- The focus lies on Dvořák, for sure. But Janáček needs more public support. Another important composer is Bedřich Smetana, born in 1824. They all exerted a major influence on contemporary and avant-garde music, both in the Čzech Republic and internationally: Janáček’s “Second quartet”, written shortly before his death, inspired people like Schönberg, Stravinsky or Schostakovitsch because of its visionary character.
This year, we underline also to work of Petr Eben, one of the most important post-war Čzech authors. In the repertoire we also feature Dvořák’s oratory “The Holy Ludmila”, which is difficult to perform as it is written in Čzech language and requires a big large cast.

- As it is now in its 59th year, the festival is heavily influenced by European history in all its good and bad examples. As one of its founding members, the conductor Rafael Kubelik had to leave the country only after three years in 1949 because of a Communist putsch. In the 1950s the Čzech Republic suffered heavily due to the emigration of artists. The festival profited from the freedom of the 1960s, culture at that time was more or less totally free, without control. The festival gained an excellent reputation in that period. Then in 1967/68 there was the Russian-led Communist invasion that installed a very conservative version of Communism. But even during the worst times excellent international groups and ensembles came here, such as the Berlin Philharmonic or Herbert von Karajan. At the same time, there were also close connections to Russian artists. It was a strange period, full of paradoxes. After 1989, the structures of the festival have changed totally in a short time: It is no longer run by a centralized music agency and now determines its own foreign policy.

- I studied applied economics at Prague Technical University and graduated with the title “Diplome Engineer. This is a rather paradoxical situation but it has turned out to be very suitable for working as a promoter and manager for concerts and festivals, as I have a good training that is useful in terms of logistics, fundraising etc. My personal background is as follows: I was a member of student choir, so I was a hobby artist, so to speak. Like many other people after 1989, I changed my hobby to a profession. In 1990, I became orchestra manager of Prague Symphonic Orchestra. I have been in charge of the Prague Spring festival since 2001.

- If you look at Čzech history, you can see that becoming part of EU was not a jump but a development.
An important step will be made when the Čzech Republic will deal with Euro-currency as well, which will only be the case in about six years time. We will be happy to use some financial support from the EU-structures to finance several projects on Čzech soil or to launch co-operation projects. We expect an economic revival for the local market which will mean an increase in national ticket-sales. Business connections will become easier, financial dealings will be simpler to control and it will bring logistic advantages for international orchestras.