Vivaldi in Prague Hana Blažíková, The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen & Robert Rawson

• Antonio Vivaldi (1678 - 1741): Praga nascente da Libussa e Primislao (Prague, 1734):
• 1 Vivaldi: Praga nascente da Libussa e Primislao (Prague, 1734): Aria. La Cervetta 06:37
• Antonin Reichenauer (ca. 1694 - 1730): Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C. in C Minor:
• 2 Reichenauer: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C. in C Minor: I. Allegro 03:32
• 3 Reichenauer: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C. in C Minor: II. Adagio 02:22
• 4 Reichenauer: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C. in C Minor: III. Allegro 02:52
• Antonio Vivaldi: Il confronto dell'amor coniugale (Prague 1727):
• 5 Vivaldi: Il confronto dell'amor coniugale (Prague 1727): Aria.We are cheerful, and sing 04:15
• Concerto per Morzin, for Bassoon, Strings & B.C. RV 496:
• 6 Vivaldi: Concerto per Morzin, for Bassoon, Strings & B.C. RV 496: I. [Allegro] 03:37
• 7 Vivaldi: Concerto per Morzin, for Bassoon, Strings & B.C. RV 496: II. Largo 04:10
• 8 Vivaldi: Concerto per Morzin, for Bassoon, Strings & B.C. RV 496: III. [Allegro] 03:29
• 9 Vivaldi: Argippo RV 697-B (Prague 1730): Aria. Gelido in ogni vena 09:35
• Antonin Reichenauer: Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon, Strings & B.C. Rk 16:
• 10 Reichenauer: Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon, Strings & B.C. Rk 16: I. Allegro 03:42
• 11 Reichenauer: Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon, Strings & B.C. Rk 16: II. Adagio 03:38
• 12 Reichenauer: Concerto for Oboe, Bassoon, Strings & B.C. Rk 16: III. Allegro 03:16
• Frantisek Antonín Mica (1696 - 1744): The Four Elements (1734):
• 13 Mica: The Four Elements (1734): As the flame rises up 03:10
• Frantisek Jiránek (ca.1698 - 1778): Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C in D Minor:
• 14 Jiránek: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C in D Minor: I. Allegro non molto 06:03
• 15 Jiránek: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C in D Minor: II. Grave 02:26
• 16 Jiránek: Concerto for Violin, Strings & B.C in D Minor: III. Allegro - Presto assai 05:40
• Antonin Reichenauer: Cantata de B.V.M. ad Montem Sanctum "Quae est ista":
• 17 Reichenauer: Cantata de B.V.M. ad Montem Sanctum "Quae est ista" 07:35
• Total Runtime 01:15:59

Info for Vivaldi in Prague

Vivaldi‘s famous ‘Four Seasons’ are dedicated to Count Wenzel von Morzin from Prague. In 1718, he travelled to Venice with his ‘virtuosissimo orchestra’ and hired Vivaldi as ‘maestro di musica italiano’. This marked the beginning of an era of close musical exchange between Venice and Prague. This relationship, which shaped an entire generation of Czech composers, is the focus of the present production ‘Vivaldi in Prague’.

The programme includes concertos by František Jiránek, who was employed in Count Morzin‘s chapel and studied in Vivaldi‘s circle in Venice from 1724 to 1726, and by Antonín Reichenauer, whose musical thinking was strongly influenced by Vivaldi‘s school.

The programme is complemented by a bassoon concerto by Vivaldi dedicated to Count Morzin, an aria from a Vivaldi opera performed in Prague in 1730, and two arias from Vivaldi pasticcios reconstructed by Robert Rawson for this production. These pasticcios were compiled by the Venetian impresario Antonio Denzio from popular Vivaldi operas and presented to Prague audiences with new texts, including some in Czech.

Hana Blazikova, soprano (tracks 1, 9, 13)
Ciara Hendrick, mezzo-soprano (track 5)
Tim Dickinson, bass-bariton (track 17)
The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen
Robert Rawson, conductor

Hana Blažíková
Born in Prague, as a child Hana Blažíková sung in childrens choir Radost Praha and played violin. Later she turned to solo singing. In 2002 she graduated from the Prague Conservatory in the class of Jiří Kotouč and later she undertook further study with Poppy Holden, Peter Kooij, Monika Mauch and Howard Crook.

Today Hana specializes in the interpretation of baroque, rennaisance and medieval music, performing with ensembles and orchestras around the world, including Collegium Vocale Gent, Bach Collegium Japan, Sette Voci, Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, L’Arpeggiata, Gli Angeli Genève, La Fenice, Nederlandse Bachvereniging, Tafelmusik, Collegium 1704, Collegium Marianum, Musica Florea, L’Armonia Sonora among others.

Hana Blažíková has performed at many world festivals, including Edinburgh International festival, Oude Muziek Utrecht, Tage Alter Musik Regensburg, Resonanzen, Festival de Sablé, Festival de la Chaise-Dieu, Arts Festival Hong-Kong, Chopin i jego Europa, Bachfest Leipzig, Concentus Moraviae, Summer Festivities of Early Music, Festival de Saintes.

In 2010 and 2013 she took part in a worldly highly praised tour of St Matthew Passion under the direction of Philippe Herreweghe and in 2011 she made her debut in Carnegie Hall with Masaaki Suzuki´s Bach Collegium Japan. She also sang a soprano part in St John Passion with Boston Symphony Orchestra during the Easter period of 2011. In November 2014 she participated in the stage production “Orfeo chaman” with L’Arpeggiata in Bogota. Hana appears on more than 30 CDs, including the well known series of Bach´s cantatas with Bach Collegium Japan. Hana also plays gothic and romanesque harp and presents concerts in which she accompanies herself on this instrument. She is also a member of Tiburtina Ensemble, which specializes in the Gregorian chant and early medieval polyphony.

Ciara Hendrick
Born in London, Ciara was a keen musician from early childhood, mastering the piano and clarinet before starting to sing. She joined the National Youth Choir of Great Britain and chamber choir, Laudibus, where her passion for music making and singing developed. Ciara went on to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was a finalist in the prestigious Gold Medal Competition, and at the opera studio of L’Opéra National du Rhin.

She has since been in constant demand as a soloist both in the UK and throughout Europe, on the concert platform, the operatic stage and as a recording artist.

Specialising in Early Music, Ciara has enjoyed regular collaborations with I Fagiolini, the Dunedin Consort, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and Solomon’s Knot. Most recently she has been collaborating with the extraordinary violinist Rachel Podger on programmes exploring the music of the Bach dynasty and a programme celebrating female composers for Kings Place, with music by Francesca Caccini and Jacquet de la Guerre.

Ciara was selected as an Emerging Artist by Christian Curnyn’s Early Music Company, with whom she enjoyed collaborations exploring the Medea Myth in music of the French Baroque, with music by Bernier and Rameau, and sang the lead role in Handel’s Susanna. As one of the Rising Stars of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, she sang Ino in Handel’s Semele in the Vienna Musikverein and the Royal Festival Hall and worked with Christophe Rousset, Mark Padmore and Steven Divine. Ciara was also one of Göttingen’s Rising Stars, where she took the role of Daniel in Handel’s Susanna and worked in residence with talented ensemble, Repicco.

Operatic roles include Fortuna & Valetto in Monteverdi’s Coronation of Poppea for Opera North with Laurence Cummings, Messaggera in Monteverdi’s Orfeo in Venice and London with I Fagiolini, Dorinda in Handel’s Il Pastor Fido with La Nuova Musica at the London Handel Festival, Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina for Iford opera, Palmira in Handel’s Ormisda and Rosmilda in Handel’s Elpidia, both for the Opera Settecento at the Halle Handel Festival and Venus in Pepusch’s opera Venus and Adonis.

Since joining the BBC Singers part time in 2017, Ciara has relished the many and varied challenges the group brings, not least Poulenc’s extraordinary Figure Humaine with Sir Simon Rattle at the 2023 BBC Proms and Berio’s Sinfonia under Martyn Brabbins at the Barbican in 2024. As a part time member of the group she is able to combine her love of contemporary and choral works with her passion for music from the Baroque as a soloist and consort singer.

Ciara has performed in all the major European concert halls and further afield, with recent performances including Bach’s Christmas Oratorio at the Barbican with Stephen Layton and the Britten Sinfonia, Bach’s St Matthew Passion for the Boston Early Music Festival with Kristian Bezuidenhout, Bach’s B Minor Mass at the Wigmore Hall with John Butt, Monteverdi’s Vespers at Glyndebourne with I Fagiolini, Tippett’s A Child of our Time at Cadogan Hall, and Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius at Guildford Cathedral.

Equally at home with song repertoire, Ciara has enjoyed collaborations with Sholto Kynoch and Andrew Matthews-Owen. Most memorably Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben, Britten’s Charm of Lullabies and Cabaret Songs for the Oxford Lieder Festival, Schoenberg’s The Book of The Hanging Gardens and music by Zemlinksy and Alma Mahler in collaboration with the National Gallery with Sholto Kynoch and Bernstein’s Arias and Barcarolles at St John’s, Smith Square and Andrew Matthews-Owen.

Recent recordings include A Taste of this Nation, solo cantatas by lesser-known Baroque composer (and violinist in Handel’s orchestra) Pepusch with fantastic ensemble, Spiritato, Pepusch’s Chandos Anthems with Robert Rawson, Venus in Pepusch’s charming opera, Venus and Adonis, Juno in Daniel Purcell’s The Judgement of Paris, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio with the Dunedin Consort, Daniel in Handel’s Susanna with Laurence Cummings from the Göttingen Festival and Monteverdi’s Other Vespers with I Fagiolini.

Highlights this season include Monteverdi’s Vespers with I Fagiolini, Bach’s Magnificat at the Wigmore Hall with Solomon’s Knot, returning to Kings Place with Rachel Podger performing our Bach Dynasty Programme, Leo Duarte’s new edition of Handel’s unfinished opera Titus l’empereur for Opera Settecento at the Halle Handel Festival and Berio’s Sinfonia at the Barbican with Martin Brabbins.

Tim Dickinson
British Bass-Baritone Timothy Dickinson has been noted for his “wonderfully warm, round, powerful tone” (Early Music Today). His work ranges from recitals across the UK to Operatic roles at Glyndebourne, Scottish Opera, Longborough and elsewhere. He has toured internationally with Silent Opera, in their groundbreaking production of ‘Vixen’, and has also been a regular guest at the St Endellion Festivals in Cornwall.

Timothy is also very active as an Oratorio soloist, embracing a broad repertoire including Bach’s Passions; the Requiems of Verdi, Faure and Duruflé, and Haydn’s ‘The Creation’. He has also sung with various ensembles, including The Sixteen, BBC Singers, Ensemble Plus Ultra and La Nuova Musica, with whom he appears on ‘Sacrifices’ (Harmonia Mundi). Additionally, he has enjoyed a deeply rewarding association with the education department of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, performing with young people across the country in several newly-devised shows based around the music of Purcell and Mozart.

In recital, Timothy has formed a partnership with pianist Anyssa Neumann, with whom he has devised a recital of music and readings inspired by Don Quixote, which the pair have performed on numerous occasions throughout the UK. Timothy was the recipient of the 2013 Wessex Glyndebourne Award, and is an Alumnus of the National Opera Studio, London. ​

Timothy has also worked as a voiceover artist for TV and audiobooks, and enjoys an occasional parallel musical life as a singer-songwriter.

Booklet for Vivaldi in Prague