Musical Journey: Czech Pepublic - Prague & Lednice Castle

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The Places • The churches and palaces of Prague are seen, with the great River Vltava (the Moldau), which flows through the city, the outline of the city buildings reflected in its waters. The Strahov Monastery and the Villa Bertramka are practical examples of Mozart’s contact with Prague. On a visit to the monastery he improvised on the organ, and at the Villa Bertramka he and his wife Constanze were guests of the Czech composer Dussek. There is also a visit to Southern Moravia and Lednice, with its Neo-Gothic castle, its folly, a slender minaret, in its English gardens, with its trees and artificial lakes. • The Music • Mozart had happy memories of Prague. When, during the last ten years of his life, circumstances in Vienna proved increasingly difficult, he was always welcome in the Bohemian capital. It was for Prague that he wrote his opera Don Giovanni in 1787 and for Prague that he wrote one of his last operas, La clemenza di Tito, commissioned for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Bohemia, and for his unappreciative wife, who described the work as “porchería tedesca”, German porkery. Prague continues to honour Mozart in various festivals, concerts and memorabilia.

DVD

Naxos

22.08.2012

747313530953