Traditionally, the Verdi Festival opens the State Opera season in Prague. This festival has been held annually since 1993 and lasts for about two weeks, usually in late August and early September. During the festival, works by one of the most prominent composers in the world are performed.
The Czech festival is named after the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi. His work became the culminating chapter in the entire Italian opera of the 19th century. Born in the same year as Wagner, his future German opera "opponent", he created 26 operas and one requiem in his lifetime.
The festival program, as a rule, includes several genres: classical music, opera, jazz. Events are held at various concert venues in Prague. Festival guests can enjoy not only music and grandiose opera performances, but also cultural attractions of the Czech capital, such as the Jewish Quarter, Prague Castle, Old Town Square, which survived the events of the Prague Spring of the 20th century.
Initially, the festival was completely dedicated to the works of Verdi, but now you can hear the works of other composers. So, in 2009, the holiday opened and closed with the opera "Tosca" by Giacomo Puccini. In 2011, the festival featured works by Dvořák and Tchaikovsky.
The 2001 Verdi Festival deserves special mention, marking the 75th anniversary of Bohumil Gregor, conductor and artistic director of the Prague State Opera. At the ninth festival in the center of the capital, characters from Verdi's operas strolled. Thus, the management of the State Opera wanted to attract the maximum number of citizens and tourists to the festival.
La Traviata, Troubadour, Nabucco, Aida, Rigoletto, Masquerade Ball, Atilla - these famous operas by Giuseppe Verdi are often performed at the festival. Masquerade Ball, written by the composer to a libretto by Antonio Somme and written by the French playwright Eugene Scribe, was censored for a long time. It tells about the detective story of the assassination of the Swedish king Gustav in the 18th century. Verdi had to redo the opera several times, since the censorship of European theaters did not want to hear anything about entertaining the audience with the "filmed" death of the monarch.
The program of the event varies from year to year, keeping the main traditions. In 2012, the Verdi Festival opened on 19 August with the opera Troubadour, and on the 20th they performed Rigoletto. On August 21 and 24, the guests were shown "La Traviata", on 22 and 28 - "Nabucco". Finally, "Aida" sounded on August 27 and 31, closing the festival.
