ACCOMPANYING PROGRAMME

The following lectures, which will be translated into English, will take place in the foyer of the theatre before the performance:

Leoš Janáček – Destiny

29. 9. and 14. 10., 18:15 – Lecturer: Patricie Částková

Echoes of the festival 28. 11. and 29. 11., 16:15 – Lecturer: Patricie Částková

Leoš Janáček – The Diary of One Who Disappeared

(the first ever performance of this work according to the composer´s stage instructions)

1. 10., 18:15, Reduta Theatre (Mozart Hall) – Lecturer: Jiří Zahrádka

Leoš Janáček – Jenůfa

3. 10., 18:15, Mahen Theatre – Lecturer: Miloš Štědroň

4. 10., 18:15, Janáček Theatre – Lecturer: Jiří Zahrádka

Czech Academic Choir

11. 10. 2020, 13:00, Brno’s Central Cemetery

Thematic exhibitions for the festival will be held in the foyer of the Janáček Theatre and at the Leoš Janáček Memorial:

Exhibition for the opera Destiny (Janáček Theatre foyer), 28. 9. – 16. 10. 2020

The opening of a new exhibition at the Leoš Janáček Memorial – the vernissage of Christian Macketanz´s exhibition will take place on 8. 10. 2020 at 5 p.m.

A festival can be so much more than just visits to opera performances and concerts. Walk in the footsteps of Leoš Janáček through Brno and discover the places where he created his works, and which inspired him. Take a look behind the theatre stage and experience the opera house from a normally unavailable perspective. Simply experience one day with Janáček!

Walk in Janáček´s footsteps through Brno

The experience begins in the morning, with a walk around the places where Janáček lived and worked, where he experienced his successes or just met with friends. The guided tour will also include, exceptionally, a tour of the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady in Old Brno, the Leoš Janáček Memorial and the Mahen Theatre. Route: Mendel Square – Vegetable Market – Česká – Solniční – Žerotín Square – Smetanova – Malinovsky Square. Length: approx. 3 hours; starting point: in front of the Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady in Old Brno.

9:30 in Czech, guide Jiří Zahrádka

10:00 in English, guide Jan Špaček – BUY TICKETS

Those wishing to go for a walk around Brno on their own will not miss out on the opportunity to visit the Leoš Janáček Memorial, enjoy the atmosphere of the Master´s study and see the new exhibition, as it will be open specially for the festival on Monday 12th October from 9 am – 5 pm.

After such a walk, one needs to go for lunch, of course. What did the most frequently performed Czech opera composer enjoy eating? Selected Brno restaurants and cafés will offer a menu composed of the Master´s favourite food or a dessert based on a recipe from Janáček´s housekeeper. Check out www.janacek-brno.cz and www.leosjanacek.eu.

Open House with Janáček

The Janáček Theatre will come alive straight off in the morning, too. The festival is also intended for children and students, and the opera house as well as Leoš Janáček´s music will belong to them before noon. As part of the Open House with Janáček, an unconventional tour of the theatre will be prepared for such younger visitors, with a programme in which not only members of the opera ensemble will take part, but also students from the Brno Conservatory. The programme begins at 10.00, 10.30 and 11.00 – its length is approximately 60 min, and schools can reserve places at zajickova@ndbrno.cz.

Our adult festival visitors will also have the same opportunity to enjoy the theatre from a novel viewpoint, as afternoon tours are also being provided for them. They begin at 14.00, 14.30, 15.00 (in English) and 15.30 – their length is approximately 60 minutes.

A step behind the curtain with L. Janáček´s opera Destiny

The highlight of the whole day´s programme will be the popular Step Behind the Curtain event, which is devoted to Janáček´s opera Destiny. Do you want to know how Janáček found the inspiration to create Destiny and why Act 1 takes place in Luhačovice? And find out exactly who Kamila Urválková was, and understand the role played by red roses in the opera? Then take a step behind the curtain with us and set off on an interactive, adventurous and – most importantly – entertaining journey into the heart of this opera production with the soloists, choir and orchestra of the Janáček Opera, National Theatre Brno. Our chief conductor, Marko Ivanović, will be your guide.

Janáček’s world comes alive in Brno

You can walk in the footsteps of the great composer and experience Brno’s cultural life over the following festival days as well. The best way to start is to visit a certain website dedicated to Janáček and his work. You can discover many interesting facts there, as well as a list of Brno institutions associated with the composer. Just type www.leosjanacek.eu. It is good to combine theory with practice, and the best thing for that is to go for a walk before a performance or concert. Brno’s Tourist Information Centre has prepared a trail through Brno that connects the locations and buildings in which Janáček lived and worked. The 5.6 km route allows you to link Janáček´s works with the places that were an inspiration for them, and where they were created. You can find more information at www.leosjanacek.eu/stezka/

Be sure to visit the Leoš Janáček Memorial – a small house at 14 Smetanova Street, in the garden of the former organ school. Janáček moved there in 1910 with his wife Zdeňka and housekeeper Marie Stejskalová. Janáček spent the last eighteen years of his life there, and it was the place where all the works of his creative peak were composed. Music experts can access a study room at the Department of the History of Music at the Moravian Museum in the former organ school. The building also contains the Leoš Janáček Archive, a collection listed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. You can find the manuscripts of all Janáček´s compositions and librettos there. More information at www.mzm.cz/pamatnik-leose-janacka/

The Augustinian monastery in Old Brno is connected with Janáček´s youth, and houses two exhibitions dedicated to the composer. The Janáček in Brno exhibition in the entrance hall of the Augustinian Abbey in Old Brno at Mendel Square is open every working day from 7.00 – 18.30. There is also Leoš Janáček and the Music of Brno’s Augustinians, an exhibition on the premises of the Old Brno Abbey Museum. It presents the history of music-making at the Brno Augustinian monastery, as well as the composers connected with it, particularly Pavel Křížkovský and Leoš Janáček. You can also go for a one-day trip to see Janáček´s home town, Hukvaldy, or his favourite spa, Luhačovice. These trips can be booked, including transport and a guide, from Brno Day Trips.

And, of course, you must not miss Brno’s world-famous functionalist monuments, such as Villa Tugendhat. Festival concerts take place there, just as they do at the Löw-Beer Villa. However, there is much more to see in Brno, and you can find a comprehensive and well-arranged list of things that can be experienced here at the city’s official tourist portal, www.gotobrno.cz. Everything is easier for you if you get a BRNOPAS – a tourist card which offers discounted entry to tourist attractions and includes a ticket for use on public transport in Brno.