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Class Location

Konzervatórium Bratislava

Concerto*Fest*Europa proudly announces that the Konzervatórium Bratislava will be our musical home again this summer.  Its rich, historical setting provides an ideal environment for our students to become immersed in the traditions of European musical training and culture.

Located near the historic Old Town, the Konzervatórium is one of the most advanced European music schools, boasting student ensembles of near-professional quality, making major concert and artistic contributions to the region, while actively engaged in numerous international projects in radio and television, including special programming with the Slovak Philharmonic, as well as in the contemporary musical scene.

"Conservatory (Bratislava, Tolstoy 11)." Wikipedia, Free encyclopedia . 29 Aug 2016, 17:15 UTC. 24 Feb 2018, 22:52

Historic Old Town of Bratislava

"One of the jewels in the imperial crown"

 

A strategic history

Perched high above the Danube river, the imposing brow of Bratislava Castle built in the 9th century has stood stolid and fortress-like against invading armies from the east.

 

During the Ottoman expansion of the 16th century into central Europe, the castle provided critical protection as a first line of defense for the imperial city of Vienna itself.

Reflecting this importance, Bratislava became the official coronation town for Hungarian Kings, and the castle became the formal seat of the kings of Royal Hungary. In all, eleven kings and eight queens were crowned in Bratislava castle.  

By the mid-18th century, with the Ottoman armies driven from imperial Austrian lands, Empress Maria Theresa summoned her most renowned architects from Vienna to transform the old medieval fortress at Bratislava into a baroque palace fit for a queen.  Soon the entire city experienced an imperial make-over as elegant palaces of the nobility arose to reflect the new tastes for baroque splendor.

A cultural explosion

With the exception of the Renaissance in Italy, the cultural explosion in the arts and especially for music in the Austrian lands of the late 18th century is nothing short of miraculous and quite unrivaled in history. Walking the narrow streets and quaint squares of Old Town Bratislava, one senses everywhere the cultural richness from that time: the presence of Joseph Haydn whose patron built a grand estate modeled on Versailles at nearby Eszterháza; or of Beethoven’s visits to the home of Prinz Keglevich whose daughter Babetta stole his affections and inspired some early piano sonatas and the C major Piano Concerto; of a local lad named Johan Nepomuk Hummel, considered one of the greatest piano virtuosos of his day, whose brilliant piano concerti serve as a bridge from the classical style of Beethoven to that of Chopin; of Liszt who performed his first public recital in Zichy palace where we have our orchestra rehearsals; or of the boyhood home of Bartok; and of a 6 year old Wunderkind named Mozart whose giddy laughter can still be heard echoing across the cobblestones.

 

Imagine yourself walking its streets, feeling its history; sitting in a square enjoying a coffee and pastry while admiring its medieval-renaissance architecture. You savor. Classical music came from this Source. You pick up your score and walk into rehearsal. The orchestra has tuned. You are at the Source.

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