Carlos Maria Solare visits the Egon Schiele Art Centrum in Český Krumlov, Czech Republic, on July 23, 2025, for a Bach and Boulez program as part of the Krumlov Festival.
As part of the “New Connections” series, the Krumlov Festival presented a late-night Bach and Boulez concert with a twist. The atmospheric venue was a low-ceilinged cellar with a highly resonant acoustic that played a leading role in the proceedings.
In Boulez’s Domaines for solo clarinet, the player is tasked with moving through the space, performing the movements in an aleatory order. Marek Švejkar’s modestly virtuous interpretation was complemented by the improvised choreography of Eliška Kopecká, imaginatively lit so that her shadow became a full-fledged dancing partner.
Each segment of Domaines was followed by a complete blackout, from which emerged a movement of a Bach cello suite, emanating from a candlelit corner where cellist Tomáš Jamník was seated. Encouraged by the generous resonance of the hall, Jamník chose appropriately expansive tempos. With a restrained use of vibrato, he began the Suite in G major with a neatly articulated Prelude, phrased with historical sensibility.
In the subsequent dances, the melodic lines forming the implicit polyphony were wonderfully augmented by the hall’s decay, which also allowed for some daring caesuras in the Minuet in G minor. The end of the Gigue in G major segued seamlessly into the Gigue in D minor; Jamník then performed the remaining movements of the D minor Suite in reverse order, alternating with further fragments of Boulez’s Domaines.
The final majestic arpeggios of the D minor Prelude thus became a grand finale to the concert, ushering the audience out into the mild Czech night.