Ivo Kahánek › Calendar

Petr Nekoranec – tenor
Arnheidur Eiríksdóttir – mezzo-soprano
Ivo Kahánek – piano
Guests – students of Jan Deyl Conservatory in Prague

All three great artists, Petr Nekoranec, Arnheidur Eiríksdóttir, and Ivo Kahánek, are passionate about lieder repertoire. A rare gem of Czech song literature is the cycle for tenor, alto, three female voices and piano The Diary of the One Who Disappeared about the passionate love of a simple village boy Janíček and the beautiful gypsy Zefka. Leoš Janáček wrote about the composition to his friend and love, Kamila Stösslová, whom he met in 1917 in the Luhačovice Spa: "In the morning I wander around the garden, in the afternoon I regularly think of several motifs for those beautiful verses about that gypsy love. Hopefully it will turn out to be a nice musical romance – and there would be a bit of Luhačovice spirit in it." Hence, it is obvious who he was thinking of when composing! Janíček in love, that's actually Janáček, and the gypsy Zefka, the composer's muse Kamila Stösslová...

Since its premiere on 18^th April 1921 at the Reduta in Brno, The Diary of the One Who Disappeared has become a favorite part of the repertoire of many tenors. Petr Nekoranec also often presents the composition at his concerts and he recorded the cycle on a CD (Radioservis) this year. In the recoding, he stars with the recent winner of the prestigious 2024 International Opera Awards in the Rising Star category, the Icelandic mezzo-soprano Arnheidur Eiríksdóttir, who was also nominated for this year´s Thalia for the role of the Composer in Strauss´ Ariadna auf Naxos at the Estates Theatre. The two leading soloists of the National Theatre Opera will be accompanied by the excellent piano virtuoso Ivo Kahánek.

Since the concert will be held right before the Holidays, we will make sure to have a Christmas surprise ready for you!