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Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble not afraid of Bobby Mc Ferrin
The Czech Philharmonic begins the 124th season in a few days. However, the orchestra players also play in chamber ensembles. Cimbalom ensemble is one of them. At Sunday's concert in Rudolfinum it played not only folklore, but also a selection of classical music. The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble has been playing for almost twenty years. Its members admit that, with a few exceptions, they are all native to Prague with formal musical training. “It makes us happy. It sets us free. It goes back to the roots of musicianship because classical music stems from songs and melodies. It´s only more complicated and longer”, Zdeněk Zelba, the violinist, explains when asked why the philharmonic players are so interested in in cimbalom music. For example, Johannes Brahms, whose compositions they almost always play at their concerts, was inspired by folklore. The Sunday program also included Dvořák's Humoresque and Vivaldi's Four Seasons complemented by Strauss's Pizzicato polka or Roma songs as well as Moravian folk songs. The ensemble arranges classical compositions according to their needs. "We take the classical music, dismantle it and then play it as folk music," specifies Zelba. "If we played it with the orchestra, it would all be about unity and discipline but we play cimbalom music to enjoy it and to improvise”, he adds when asked about the difference between their cimbalom concept and their performance with the Philharmonic. Daredevils for Bobby McFerrin At the beginning the cimbalom band of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra played only occasionally, just for fun. It started to play more intensely after 2013 when Bobby McFerrin, American jazzman and a cappella singer, chose it for his Prague concert. "His managers challenged the Czech Philharmonic and asked for daredevils who would play and sing with Mc Ferrin on stage not knowing anything in advance because this is his style,” Zelba explains their task then. All the cimbalom musicians are at the same time members of the Czech Philharmonic – paradoxically, except for the cimbalom player. This is because the first Czech orchestra offers only a very few opportunities for this instrument. 26. 8. 2019 Czech Television News https://cimbalom.weebly.com/ |
" ... The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble brings together the joy and passion of the enthusiastic musicians of a folklore bands, with the virtuoso qualities of the professional musicians. In addition to the top quality of the technically extremely demanding compositions, the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble deep understand to folk music and its specific energies, based on the very essence of human being.
Music is able to express emotions better than some text, and anonymous folk song writers have impressed their innermost feelings, beauty, joy, pain and humor. For a musician to convey to the listener this pure essence that causes the heart to vibrate, armor all over his body, and provoke our imagination, but it is not just a musical instrument to master or to be inspired by melodies, harmonies, form or rhythm. This is also a special and unforgettable ability, or rather, a gift that the musicians of the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble have and this make their speech so attractive regardless of the fact that they play Moravian songs in open air or classical music on the concert stage."
Jitka Jadrníčková - concert visitor
Music is able to express emotions better than some text, and anonymous folk song writers have impressed their innermost feelings, beauty, joy, pain and humor. For a musician to convey to the listener this pure essence that causes the heart to vibrate, armor all over his body, and provoke our imagination, but it is not just a musical instrument to master or to be inspired by melodies, harmonies, form or rhythm. This is also a special and unforgettable ability, or rather, a gift that the musicians of the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble have and this make their speech so attractive regardless of the fact that they play Moravian songs in open air or classical music on the concert stage."
Jitka Jadrníčková - concert visitor
ABOUT US
The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble was founded in 2013 by members of the Czech Philharmonic, who love folklore.
After a concert with American singer Bobby Mc Ferrin, a seven-members ensemble began to rehears intensively, working on folklore and other genres.
Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble was faced with enthusiastic reaction at the audience and it inspires members to work further. The composers began to write new music and arrangements of the classical music for the ensemble, so the repertoire began to expand.
In the years 2014-2017 the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble was welcomed in many Czech and Moravian cities - among others Trutnov, Uherské Hradiště, Sušice, Lomnice nad Popelkou and others. Wherever this ensemble perform, listeners are impressed and excited.
Concerts of Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble were also attended by leading Czech conductors - Jiri Belohlavek (in 2013) and Semyon Bychkov (in 2017) who appreciated the quality of the ensemble and supported its further activities.
From 2015, the ensemble records continuously in the prestigious Dvorak Hall in Prague the compositions of classical music in new form, in interesting arrangements. They collect them on a CD which releases in 2018.
The Rudolfinum, the prestigious historical cultural center in the center of Prague, where the ensemble presents most of its programs, remains the permanent home of the ensemble.
After a concert with American singer Bobby Mc Ferrin, a seven-members ensemble began to rehears intensively, working on folklore and other genres.
Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble was faced with enthusiastic reaction at the audience and it inspires members to work further. The composers began to write new music and arrangements of the classical music for the ensemble, so the repertoire began to expand.
In the years 2014-2017 the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble was welcomed in many Czech and Moravian cities - among others Trutnov, Uherské Hradiště, Sušice, Lomnice nad Popelkou and others. Wherever this ensemble perform, listeners are impressed and excited.
Concerts of Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble were also attended by leading Czech conductors - Jiri Belohlavek (in 2013) and Semyon Bychkov (in 2017) who appreciated the quality of the ensemble and supported its further activities.
From 2015, the ensemble records continuously in the prestigious Dvorak Hall in Prague the compositions of classical music in new form, in interesting arrangements. They collect them on a CD which releases in 2018.
The Rudolfinum, the prestigious historical cultural center in the center of Prague, where the ensemble presents most of its programs, remains the permanent home of the ensemble.
CLASSICAL MUSIC Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble explore the works of famous composers of the 19th and 20th century inspired by folk music.
With their arrangements, they try to make the pieces live again and enjoy balancing between classical music and folklore, between notation and improvisation. |
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FOLK MUSICFolk music, as a permanent source of inspiration for professional musicians, takes the leading role of the Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble. Besides Moravian folklore, which is most natural for the ensemble, they play also songs of Slovak, Hungarian, Gypsy and Yiddish. More...folk music |
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RECORDINGS
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The unique acoustic of the Dvořák Hall in the Rudolfinum building with the highly technically equipped studio make possible to create perfect recordings
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CONCERTS Dramaturgy of the concerts makes The Czech Philharmonic Cimbalom Ensemble attractive and fresh. They usually begin to play classical music in the first part of the concert and are heading for folk music at the end of the program.
More about concerts... |
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