PROGRAM OF THE 11TH EDITION, OCTOBER 16–20, 2025
This year’s edition of the Zelenka Festival Prague–Dresden will take place from October 16 to 20, 2025, in Prague and Dresden.
The festival will open on the anniversary of Zelenka’s baptism on October 16 with a lecture by the festival’s founder and organizer, conductor Adam Viktora, entitled Jan Dismas Zelenka – Famous, Unknown. The opening concert on Friday, October 17, will feature a complete performance of Zelenka’s fourth psalm cycle, Psalmi Varii, by Ensemble Inégal and Dresdner Kammerchor. The same program will be performed a day later, on Saturday, October 18, at the Dreikönigskirche in Dresden. On Sunday, the magnificent organ of the Břevnov Monastery will resound with improvisations on Zelenka’s themes performed by one of today’s most important improvisers, German organist Martin Sturm. The closing concert will feature Zelenka’s legendary trio sonatas performed by the excellent French ensemble Ensemble Sarbacanes.
The festival will also include the traditional Tridentine Mass accompanied by Renaissance music from Zelenka’s circle, dedicated to Jan Dismas Zelenka. Every year, we honor the memory of Jan Dismas Zelenka in this way at the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great in Prague’s Karlov district.
Thu 16/10/2025 – 7 p.m.
Convent of the Order of the Knights of Malta, Lázeňská 4, Praha – Malá Strana
JAN DISMAS ZELENKA – FAMOUS, UNKNOWN
Lecture on the occasion of the festival opening and on the day of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s baptism anniversary
Adam Viktora – lecturer
The recent discovery of Zelenka’s previously unknown music is a sensation for all lovers of Baroque music. Adam Viktora, organist, conductor, and founder of the Zelenka Festival Prague – Dresden, has played an irreplaceable role in the rediscovery of Zelenka’s legacy. In his lecture Jan Dismas Zelenka – Famous, Unknown, Adam Viktora will guide us through the life and work of this native of Louňovice pod Blaníkem and present this „knight of Blaník“ from the perspective of the discoverer of a treasure of inestimable value. The lecture will be in Czech.
Free admission – register here
Fri 17/10/2025 – 7.30 p.m.
Church of Our Lady under the Chain, Prague – Lesser Town
J. D. ZELENKA: PSALMI VARII
- Dresdner Kammerchor /DE/ and Ensemble Inégal
- Gabriela Eibenová – soprano
- Jaro Kirchgessner – alto
- Tobias Hunger – tenor
- Tomáš Šelc – bass
- Hans Martin Rux-Brachtendorf – trumpet
- Adam Viktora – conductor
This program will conclude a four-year project involving the complete performance of all of Zelenka’s psalms, organized by the composer into four cycles. In this joint performance, Ensemble Inégal and Dresdner Kammerchor under the direction of Adam Viktora will present Zelenka’s last vesper cycle Psalmi Varii Separatim Scripti. The composition of this and the other three cycles is connected with Zelenka’s increasing importance and prestige at his workplace, the royal orchestra in Dresden. From the second half of the 1720s, Zelenka also worked there as a bandmaster and began to build up an extensive repertoire of his own works as well as those of his contemporaries.
Sat 18/10/2025 – 5.00 p.m.
Dreikönigskirche, Dresden
J. D. ZELENKA: PSALMI VARII
- Dresdner Kammerchor /DE/ and Ensemble Inégal
- Gabriela Eibenová – soprano
- Jaro Kirchgessner – alto
- Tobias Hunger – tenor
- Tomáš Šelc – bass
- Hans Martin Rux-Brachtendorf – trumpet
- Adam Viktora – conductor
This program will conclude a four-year project involving the complete performance of all of Zelenka’s psalms, organized by the composer into four cycles. In this joint performance, Ensemble Inégal and Dresdner Kammerchor under the direction of Adam Viktora will present Zelenka’s last vesper cycle Psalmi Varii Separatim Scripti. The composition of this and the other three cycles is connected with Zelenka’s increasing importance and prestige at his workplace, the royal orchestra in Dresden. From the second half of the 1720s, Zelenka also worked there as a bandmaster and began to build up an extensive repertoire of his own works as well as those of his contemporaries.
Sun 19/10/2025 – 11.00 a.m.
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Charles the Great, Prague – Karlov
TRADITIONAL MASS FROM THE 19TH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Latin Mass in the Tridentine rite accompanied by Renaissance music from Zelenka’s circle of interest
- Societas literatorum /CZ/
Latin Mass in the Tridentine rite from the 19th Sunday after Pentecost offered for Jan Dismas Zelenka. Each year, in this way, at the Church of the Assumption and St. Charles the Great in Prague’s Charles Square, we honour the memory of Jan Dismas Zelenka as a devout man to whom we owe much of the beauty that surrounds us.
Sun 19/10/2025 – 4.00 p.m.
Basilica of St. Margaret, Břevnov
JAN DISMAS ZELENKA: FONS INSPIRATIONIS
- Martin Sturm /DE/ – organ
Themes, motifs, harmonic progressions, contrapuntal constructions, rhythmical structures, contrasts, forms, stile antico, and Neapolitan operatic charm in Zelenka’s supremely original work serve as a source of inspiration in the improvisations of German organ virtuoso and phenomenal improviser Martin Sturm.
Mon 20/10/2025 – 7.30 p.m.
Knights‘ Hall of the Grand Priory Palace, Malá Strana
JAN DISMAS ZELENKA – TRIO SONATAS
- Ensemble Sarbacanes /FR/
Jan Dismas Zelenka’s trio sonatas were first published between 1955 and 1965 and became a legendary impetus for the rediscovery of Zelenka’s music. These exceptionally impressive and interpretatively demanding works captivated musicians, musicologists, and listeners with their beauty and originality. As part of the festival program, they will be performed by the outstanding French wind ensemble specializing in 18th-century music, Ensemble Sarbacanes.
SUBSCRIPTION TICKET FOR THE WHOLE FESTIVAL
With every full-price festival pass, subscribers also receive admission to the concert on October 18 in Dresden and the latest CD by Ensemble Inégal – Missa Circumcisionis & Litaniae de Venerabili Sacramento.
The festival is organized by Ensemble Inégal with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture, the City of Prague and the Czech-German Future Fund. General partner Urban Developers and Investors Ltd. Group
