The seventh year of the PKF — LOBKOWICZ Donor Series will sparkle with a virtuosity and will present the greatest talents from the contemporary world music scene again. We are inviting you to the intimate and special ambience of the Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle which enables the PKF — Prague Philharmonia to share its artistic enthusiasm and vision with those who are fascinated by the never-ending stories of the art. In 2023 you will be able to enjoy four evenings in an unrepeatable atmosphere, surrounded by the unique Lobkowicz collections, during which we will recount some fascinating stories about the search for beauty and harmony in the art and in the whole society. We will lead you straight to the heart of the PKF — Prague Philharmonia orchestra. 

Performers:
Matthew Newlin — tenor
Michal Sedláček — artistic leader

Program

Georg Friedrich Händel
Oratorio Samson Overture HWV 57

Georg Friedrich Händel
Aria Where’er you walk from Oratorio Semele HWV 58

Georg Friedrich Händel
Menuet from opera Samson HWV 57

Georg Friedrich Händel
Total Eclipse, aria from opera Samson HWV 57

Lukáš Sommer
world premiere of a new composition

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Va, dal furor portata, concert aria KV 21

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Si mostra la sorte, concert aria KV 209

Niccolò Paganini (arr. Michal Sedláček)
The Carnival of Venice

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Per pietà, non ricercate, concert aria KV 420

Evening Programme:
18.00    Welcome drink and tour of the exhibition 
18.30    Stories from the Arts — How Mozart adapted Händel, Petr Slouka, Musicologist and Curator of the Lobkowicz Music Archive
19.00    Concert by the PKF – Prague Philharmonia and soloists in the Imperial Hall 
19.15    Meeting the artists with refreshments provided by the head chef of the Lobkowicz Palace 

The vocal-instrumental genre was one of the domains of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. He wrote over two dozen operas, from which some of the most famous arias originate. Another interesting component of his oeuvre are concert arias. The last evening in the 2023 Lobkowicz series offers an insight into the development of Mozart's style: while the youngest aria on the programme Va, dal furor portata he wrote at the age of nine, the aria Per pietà, non ricercate was composed when the composer was 27 years old.

Georg Friedrich Handel is another master of opera featured on the programme. The German composer, who along with Johann Sebastian Bach is considered one of the most important representatives of the musical Baroque, linked most of his career with London and the local opera scene. It was with his focus on opera that Handel complemented Bach. Thanks to his working commitment, he created over 44 operas, mostly on ancient themes; but he also excelled in the oratorio genre.

Two wonderful arias from his oratorios will be performed by tenor Matthew Newlin. In addition, the programme will be enriched with the premiere of a composition by the young Czech composer and guitarist Lukáš Sommer, who has already had the opportunity to present his work in the legendary Carnegie Hall.

Matthew Newlin, a long-time member of the Deutsche Oper Berlin ensemble, has been winning over audiences and the professional public primarily through his sensitive renderings of lyrical operatic roles. Although his domain is mainly Mozart's operas, he has also shined in Verdi's La Traviata and Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin.

He has a close relationship with early music: he appeared in Lully's Atys at the Opéra Royal de Versailles, he sang the music of Georg Friedrich Handel, for example, at the Festival d'Opéra Baroque & Romantique de Beaune. However, he is also close to Czech music — he performed several times in Janáček’s The Diary of One who Disappeared, which he even provided with an English translation.

Among his notable achievements outside the opera stage are collaborations with Michael Tilson Thomas and his San Francisco Symphony.