Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Czech Philharmonic
November 22–23, 2024
Karlovy Vary
Every fall, Variations brings film and music, those two kindred fields of art, to Karlovy Vary. For two days, two leading cultural institutions, the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, join forces to present a unique cultural program and bring life to the town of Karlovy Vary. At the event’s fourth edition, audiences will enjoy exclusive screenings of distinctive films from the current season, plus outstanding performances of music by well-known composers.
The full program will be announced in October 2024.
Program
Mozart, Reinecke at the Municipal Savings Bank
Ondřej Vrabec conducts an octet consisting of members of the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. The chamber ensemble will perform works by W. A. Mozart and Carl Reinecke. Admission is free for the public.
Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven at the Imperial Baths
This selection of pieces by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven can without exaggeration be called a celebration of classicism. Tomáš Netopil directs the Czech Philharmonic, with special appearances by soprano Kateřina Kněžíková and tenor Petr Nekoranec.
Coup de Chance
To what extent do we determine our own luck, and to what extent are we just passive recipients of grace from the goddess Fortuna? In his fiftieth feature-length film, living legend Woody Allen asks just this question. Forget about Manhattan, this time around Allen filmed in Paris with a French cast.
France / USA, 2023, 93 min
Beethoven at the Thermal Spring Colonnade
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, op. 61, performed by a chamber orchestra composed of members of the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra conducted by Josef Špaček. Špaček also appears as a soloist. Admission is free for the public.
The Zone of Interest
The Zone of Interest, which more than a few people have called the absolute cinematic pinnacle of the year and a film that will undoubtedly be nominated for at least one Oscar, offers an intense look into the family life of Rudolf Höss, commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp.
United Kingdom / Poland / USA, 2023, 105 min
Concert by the ČaroTaJ ensemble
ČaroTaJ presents folk songs from the Moravian-Slovakian border in arrangements that honor the natural charm of folk music. The concert features singers Taťána Roskovcová and Jitka Novotná, bass clarinetist Petr Valášek, and cellist Jan Keller. Ondřej Roskovec plays bassoon and piano. Admission is free for the public.
Coup de Chance
To what extent do we determine our own luck, and to what extent are we just passive recipients of grace from the goddess Fortuna? In his fiftieth feature-length film, living legend Woody Allen asks just this question. Forget about Manhattan, this time around Allen filmed in Paris with a French cast.
France / USA, 2023, 93 min
About the event
Every fall, Variations brings film and music, those two kindred fields of art, to Karlovy Vary. For two days, two leading cultural institutions, the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, join forces to present a unique cultural pro-gram and bring life to the town of Karlovy Vary.
Program
Variations 2024 is the only event in the Czech Republic where you can hear the program that the Czech Philharmonic has put together for its performances at New York’s Carnegie Hall.
As in past years, Variations 2024 will treat audiences to exclusive sneak previews of the best new works of international cinema.
The musical program of the fourth edition of Variations will honor the Year of Czech Music and the two hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bedřich Smetana. On Friday and Saturday, 22 and 23 November, the Hotel Thermal’s iconic Grand Hall will be transformed into a concert hall so that the Czech Philharmonic may present the work of the three most famous Czech composers. The first concert will commemorate the Smetana bicentennial with a performance of Má vlast (My Country), a composition fundamentally associated with the history of the first Czech orchestra. The following day, audiences will be treated to Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Concerto and Leoš Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. Both concerts are conducted by the Czech Philharmonic’s chief conductor Semyon Bychkov.
This will be the only Czech presentation of these two phenomenal concert programs, which the Czech Philharmonic will perform just a few days later during its stint at New York’s illustrious Carnegie Hall.
The complete program of Variations will be made public in October 2024.
Tickets
Tickets go on sale on October 2024.
Newsletter
Zajímají vás Variace? Zůstaňte s námi v kontaktu a nenechte si ujít žádné novinky.
Dear friends,
Three years ago, we decided to create a new cultural event in Karlovy Vary that would naturally combine two fields of art – music and film.
And so, two long-standing fixtures on the Czech cultural scene – the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival and the Czech Philharmonic – joined forces to give rise to Variations, which offers special film screenings and concerts by Czech and international composers.
As in the past, this year’s edition offers a unique combination of film screenings and concerts performed by the country’s leading orchestra. We are glad to report that during this year’s Variations we will be able to welcome visitors to the newly renovated Imperial Baths, one of the city’s iconic venues.
I am sure that Variations 2023 will once again be a true cultural event – for residents of Karlovy Vary and the surrounding region as well as for visitors.
Jiří Bartoška
President, Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
Dear audiences,
I am overjoyed that we can meet again, for the third time, amidst the unique setting of Karlovy Vary on the occasion of the Variations festival. This collaborative effort by the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has two extraordinarily successful years behind it, and I am convinced that this year, too, we will succeed in combining music and film to delight fans of both genres.
For this year’s edition, the Czech Philharmonic has put together a series of concerts that will not only present the orchestra as a whole but also offer audiences the chance to get to know its musicians as members of various smaller ensembles. What is more, for Friday’s concert at the Municipal Savings Bank and Saturday’s performance at the Thermal Springs Colonnade, the members of the philharmonic will perform alongside musicians from the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. Top violinist and artistic partner of the Czech Philharmonic Josef Špaček will perform Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and will also appear with a wind octet led by Ondřej Vrabec, who is also the solo horn player of the Czech Philharmonic and the chief conductor of the Karlovy Vary Symphony Orchestra. At the Imperial Baths, you can also hear folk music by the ČaroTaJ ensemble. But the main attraction will be the two concerts at the Municipal Theatre, where conductor Tomáš Netopil presents Beethoven’s Fate Symphony and a selection of arias from the operas of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart featuring soprano Kateřina Kněžíková and tenor Petr Nekoranec, who are not just talented singers but literally live and breathe Mozart.
David Mareček
General director, Czech Philharmonic
Videos
Variations 2023 – spot
2023 / 1 min / Czech
Variace 2022 – spot
2022 / 1 min. / česky
Variace 2021
2021 / 2 min. / česky
Tomáš Netopil o filmové hudbě
2023 / 1 min. / Czech
Tomáš Netopil zve na Variace 2023
2023 / 1 min. / Czech
Petr Nekoranec o filmové hudbě
2023 / 1 min. / Czech
Petr Nekoranec zve na Variace 2023
2023 / 1 min. / Czech
More videos can be found at KVIFF.TV.