THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF FORFEST CZECH REPUBLIC 2009 KROMĚŘÍŽ, OLOMOUC, BRATISLAVA

The Forfest expended his year from the city of Kroměříž to Olomouc and to Bratislava, Slovakia, with the exhibition of paintings of Moravian painter, musician and co-director of the festival, Václav Vaculovič. Except for the traditional magnificent sites and music halls there were added the Cathedral of Wenceslas, Mozarteum of the Archdiocese Museum, Conservatory Of Music of the Lutheran Academy, and renowned Gallery G., all in Olomouc. The Forfest, with its 27 concerts began this time non-traditionally, with the exhibition of the Contemporary Slovak Art, undertitled “Letter To Heaven” in the Gallery G, June 5th, with the installations, photographies, paintings, and sculptures of well-known artists Peter Roller, Ján Kodoň, Michaela and Šimon Klíman, Pavla Lazárková, Betta Majerníková, and Eva Sládečková-Böhmová. Six concerts sounded in Olomouc as well on the June 5th, then the Forfest continued with 21 concerts on June 21–28 in Kroměříž, in the magnificent Assembly Hall of the Archbishop’s Castle, and with the photography exhibition of the Slovak painter Vladimíra Sidorová in the Gallery At Artuš, The project of the three exhibitions was rounded with the three conceptualistic performances by the American performer Lewis Gesner at the end of Forfest, under the arc of the Renaissance graffiti house on the main square. In the Museum of Kroměříž, where a permanent exhibition of the Czech famous painter Max Švabinský has been running, a biennale of the Forfest International Conference, with the topic „Spiritual Streams In the Contemporary Arts“, took place. Many guests from the home and abroad presented their papers, under the moderation of Prof. PhD Andreas Kröper, the musicologist, solo-flautist, and director from Germany/Switzerland.

The value and fame of Forfest has been growing annually, the Forfest has been ranked to European festivals, such as The Warsaw Autumn, Musica Nuova in Rome, Darmstadt, Bucuresti, Kopenhagen, and others. This year we have had a privilege to listen to 11 world premieres (of Czech, Swedish, American, German, Italian composers), and 14 Czech premieres of composers coming from Slovenia, Slovakia, Czechia, Moravia, USA, France, Poland, Austria, and Japan. The prevailing Czech premieres remembered young composers, such as Vojtěch Mojžiš, Petr Vaculovič, Jana Vöröšová, Štěpán Filípek, and the recently deceased Petr Pokorný and innovator Alois Piňos, from Brno. From the world premieres we were captivated by the concertant work of American Richard Toensing, in a colorful, timbreous, and rhythmically demanding antiromantic, harmonically humble „Concertino For Piano And 9 Instruments) with the Ensemble of Brno Soloists under Ondřej Tajovský, with the Slovak soloist Elena Letňanová, with the composition of Italian composer Massimiliano Messieri „Forever“ with the life electronics, under the imbuance of the philosophy of prolongated sounds, tones, pauses and unusually significant fermatas, realized by the soprano saxophonist - Michele Selva, triangle and electronics by the author himself. The piece „Forever“ extended the possibilities of experimentation. Andrea Ceccomori, the instrumentalist, incorporated the photographies into his performance, and Austrian Widmar Hader with „Vier Stücke für Violino Solo“ in the fine interpretation of the director of the festival, Zdenka Vaculovičová, brought less known contemporary Austrian music. The vocal compositions of the sensitive Polish composers, Witold Szalonek „Drei Liebeslieder“ on the text of Rajvinder Singh were deep, serious, sonoristically soft, supported with equally subtile piano accompaniment. Július Luciuk in „Pacem in terris“ also contributed with „nice music“ and supersilent excellent work of the Czech young pianist Roman Pallas. A Japanese Kazuhiko Hattori‘s „Dram“, in the interpretation of devoted interpreters of the contemporary music- Petr Matuszek, baritone, and Markéta Dvořáková, mezzosopranist, we began to taste a different Far East Japanese atmosphere of music. Peter Matuszek outdid all chants in his riveting interpretation of György Kurtág‘s „ Three Songs On Poems of János Pilinski“, and enchanted us again with his creation of aliquote and nasal tones. Kurtág pays for the greatest composer after Zoltán Kódaly, this was proved at this concert. Terry Riley (in the Czech premiere with Messieri-Selva Duo), sounded fresh, even in a „narrow instrumental“ version, very different from the Riley’s interpretation from the late 60’s.

In sum, the instrumental music outweighed the vocal music by numbers, while the ensemble music was less modest than chamber and solo output by its numbers. The Slovenian music of the 20th century is still little known in our country (except for Milko Globokar and J. Pejačevič from the first half of the 20th century). For the first time we listened to a stylistically neoromantic but expressive Lucian Marija. His „Škerjanc Maestoso” from the 30’s of the last century, was a great lugubre with a sort of Rachmaninof‘s still interesting modulations, dedicated to Lucijan Škerjanc (1900-1973), a compositional pattern for the new emerging generation. Nenad Firšt with his shorter solo concertant character, “Something Wild”, was composed from motives and drafts of improvisational character. The piece was interrupted with the episodes of firing virtuosic figurations in a rapid tempo. Milko Lazar, wrote his “Five Short Pieces” for piano trio with a compositional souvereignity, expressive music, ornamental, soft, and with some tasteful hedonistic arabesques in vivace tempo, mainly captivated with his aphorism. In an excellent interplay of Slovenian artists Tatijana Ognjanovič - piano, Volodja Balžalorsky - violin, Damir Hamidulin – violoncello, sounded the piece by Hugh Levick „Translation For Piano Trio“, but this piece let me uninterested. The final „Trio“ from the year 1985/ 1992 by Alfred Schnittke, appeared to be lightly appercepted, serious postmodern monolithic composition.

A great space was given to French music with two organ recitals of a young and interesting Czech Hana Ryšavá and dynamic improvisator Vincent Rigot from France. She has presented a full women-composers program J. Demessieux, E. Barraine, Nadia Boulanger, E. Diener, and S. Gubajdulina. Also captivating was an another organ recital with the similar expression of pieces, by professor of organ in Prague, Jaroslav Tůma, who performed clearly, with a sense for dynamics of the organ struture (Arvo Pärt „Mein Weg hat Gipfel und Wellentäller“ and little known Philip Glass‘s „Mad Rush“, but „The Prelude and Fugue“ by Karel B. Jirák and the best was a sad „Elegy For Valdštejn“ (dedicated to the city of Cheb) by the organist. His improvisations were outstanding.

This year‘s festival continued to present the author’s concerts and a half-concerts (Vít Zouhar, František Emmert, Jan Vrkoč, Vojtech Mojžiš). Among them the works of the professor took me from Brno, František Emmert, who enchanted already in the last festival 2008 by his pietistic and dramatically contrasting “Symphony For Solo Violin Ecce homo”. This year he surprised emotionally, even plaguing through our perception by the works with evangelical texts at the opening concert highly expressive “The Last Day Of Judgement” and “ Mission Sonata For Violin And Piano”, in a passionate interpretation of a promising violinist Milan Paľa, who played phenomenally also this year, and his equal partner Ondrej Olos – piano, both from Slovakia. The next day, the June 22nd, Emmert‘s breathtaking “Time Of Messiah” sounded, full of mass, and loaded with abrupt changes, and an extensive persuasing chamber oratorio “Carassing By Sight”, in beethovenish super dramatic upheavals, transitions, changing tempi and opposite expression, ending in lyrical angelic sounds. Is it possible to write such crashing music? Yes, it speaks on the time of his oppression; it had to go out on surface. In Paľa’s interpretation we heard virtuosic and by enormous tension loaded piece „La Folia“, for solo violin, a remarkable piece from 70’s of then a young Vladimír Bokes, later a professor and dean at VSMU in Bratislava. For me it was a great surprise in comparison with his later atonal compositions, including. a destinies Piano Concerto With Orchestra. I would like to make a certain parallel of with the works of Emmert from the June 22nd, with the plaguing up 20th century, great sonoristic masterpiece “Lukas Passions” by Krzysztof Penderecki. It is not a mere coincidence. Shortly, we have Emmert, Poland has Penderecki. Lucas Passions of Penderecki came from his „Romantic period“, sounded four days later after Emmert, in the acoustic Church of St. Baptist, composed already in 1965. The both works had a heavy impact on our mind. Emmert composed them in the last years. This expressive and monumental Polish work received prizes in Germany and Prix Italia, and Emmert’s had not received any.

Due to well-thought programming of the director of Forfest, the violinist, composer, and a pedagogue, Zdenka Vaculovičová, we were pleased to listen to an excellent organ recital from the works of Thierry Escaich, Jehan Alain, Maurice Duruflé and a maestro of the new organ and piano literature, Olivier Messiaen, interpreted an indubitable French organist Vincent Rigot. Maurice Duruflé‘s “Scherzo” and Jehan Alain‘s “Litanies” were modeled with a sense for pliability, registration and dynamics, at Thierry Escaich (pronunciation: Eskeš) in „5 verses“ on Victimae Pascha....“ and in „Laudes“ it was highest expression, color and manyfolded registration. In Petr Eben’s, the only Czech piece, Mr. Rigot developed from a tonal two-voice choral at beginning “Oh, the Great God”, to an atonal harmonic form, very nice music, but Messiaen‘s “Dieu parmi nous” at the end was a real peak, thoughtfully and emotionally built with unusual rich harmonic modulations. It was a peak of the festival too, in a thrilling interpretation of Vincent Rigot, along with the Emmert’s striking work at the beginning of the festival. A long applause and Mr. Rigot’s improvisations given from the public were an excellent treat for Kroměříž. The organist even spoke to listeners in the Czech language at the end of the recital. Arvo Pärt‘s “Passio” as Penderecki’s „Passions“ was equally unforgettable. Pärt’s extensive, more than one hour and 15 minutes long master work, was harmonically simple, more horizontally perceived, based on soft contrasts of tempo and dynamics, sometimes alternating wisely single registers. The work with a special angelic atmosphere gave us a new spiritual message of our time, no matter if for the educated or uneducated listeners, instrumentally impressive work (violin, organ, solo voices, men’s and women’s choir, and etc.). But after 50 minutes of intensive experience from the heavenly beautiful, I felt I could not further intensify my deep emotional experience and surpass the limits of warmness, devotion, which this work emanates. After one hour it acted like a drogue and the expression began to banalize itself.

The Slovak music received also a great space due to an excellent piano recital of Ivan Buffa with the Czech premieres of three generations - Vladimír Bokes, Vladimír Godár, Ivan Buffa, Juraj Vajo. The recital pertained also to the best deeds of the festival; we heard a composed through, rhythmically and motivically very alive, post-webernian „Sonata“ dating from 1960 by Roman Berger, and „P.F. 2000“, by V. Bokes, a witty three minute - piece with a dynamic, dense course, and one constant fifth sounding over the chords, and by a gradual densification of chords into clusters, the piece culminated with a careful preparation of dynamic end. Recital presented two shorter compositions with a meditative base by Peter Machajdík, with emphasis on the perception of single peaceful tones, their further sounding out and „coloration“ and pauses, a new impressive “tone minimal”. By an another material, sounded a minimalistic and accessible „Emeleia“, based on motive of four tones, descending and with endless repetitions by Vladimir Godár, made a impression of musical continuum. It was followed by impressive „Variatiations on a Silent Chord “ by Milan Slavický and the Balad by Hanuš Bartoň. A shorter and contrasting „Bagatelle“ by Petra Oliveira-Bachratá was recital uplifted. A brave, older „Passacaglia“ by Jozef Podprocký rounded the recital. The pianist Buffa enchanted with a typically French and sound-rhythmical soft „Cloche dˇadieu et un sourire“ in memorian Messiaen, by Tristan Muraill. „Sonáta“ with a tragic subtones, at the beginning more „monophone“, then polystylistic, used effectively convergences of layers and descending clusters (very similar to Górecki’s Piano Concerto end, with a citation from the Shostakovich‘s 12th Symphony by Alfred Schnittke. The composition evoked undoubtedly Russian characteristics. The best composition was rhythmically nuance and demanding „Sequenza“, by Luciano Berio. The two other Slovaks, Zeljenka‘s and Godár’s Violin duets were performed with a deep insight of the Duo Zdenka Vaculovičová - Lukáš Pecháček on the author’s concert of Vojtěch Mojžiš, with his premiere of the „Hostýn-The Praise Of Devotions“ on June 5th. The cimbalon recital of Enikó Ginzery (Germany-Slovakia), presented pieces by Greek H. J. Hespos, G. Kurtág, T. Brandmüller, L. Janáček, and Portugal J. P. Oliveira.

The Czech young authors were represented by a talented Jan Vrkoč, by his half-concert, which impressed me with musicality and humanistic vision of his young opus „Concerto For Violin And Orchestra“, with a „Bartokian“ rhythmical and positive pathos and tension. The audiences were pleased to hear the author’s nice electronic piece, which copied the sense for melodic thinking, coming out of the knowledge of the instrument and his possibilities. The witty „Suite For Violin And Piano“ by Jan Novák, was presented too. The inventional and poetic „Country With A Rainbow “ and „Verticals – Sonata For Violin Solo“, showed the author’s soft feeling of the nature. With dramatic „Ballad“ by Ružena Sršňová for violin and piano in her interpretation ended the concert.

At the Forfest further we heard again the unusual instrumental sounding of a „Requiem“ by a young Moravian Petr Vaculovič, the director of the orchestra The Industrial Philharmonic from the city of Náchod, with original instruments of home production (This concert I could not hear but I am familiar with his other compositions premiered before). A young promising composer, Jana Vöröšová, surprised by a short smashing piece “Turum-durum” for violin, violoncelo and electronics, which brough a thrilling end of the concert. Štěpán Filípek with his “Hořké humoresky pro violončelo sólo” („Acrimonious Humoresques For Violoncello Solo“) showed his sense for timbre, meditation, he originally formed them along with Ten Preludes by S. Gubajdulina. A fresh air brought another author’s concert at Forfest. It was a retrospectrive with new pieces of Vít Zouhar from the University of Olomouc, in an inspiring place of Rotunda in the Flower Gardens of a Renaissance Italian architect Tencalli. The Ensemble Damian from Olomouc, under the artistic direction of Tomáš Hanzlík performed an beaming, joyful, positive, and enchanting concert- a new breadth into a spiritual music, a contribution to the forgotten tradition of Baroque blueprint, form and style, combined with a tasteful minimalism, post-organal two-voice vocal parts, and a beauty of rarely used monody, the voice of counter-tenors, inspiring to a new expression of pieces. A regular rhythm, deliniation, a Baroque tempo pulse and violin „arpeggios“ of the Italian 18th century music, gave Zouhar‘s ensemble-instrumental composition „The Gardens Of Heaven’s Pleasures“ a new unforgettable impression. The world is not dark, not unhappy, but full of love and vigorousness, speaks this piece in “early-classical“ harmony . More experimental was a „silent thin sensitive music“ with a video and poems in a German language, combined with electronics from a tape and with the ensemble in „Mente“ from 2008. Poem works as a magic rhythmical element and keeps its semantics. This concert showed that the contemporary polystylistics can be inspired by anything, that „the musical democracy“ is also a tolenance of a few postmodern and old styles, without compositional „dogmas“, as it is in the polymorphous character of our philosophy. In Bramante’s cupola, in the hall of Rotunde, the first Zouhar’s piece „Pendolo“, sounded as a communication piece, a dialogue, corresponding with a really physically hanging pendulum of the famous French physicist Foucault. The composition added gradually the layers of instrumental lines, demonstrating the pendulum movement and variability without intent of description. Along with the festival perennial Czech composers as Bohuslav Martinů, Leoš Janáček, sounded the works of Petr Eben, Jan Novák, Petr Pokorný, new opuses of Jiří Matys, Miloslav Kabeláč, a recently deceased Alois Piňos, which were observed with alive interest and evaluation..

The last chapter of Forfest made the women-composers. Except for the above mentioned Czech and Slovak women, the Russian-Tatar Sofia Gubajdulina, living in Germany, there were two Gražyna Bacewicz and Lidia Zielińska from Poland, and Nadja Boulanger, who is now only rarely performed, as a value from the beginning of the last century. The “Glosa For Viola“ from Lidia Zielinska, acted by dynamic contrasts and energy. In „Glosa“ there was well-placed excitement of the type ”Flight of Bumble bee“ in the performance of Anna Zielińska, the daughter. „Ten Preludes“ for violoncello by Sofia Gubajdulina, were attractive in the interpretation of Štepán Filípek, showing a unusual sense for detail. Gubajdulina can write a melody, with silent „slides“ (glissandi) on the most unawaited places – between tones, used not as a worn out technical means. She creates by sliding tones tension, awaiting, and curiosity „what will come later“. Her melody is silenced harmonical element of the piece, perceived in some moments. The „Polish Caprice“ by the most known expressive, clear, logical Polish woman of the 20th century, Gražyna Bacewicz, ended the recital, which presented also known pieces by M. Reger and Stravinsky. This selection, especially Reger, did not fit to the pleyade of new premieres. I hope that the Forfest will continue to present further the works of significant women-composers.

Forfest documented the fact that the universalism versus relativism (not Einstein’s relativism in nature), and spiritual music is raising and is no more in the secondary position, in the former „underground“, where was placed more than one half of the century with its banned composers. The secular music may equally show its spiritual measures if it is an excellent music. The borders of the both music’s are not straight clear; the both create the core of a great art. On the Forfest we heard in juxtaposition the compositions of polytonal, atonal, extended tonal, serial, minimalistic musical language, and electronic. The borders are open, the next Forfest, maybe, could keep an undertitle „Spiritual Europe Without Borders“. The city of festivals should cancel the loud music from discos in the days of the Forfest. During one concert a primitive „Tafel Musik“ sounded from the main plaza and disturbed our perception of high quality music.

In the 20- year history of the Forfest many composers dedicated their works to the festival: from the symphonies, chamber cantatas, masses to nocturnes for solo instruments. Let us mention those the most significant works: „Apologetics“ by Daniel Lenz from Arizona, „Homage a Orlando Lasso“, by American Canadian William Toutant, „In the Centre“ and orchestral „The Time of River“ by American Daniel Kessner. From the Czech and Moravian composers: „Precantio Bona“, a chamber cantata based on religious texts by Jan Grossmann, Symphony Nr. 2 with a subtitle „Passions“ for 8 solo voices, 2 mixed choirs and a great orchestra by Pavel Zemek, „ The Immemorial Pictures“ for choir and instrumental ensemble by Ilja Hurník, „Ecce Homo “ by František Emmert, the works by recently deceased Petr Pokorný, Greek Dinos Constantinides and Slovak authors Ilja Zeljenka (Peter Machajdík, Peter Zagar in the last years).

Forfest presented in the course of 20 years more than 339 concerts, 121 authors‘ concerts, among them also Messiaen, Penderecki, Pärt, Górecki, Berio, Cage, Boulanger, Gubajdulina, Reich, Schnittke, Riley, Janáček, Martinu, and others, with the home and foreign ensembles such as Agon, Ensemble Mondschein, Musica Gaudeamus, Musica Salutaris all from Prague, Solisti di Praga, Chamber Orchestera of B. Martinu Brno, Dama Dama Brno, Pierot Lunaire Wien, Arcus Ensemble Wien, Archaeus Bucharest, Ensemble Fibonacci Sequence London, Irish Ensemble Inchholm, Alienor France, Ensemble Moens, Veni Bratislava, I Fiatti Bratislava, Contrast Trio Wien, Telesto Trio Holand, Amael, Moravian, Kyncl and Stamic Quartets.

Many home and foreign directors, the hundreds of soloists (more than 320), 80 exhibitions and performances, symposia’s, concerts from recordings, dance/music and music/video creations, films on composers, and video installations with electronics. Forfest in the present form as a festival of the contemporary music with spiritual orientation has been crystallizing since its third festival from the beginning. The festival originated from the so called musical „sedánky“ (sittings, sessions), which included a reading of poetry, fine arts actions, historical, contemporary, jazz, rock, folk, and underground music (for instance Ivan Hoffmann).

Doc. PhDr. Elena Letňanová
july 15, 2009