Musica Florea
Encyclopedia
Musica Florea is Czech
Baroque music
ensemble, founded 1992 by conductor and cellist Marek Štryncl
, located in Prague
.
, vocal-instrumental works both sacred and secular, orchestra
l concertos, and monumental works in the genres of opera
and oratorio
. Playing on original instruments, supported by study of period sources and aesthetics, has become indispensable and at the same time a characteristic trait of the ensemble.
Musica Florea enjoyed soon its first notable success, including a performance and recording of Jan Dismas Zelenka
's Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis
, which received an award from the music magazine Diapason
in 1995. A recording of Johann Sebastian Bach
's arias from cantata
s and oratoria with Czech mezzo-soprano
Magdalena Kožená
received Czech music award Golden Harmony
in 1997. For the time being, the most success of the ensemble was Cannes Classical Award for the recording of Zelenka's melodrama
Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis in 2003. Both Zelenka's works are world premiere recordings.
Musica Florea has given performances in most European countries as well as in Australia; it participates festivals as Resonanzen in Vienna
, the Europalia
festival, the Melbourne Festival, the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg
and others.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
Baroque music
Baroque music
Baroque music describes a style of Western Classical music approximately extending from 1600 to 1760. This era follows the Renaissance and was followed in turn by the Classical era...
ensemble, founded 1992 by conductor and cellist Marek Štryncl
Marek Štryncl
Marek Štryncl is a Czech conductor, violoncellist, choirmaster, and composer, born 1974 in Jablonec nad Nisou. He is founder and leader of Baroque music ensemble Musica Florea.- Biography :...
, located in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
.
Profile
The group of young professionals with a common interest in the study and authentic performance of Baroque music engaged primarily in performances and recordings of Baroque era music, but its repertoire extends from the early Baroque through masterpieces from that era's culminating decades to music in the Classical style. It includes instrumental chamber musicChamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
, vocal-instrumental works both sacred and secular, orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
l concertos, and monumental works in the genres of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
and oratorio
Oratorio
An oratorio is a large musical composition including an orchestra, a choir, and soloists. Like an opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias...
. Playing on original instruments, supported by study of period sources and aesthetics, has become indispensable and at the same time a characteristic trait of the ensemble.
Musica Florea enjoyed soon its first notable success, including a performance and recording of Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka
Jan Dismas Zelenka , baptised Jan Lukáš Zelenka and previously also known as Johann Dismas Zelenka, was the most important Czech Baroque composer, whose music was notably daring with outstanding harmonic invention and mastery of counterpoint.- Life :Zelenka was born in Louňovice pod Blaníkem, a small...
's Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis
Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis
Missa Sanctissimae Trinitatis in A-minor, ZWV 17, is the vocal-instrumental sacred work, written by Czech baroque composer Jan Dismas Zelenka...
, which received an award from the music magazine Diapason
Diapason
Diapason may refer to:* Diapason , a just interval in Pythagorean tuning* Diapason , a tonal grouping of the flue pipes of a pipe organ* Diapason , a French classical music magazine...
in 1995. A recording of Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
's arias from cantata
Cantata
A cantata is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir....
s and oratoria with Czech mezzo-soprano
Mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano is a type of classical female singing voice whose range lies between the soprano and the contralto singing voices, usually extending from the A below middle C to the A two octaves above...
Magdalena Kožená
Magdalena Kožená
Magdalena Kožená is a Czech mezzo-soprano.In 2003, Kožená was awarded the title of Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government...
received Czech music award Golden Harmony
Golden Harmony (Zlatá Harmonie)
Zlatá Harmonie is a Czech music award for the best Czech classical recording of the year....
in 1997. For the time being, the most success of the ensemble was Cannes Classical Award for the recording of Zelenka's melodrama
Melodrama
The term melodrama refers to a dramatic work that exaggerates plot and characters in order to appeal to the emotions. It may also refer to the genre which includes such works, or to language, behavior, or events which resemble them...
Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis in 2003. Both Zelenka's works are world premiere recordings.
Musica Florea has given performances in most European countries as well as in Australia; it participates festivals as Resonanzen in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, the Europalia
Europalia
Europalia is a major international arts festival held every two years to celebrate one invited country’s cultural heritage. Europalia was established in Brussels in 1969, and from the beginning Europalia was designed to be a multidisciplinary cultural festival....
festival, the Melbourne Festival, the Tage Alter Musik in Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...
and others.
Recordings (albums)
- Jan Dismas Zelenka: Missa Santissimae Trinitatis, (1994), Studio Matouš
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Cantatas and Oratoria Arias (1997)
- Jan Dismas Zelenka: Sub olea pacis et palma virtutis, (2001), Supraphon
- VejvanovskýPavel Josef VejvanovskýPavel Josef Vejvanovský Czech composer and trumpeter. Contemporary and associate of Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber.Some notable works by Pavel Josef Vejvanovský:...
: Vesperae Sancti Venceslai, 2002, Supraphon (with Boni Pueri) - Jan Dismas Zelenka / František Ignác Antonín Tůma: Die Responsorien Zum Karfreitag / Sonatas In A Minor & E Minor / Sinfonia In B Major, 2005, Supraphon (with Boni Pueri)
- Tomášek / Voříšek: Missa Solemnis In B / Messa Con Graduale Et Offertorio (2010), Supraphon
- Jan Václav Hugo Voříšek / Antonín RejchaAnton ReichaAnton Reicha was a Czech-born, later naturalized French composer. A contemporary and lifelong friend of Beethoven, Reicha is now best remembered for his substantial early contribution to the wind quintet literature and his role as a teacher – his pupils included Franz Liszt and Hector Berlioz...
: Symphonies, (2010), Arta Records