Ms Irena Chřibková has enchanted the audience

Organ recitals of excellent programme conception have always constituted a significant part of the Forfest festival. The recital of Ms Irena Chřibková taking place at St. Wenceslas Cathedral in Olomouc on 12th June 2011 was also of that sort. An infrequent programme conception of music by composers from the Slovak Republic, Germany, the USA and the Czech Republic has indicated an unusual concert experience. ...... The composition “Resurrection” by Arnošt Parsch captivated the audience attention. ...... J. M. Michel composed nearly 3-minute preludes of swing rhythm on the themes of Protestant chorales. ..... Ms Chřibková played the preludes´ technically challenging passages with a real mastery. ..... The “Mysterium sacrum” by Jiří Teml is a fine programme composition in the best sense of the word. ...... Ms Chřibková took her chance of showing her versatile mastery – performing the virtuoso part and exploiting practically all colour nuances of the Olomouc organ. ...... The recital has deeply impressed everyone, the interpretation mastery of Ms Chřibková is a permanent feature of her recitals, however we should compliment her extraordinary programme conception!

Organists often express considerable criticism about the organ at the Martinů Hall in Prague, in terms of a rather short reverberation time in comparison with church organ. Thus, slightest imperfections in a smooth slur of individual tones and chords are audible. However, after the second part of the concert performed by Ms. Irena Chřibková, an organist and Ms. Kateřina Jansová, a flautist, I discovered that this organ drawback has also some positive aspects. Ms. Chřibková did not have any of the mentioned technical problems, moreover, her creative and colourful play with stops greatly resound thanks to dry acoustics. Individual layers of music were fully explicit, mainly in polyphonic compositions and in organ pleno in the opening piece – The Toccata and Fugue by Bedřich Antonín Wiedermann and the closing piece – The Passacaglia in C minor by Johann Sebastian Bach. I witnessed only one sound minus in the finest flute stops in the compositions of Josef Klička – Legend in D major and of Jiří Teml – David and Goliath. Their sound colour in church acoustics would be more catching thanks to its defocusing. As I discovered, Ms. Chřibková likes to experiment with her programme conception. That is a positive step forward, compared to an established recital conception, either unified in music style or following a traditional ´excursion´ into centuries of music development. The concert was opened with Wiedermann, a representative of Novák´s line of Czech music of the 1st part of 20th century, followed by a composition by Josef Klička, Wiedermann´s organ teacher. Surprisingly, the piece is rather different in style, of a fantasia character and quite similar to Foerster´s compositional style. A dramatic contrast came with Teml´s David and Goliath accompanied by a flautist Kateřina Jansová. Her convincing intonation and mainly sound colours perfectly expressed a dialog between both instruments in the parts of Invenzione, Corale and Fantasia. Bach´s Passacaglia brought the whole organ display to its right close. The performance was truly remarkable experience.

The sound of organ has not lost its glamour and popularity until today. The sold-out organ concerts give evidence to this fact. The organisers of the Prague Spring are well aware of this tendency and have been inspired to launch the Days of Prague Organ, this time being it already its second year.

The organ recital of Mrs. Irena Chřibková, a distinguished Czech organist, took place at St. James´ Basilica in Prague Old Town. The Basilica is regarded as a historical organ concert hall and the repertoire chosen by Mrs. Chřibková was an engrossing mosaic of frequent pieces of Johann Sebastian Bach and the composers of the 20th century – Miloslav Kabeláč, Jeanne Demessieux, Marcel Dupré and Petr Eben. The programme conception was truly masterly arranged. The concert was started off by two modern pieces – the monumental Fantasia in D minor, which completely fulfilled the huge space of the basilica and prepared the audience for an unusual experience. The gentle chorale introductions shortly calmed the atmosphere, to be followed by a grand Baroque Fugue. Then a quick transfer in the music of the 20th century and a restless awaiting of Jesus arrival. The Faust by Petr Eben concluded the concert. Those who had expected sombre music, were surely surprised by a civil rendering of the composition. The Faust could also perfectly become film music. The story told through Eben music was well comprehensible for all and the audience was astonished by creative music. The combination of a conventional place and contemporary music, playing an ancient instrument and the earnestness and cogency of the topics were all truly novel. Each of these links makes people ponder, and that is good.

Eben´s Labyrinth is the most suggestive swan song which I have heard in the recent years. In my opinion, this composition once again declares that Eben belongs among the most distinguished Czech composers of the last thirty years. However, the qualities of such an exceptional composition might fully excite listeners´ attention, on the assumption that it would be performed by highly experienced and fair-minded artists. Fortunately, Ms. Irena Chřibková, an excellent organist, and Mr. Martin Stropnický, a speaker of suggestive voice and expression, both fully meet the condition. The publishing house Rose released the Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart exactly one year after the death of the composer. Moreover, the organ was recorded at St. James´ Basilica, the place of Petr Eben´s funeral ceremony.