This program comprises choral and orchestral music by Martinů and perhaps his finest student, Moravia’s Jan Novák. Set to his own Latin text, Novák’s moving cantata Ignis pro Ioanne Palach commemorates a desperate young activist who immolated himself to protest the end of the Prague Spring. As a former professional violinist, Martinů wrote for the instrument with intimate understanding, and his Second Violin Concerto stands among his mature masterpieces. It was commissioned by the great Mischa Elman, who premiered the work with Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony, before performing it for many years, as did Isaac Stern and Josef Suk. Completing the program are an aria from Martinů’s one-act opera Ariane, a surrealist take on the Theseus myth that was inspired by Maria Callas, and The Epic of Gilgamesh, the composer’s only large-scale oratorio. Scored for narrator, soloists, choir, and orchestra, this takes its text from an English translation of the Mesopotamian saga, and is notable for some of Martinů’s most inspired choral writing.

EPSG:4326

Bard Music Festival — Program 9

Sosnoff Theater

Fresh from battle, Hercules returns home victorious, but Dejanira is consumed by a jealousy that sets off a tragic chain of events. With Handel’s soaring arias, inventive chromaticism, and powerful choruses, this opera reminds us that mistrust can bring even the mightiest to their knees. Thomas Broughton’s libretto draws from Ovid and Sophocles, with the chorus commenting on events as they unfold like a Greek tragedy. Harry Bicket and The English Concert tour the US, in collaboration once again with the scintillating Clarion Choir directed by Steven Fox.

William Guanbo Su

Events

Upcoming events

8 - 15 Mar, 2026

Handel’s Hercules · The English Concert

Past events

Aug 16, 2025

Bard Music Festival — Program 9 · American Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Hercules in Hercules by Handel

The English Concert

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