A Meeting of culture, music and history, finalized, from which arose the wish to replicate the experience again in the coming year
Two days dedicated to Friendship between Italy and the Czech Republic were held in Prague in mid-September. The event was part of the Year of Czech Music, coinciding with the 140th anniversary of the founding of St. Ludmila Parish.
This year, the event was in its second year, thanks to the artistic collaboration between the InArte Academy of Forlì and the city of Prague. The opening ceremony was held Sept. 12 at the Vyšehrad Monumental Cemetery, where tribute was paid to Czech composers Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák. During the event, young Czech talents Josef Jáchym Macek and Ondřej Petrášek performed Dvořák’s Biblical Songs, while the Italian ensemble “I Fiati Gloriosi” from Bologna enriched the ceremony with fanfares from Smetana’s opera Libuše. A moment of prayer was also observed in the presence of Msgr. Jakub Berka, pastor of St. Ludmila Basilica, and Apostolic Nuncio Jude Thaddeus Okolo.
In the afternoon, the same Apostolic Nuncio celebrated a solemn mass at St. Ludmila’s Basilica in Náměstí Míru. The service was accompanied by Baroque melodies performed by “I Fiati Gloriosi” with period instruments. Afterwards, the ensemble gave a concert entitled Musical Splendors in the Courts of Baroque Europe.
The highlight of the event was the Friendship Concert, which took place on Friday, September 13, in the large Charles IV Hall of Prague’s New Town Hall. The program opened with greetings from local authorities and the director regent of the Italian Cultural Institute, Vito De Bellis.
In front of a large audience, young Italian and Czech artists performed: the Italian youth jazz band “The Outimes Orchestra” from Forlì, the Prague youth folklore group, the Italian trumpeters “I Fiati Gloriosi,” the Clariphonia Quartet from the Ilja Hurník School of Music, opera singing soloists Josef Jáchym Macek and Ondřej Petrášek, conducted by prof. J. Mrázek of the Prague City Gymnasium and School of Music, and accordion master Martin Šulc.
A key aspect of the event was the logistical support provided by the families of the young InArte musicians, who accompanied the children to Prague with great commitment and cooperation.
At the end of the performance, the authorities present expressed their desire to replicate the experience in 2025, both in Romagna in June and again in Prague in September, as recalled by Milena Mackova, who oversaw the organization in Prague.