially the horns (even though the stream is in Mono for some reason) and Vladimir Malek does a nice job reigning it all in.

It's mostly complete (there was the opening piece Dukas: The Sorcerers Apprentice which had some bad skips and I had to drop it. Sorry) and, as always, split into two parts. Part 1 (up top) is the Simon Violin concerto and Part 2 (down there) is the Brahms.

And here are the notes in case you're interested:

HRAJE SYMFONICKÝ ORCHESTR ČESKÉHO ROZHLASU - Ladislav Simon: Koncert pro housle a orchestr (35 min). Sólista Martin Válek. - Johannes Brahms: Symfonie č. 2 D dur op. 73 (38 min). Řídí Vladimír Válek. (90 min)

Since the program is from Prague, the announcements are in Czech, but there are about 30 seconds of them. Nothing that would create an international incident or make you drop everything and run for a copy of Rosetta Stone.