The Czech Chamber Soloist – as first ensemble from Brno conquered South America
On 21st September twelve members of The Czech Chamber Soloists under the leadership of Ivan Matyáš returned home from a successful three week tour of South America. The ensemble performed in sold-out concert halls in three South American countries, in many cases the capacity of the venues was more than 1200 seats.
In Lima, Peru the orchestra celebrated, together with the keen concert goers, the 100th anniversary of Sociedad Filarmonica, the oldest South American promoter of classical music. The tour then continued through the area of equatorial Brasilia where the ensemble performed in the cathedral of the city Olinda on the occasion of the International festival MIMO. Then south along the coast of Atlantic Ocean towards to the city of San Paulo with it's population of fifteen million before stopping in Rio de Janeiro for a concert at the Cecília Meireles Hall, blessing the monument of Christ on Corcovado. In the other Brazilian Cities of Vitoria and Ribeirão Preto audiences also waited impatiently for another excellent artistic experience.
The last South American country on this tour was Argentina, where the enthusiastic concert goers welcomed the Czech chamber soloist in monumental theatres in the wonderful Spanish influenced cities, Rosario, Cordoba and Tucumán.
The program was varied and was designed to present Czech music. The Sextet for strings by Bohuslav Martinů and Janáčkek‘s Idyla received huge public acclaim. Britten‘s Simple Symphony was also successful thanks to the high artistic value given to it by the ensemble.
The oboe voluntaries by J.S.Bach a G.Ph. Telemann were superbly performed by a young, very talented soloist Vilém Veverka, winner of the 2003 international competition in Tokyo.
The tour was demanding both artistically and technically (they had to take 19 flights) but the effort was rewarded by enthusiastic audiences which spontaneously reacted to any emotional musical moment with a long-lasting storm of applause and in many cases with a standing ovation as well. Not surprisingly the promoter would like to co-operate again next season.