Martinů Festival in Basel
Numerous Swiss orchestras and theaters also celebrated the 125th birthday of the Czech composer with performances of his works.
For twenty years, Robert Kolinsky has been organizing the Martinů Festival in Basel, with which he aims to raise international awareness of the work of Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959). In 2015, the 125th birthday of the Czech composer, who lived in Switzerland at the end of his life and died in Liestal, was and is being celebrated not only in Basel but also elsewhere. In February, for example, the Zurich Opera House staged a new production of the opera Juliettethe Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich the Rhapsody-Concerto for viola and orchestra or the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande Les Paraboles.
The 21st Martinů Festival from November 15 to 29 will be held under the patronage of Federal Councillor Alain Berset, conductor Mariss Jansons and Madeleine Albright, former US Secretary of State. It will open with a concert by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tomáš Hanus, which will give Bohuslav Martinů's Symphonies Nos. 2 and 5 their Brahmsian Academic festive overture in front. The Basel Marionette Theater has shows for children aged eight and over Who is the most powerful on earth and the Hagen Quartet combines works by Mendelssohn, Kurtág and Martinů in a chamber music concert. There will also be cabaret (Duo Calva) and jazz. The festival is rounded off with the traveling exhibition Bohuslav Martinů - Life and work by Sibylle Ryser and Gabriele Jonté.
Further information and program: www.martinu.ch
