Upon arriving in Nové Hrady, visitors immediately recognize the enlightened care of the “landowners.”
Magda and Petr Kučera have long transformed not only the immediate surroundings of their castle but also the character of the entire landscape. Fields give way to meadows, and among the thickets, fallow deer and majestic stags graze. In the stables and pastures a bit further away, horses trot, and at the center of it all, on a hill above the small East Bohemian village, a Rococo chateau opens its arms.

This small Czech Versailles is surrounded by more than ten types of gardens, one of which features a green amphitheater inspired by natural Baroque theaters. Since 2012, it has become a regular venue for specially staged performances of operas by old masters.

With a certain exaggeration, we could say that the Kučeras invite visitors to their home for a stylish party. After a personal welcome, it includes a home-cooked feast prepared by Mrs. Kučera (not only from the family’s deer breeding), a tour of the castle household, and free wandering around the castle grounds where short performances are prepared at various spots. The opera performance then culminates the entire experiential evening.

A charming operatic satire, belonging to a genre in which opera itself becomes the subject of the plot. A Rococo chateau and its bewitching gardens together with the music of Mozart’s peer.

programme

Antonio Salieri:
Prima la musica, e poi le parole / First the music and then the words

A Theatrical Comedy in One Act

The performance will be presented in the original Italian with Czech and English subtitles.

performers

Eleonora – Soňa Godarská
Tonina – Lenka Pavlovič
The poet – Roman Hoza
The composer – Tadeáš Hoza

Barocco Sempre Giovane
Stage director Tomáš Studený
Conductor Jakub Kydlíček

photogallery