Biographien

Radek Šidla  |  Eva Štruplová  |  Vojtěch Spurný

Vojtěch Spurný /Piano/

Born in 1964, Vojtěch Spurný studied the flute and the piano at the Prague Conservatory, and at the Academy of Performing Arts where he studied opera stage direction, conducting and cembalo. At the Utrecht School of the Arts, he also studied cembalo and old music. His professors included Helmut Rilling, Johann Sonnleitner and Kenneth Gilbert.

As assistant stage director and assistant conductor, he also worked with Bohumil Gregor, David Radok (National Theater Prague) and Arnold Östman (Palace Theater Drottningholm).

Schon während seiner Studien dirigierte er verschiedene Symphonieorchester und gleichzeitig widmet er sich Opernregie (Mozarts Figaros Hochzeit, einaktige Opern B. Martinus und Bendas Barbier aus Sivilia im Theater Disk, Gaglianos Dafne auf Baroquefestival in Valtice, Lortzings Opernprobe fürs Tschechische Fernsehen).  

During his studies, he conducted various symphonic orchestras while at the same time focusing on opera stage direction (Mozart‘s The Marriage of Figaro, single-act operas of the Martinu brothers and Benda‘s Barbier from Sivilia in the Disk Theater, Gagliano‘s Dafne at the Baroque festival in Valtice, Lortzing‘sopera rehersal for Czech TV).

As a conductor, he shone during his assistance in conducting Smetana‘s Bartered Bride during the guest performance of the Czech National Theater Company in Bratislava (1993) or during the Czech premiere of Scarlatti‘s Oratorium Agar (with period instruments) at the Old Testament in the Arts festival (1995).

From 1996 to 1997, he accepted an offer from the Göteborg Opera to direct and conduct Rossini‘s Il Viaggio a Reims, that has been proclaimed by critics as one of the best premieres in the past 20 years. In June 1998, he created with director A. Pitinsky an exceptional performance of Purcell‘s Dido and Aeneas at the J.-K.-Tyl Theater in Pilsen (with the ensemble Musica Solutaris). Between 2000-01 he again directed Rossini‘s The Barber of Seville at the Göteborg Opera, that has been justly celebrated. Between 1999 and 2004, Vojtěch Spurný was the permanent conductor of the State Opera Prague. Between 2002 and 2003, he was the artistic director of the opera house and is still a guest conductor there.

Between 2008 and 2009, he worked with the State Opera in Hannover as a speech coach, director and conductor during the rehearsals of Janacek’s From the House of the Dead.

Since 1999, he has been working with the Czech Chamber Orchestra, and since 2003, he has become its main conductor. In 2004, he taught alongside Mrs. Dagmar Pecková (as a piano companion) in the master classes of the Schleswig-Holstein music festival.

For several years now, Mr. Spurný has held a teaching position at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.