It’s a warm May evening in Prague. People dressed in black tie flock to the Smetana Hall, a beautiful Art Nouveau building in the centre of the city. The 1,200-seat auditorium is full. The TV cameras are rolling, the radio mics are broadcasting, and eager concertgoers are snapping selfies. A brass fanfare heralds the arrival of Czech president Petr Pavel and, after the orchestra plays the national anthem, the concert begins. Eighty minutes or so later, after a fluid and vivid performance of Smetana’s Má Vlast, the last note falls silent. The hall fills with applause. Everyone, including the president, gets to their feet. It’s clear that this first concert of the 2023 Prague Spring Festival – arguably the most prestigious date in the Czech Republic’s classical music calendar – has been a success.
And who was playing? None other than the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera (WNO). It was a milestone moment for this ensemble, not only because, like all opera orchestras, it’s probably more oftenthe first time an opera orchestra has ever opened the event, with WNO’s band joining a line-up of the world’s finest symphony orchestras. Next year, the honour goes to the Berlin Philharmonic and its conductor Kirill Petrenko.
