Czeching In

See my review of the latest concert from the Mutual Inspirations Festival in today's Washington Post:

Charles T. Downey, Czech Embassy celebrates 170th anniversary of Dvořák’s birth
Washington Post, September 17, 2011

Dvořák, Moravian Duets, op. 32, Prague Chamber Choir

Czech composer Antonín Dvořák famously spent several years in the United States during the 1890s. The Embassy of the Czech Republic celebrates the connection — and what would be the composer’s 170th birthday — with a Mutual Inspirations Festival. The festival continued Thursday with a performance by members of Washington Musica Viva.

The Dvořák on the program was the “Moravian Duets,” op. 32. In these charming, simple pieces, Dvořák used the words of folk songs, mostly substituting his melodies and harmonies for the original music. They were instantly popular, and they have the same spring-meadow freshness today. Soprano Elizabeth Kluegel and mezzo-soprano Karyn Friedman had an admirable blend of vocal tone color, important because the parts are often joined in pleasing harmonies. [Continue reading]

SEE ALSO:
Anne Midgette, Dvořák’s music to be celebrated in two-month festival (Washington Post, September 2)