St. Wencelsas Music Festival

SHF 2026 OPENING CONCERT.

The St. Wenceslas Music Festival 2026 will open with one of Europe’s most distinguished early music ensembles – Collegium 1704 and Collegium Vocale 1704 under the direction of Václav Luks. In the majestic space of the cathedral, a program full of festive brilliance and musical nobility will unfold. Charpentier’s iconic Te Deum, famous for its triumphant overture, will lend the evening the ceremonial splendor of the French Baroque. It will be followed by the brilliant Symphonies pour le Festin Royal by François Francoeur – an elegant orchestral fresco composed for royal court jubilees. The highlight of the evening will be Bach’s Magnificat, a work of extraordinary spiritual power and joy, in which Baroque polyphony merges with expressive vocal mastery. The festival opening will thus offer a magnificent dialogue of three musical cultures united by one idea: a celebration of beauty and hope.

Marc-Antoine Charpentier
Te Deum, H. 146

François Francœur
Symphonies du Festin royal de monseigneur le comte d’Artois

—intermission—

Johann Sebastian Bach
Magnificat in D major, BWV 243.2

Collegium 1704
Collegium Vocale 1704

Tereza Zimková I soprano
Pavla Radostová I soprano
Aneta Petrasová I mezzosoprano
Ondřej Holub I tenor
Tomáš Šelc I bass-baritone

Václav Luks I conductor