《TAIPEI TIMES》 Prague orchestra to play in Taiwan for National Day

By Ling Mei-hsueh and Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The Prague Philharmonic Orchestra is to perform in Taiwan from Saturday through Tuesday next week, with its artistic planning director saying the performances of Antonin Dvorak’s From the New World symphony would be “the best congratulations to Taiwan” as it marks its National Day on Monday next week.

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The orchestra has been banned from China after Prague in 2019 cut sister-city ties with Beijing, after the Chinese capital did not heed Prague Mayor Zdenek Hrib’s request to remove the requirement that Prague recognize Beijing’s “one China” principle from the sister-city deal.

Orchestra director Katerina Kalistova and artistic planning director Ales Drenik last month said being banned in China means that Asia tours are less lucrative.

However, the orchestra is seeking to expand its tours to other countries in the region, as it remains uncertain whether Beijing might ever lift the ban, they told Chinese-language media.

Founded in 1994, the orchestra quickly built up its international reputation and has become one of the leading orchestras in the world.

Kalistova said most founding members are still with the orchestra, ensuring the good chemistry among musicians.

Aside from focusing on classical pieces by internationally renowned composers such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven, the orchestra seeks to bring the Czech Republic’s music legacy to the world.

The performances in Taiwan were originally planned for 2020, but they were postponed to this year due to travel curbs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kalistova said she was determined to bring the performances to Taiwan after she, together with Hrib, visited the country for the first time two years ago.

She was impressed by the friendliness of Taiwanese, she added.

Drenik said that the orchestra is to play two different programs in Taiwan — one featuring Czech, Slovak and Russian pieces, such as Dvorak’s From the New World, the overture of Bedrich Smetana’s opera The Bartered Bride and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2; and the other featuring pieces that the orchestra is most famous for, such as Beethoven’s Egmont and Symphony No. 7, and Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20.

Principal guest conductor Leos Svarovsky and pianist Andrew von Oeyen are to join the performances at National Concert Hall in Taipei on Saturday, National Taichung Theater on Sunday, Pingtung County Performing Arts Center on Monday next week and the National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts on Tuesday next week.

Further information can be found at kham.com.tw.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES