Opening Ceremony of the BMF 1972

Saturday, October 7, 1972 at 10:30 · Hall of Mirrors of the Primate’s Palace · BHS – Special Concerts · Bratislava Music Festival 1972

Slovak Chamber Orchestra

Bohdan Warchal artistic leader

Composers: Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759), Dezider Kardoš (1914–1991)

The opening programme according to the central bulletin: festival fanfares, an address by the chairman of the festival committee Prof. Dr. Juraj Haluzický, an opening speech by the Minister of Culture of the Slovak Socialist Republic Miroslav Válek, the presentation of the annual prizes of the Union of Slovak Composers, and a chamber concert by the Slovak Chamber Orchestra. Note: the bulletin states that no tickets were sold for the opening. The festival year carried three events at once: the 8th International Festival, the 3rd Interpodium '72 and the 2nd International Tribune of Young Performers (French TIJI '72 on the cover, MTMI in the daily grid), organised in cooperation with UNESCO. The main organiser was Slovkoncert, its director Ľubomír Čížek; the chairman of the programme committee was Dr. Ladislav Mokrý, of the publicity committee Dr. František Bartošek. Note on the order of works: the bulletin gives Handel's Concerto grosso first and Kardoš's Partita second; Viskup's catalogue of the Slovak Philharmonic concert seasons has them the other way round (Kardoš, then Handel). No third source exists — Hudobný život 18/1972 does not list the opening at all, as no tickets were sold for it. The order recorded here follows the bulletin.

Georg Friedrich Händel (1685–1759)

Concerto Grosso in B minor, Op. 6 No. 12

Dezider Kardoš (1914–1991)

Partita for Twelve String Instruments, Op. 43 World Premiere

The festival bulletin and Viskup’s catalogue of the Slovak Philharmonic’s concert seasons both call this a premiere; the review in Večerník of 9 October 1972 speaks of a “pre-premiere”. The discrepancy cannot be resolved: Viskup knows the term pre-premiere and uses it elsewhere, so at Kardoš he meant a premiere, while the reviewer may have known of an earlier performance. The work is recorded as a premiere, following the bulletin.

Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti otvorené : Významný hudobný festival. In: Ľud. 1972, vol. 25, no. 239. [in Slovak]

Festival hudobnej kultúry : Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti otvorené • Ceny za významné hudobné diela. In: Ľud. 1972, vol. 25, no. 237. [in Slovak]

Festival v Zrkadlovej sieni. In: Práca. 1972, vol. 27, no. 238. [in Slovak]

Hudbou zaznieva hlavné mesto. In: Pravda. 1972, vol. 53, no. 238. [in Slovak]

(jh) – (zm). Prvé vavríny : Otvorili Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti. In: Práca. 1972, vol. 27, no. 239, p. 6. [in Slovak]

KOVÁŘOVÁ, Dagmar. Komorné koncerty : BHS v polceste. In: Práca. 1972, vol. 27, no. 242, p. 6. [in Slovak]

NOVÁČEK, Zdenko. Na úvod komorné koncerty : Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti centrom pozornosti. In: Pravda. 1972, vol. 53, no. 239. [in Slovak]

[Rozhlas a televízia — program na 7. a 8. októbra]. In: Práca. 1972, vol. 27, no. 237, p. 10. [in Slovak]

Za významná díla. In: Hudební rozhledy. 1972, vol. 25, no. 12, p. 555. [in Czech]

Začaly Bratislavské hudební slavnosti : Příspěvek k 50. výročí SSSR • Ceny za hudební díla. In: Rudé právo. 1972, vol. 53, no. 238. [in Czech]

(žk). Skutočne festivalová ouvertúra : Začali sa Bratislavské hudobné slávnosti 1972 • Vynikajúca úroveň prvých koncertov • Ovácie sovietskemu skladateľovi a dirigentovi Aramovi Chačaturjanovi. In: Večerník. 1972, vol. 17, no. 199. [in Slovak]

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This concert was recorded for you by StreamBoyz of the Slovak Philharmonic

Record last updated: Sep 5, 2026