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Klasika Plus
The 34th edition of the IMF Český Krumlov, running from July 11 to August 2, will host a prestigious lineup of international stars. Highlights include legendary violin virtuoso Maxim Vengerov, guitar master Pablo Sáinz-Villegas, ten-time Grammy winners Take 6, cellist Tomáš Jamník, and violin virtuoso Jan Mráček.
Celebrated guitarist Štěpán Rak will mark his 80th birthday in the castle’s Masquerade Hall, while the festival concludes with mezzo-soprano Ester Pavlů in a staged production of Passionate Carmen, performed open-air in the Brewery Garden.
Guided by the motto "Music that Connects Worlds," this year's festival expands to fifteen venues with 45 concerts. The creative team aims to create "unexpected connections" through unconventional choreography and direction, spicing up classical music with modern elements and placing world-renowned composers in locations rarely visited by music.
The series kicks off with Unexpected Baroque, a production featuring ballet performed both in the garden and on the surface of the castle pond. Created by the RUN OPERUN collective and choreographed by Polish-American star Ida Victoria Nowakowska, director Vilma Bořkovec promises a "Baroque dream" of revelation and euphoria designed to attract new audiences to classical music.
Further Baroque highlights include the Czech premiere of George Frideric Handel’s opera Alessandro Severo, performed twice in the authentic Baroque Castle Theater by Collegium Marianum under Jana Semerádová. Sacred music also takes center stage at St. Vitus Church with organists Aleš Bárta, Krzysztof Urbaniak, and participants of Jaroslav Tůma’s masterclasses.
Under the New Connections (Nová spojení) banner, the festival features three experimental projects. Sound Picnic combines contemporary music with graphic scores in the Castle Garden, while the Fama Q String Quartet will premiere Martin Kux-Král’s Sulle rovine del tempo. The third "New Connection" is an experimental performance intertwining the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Pierre Boulez, accompanied by the dance improvisation of Eliška Kopecká. This project features cellist Tomáš Jamník and clarinetist Marek Švejkar.
Additional programming includes the humorous Lighthearted Classics with the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), and the free Festival Zone in the monastery gardens, offering musical picnics, workshops, and family activities. The festival also maintains its charitable focus, supporting disadvantaged children through a benefit concert by the band Zrní and aiding local art schools.
