10 August 2026, 7:00 PM │ Theresian Hall, Břevnov Monastery

Opening Gala Concert

The ceremonial Opening Gala Concert of the OLYMPUS MUSICUS 2026 International Music Festival will take place in the unique historic setting of the Theresian Hall at Břevnov Monastery.

The festival’s opening evening will offer audiences an exceptional encounter with masterpieces of musical Romanticism, performed by distinguished Czech and international artists.

The programme is dedicated to the works of three major nineteenth-century composers: Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms and Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.

The concert will open with Schumann’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano, followed by Brahms’s Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in G major, known as the “Rain Sonata”. The second half of the evening will begin with Brahms’s Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40, and the concert will reach its festive climax with Mendelssohn’s monumental Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20, one of the crowning achievements of Romantic chamber music.

Among the artists appearing at this year’s Opening Gala Concert will be violist Lyda Chen Argerich, daughter of the legendary pianist Martha Argerich, who will perform in the concluding presentation of Mendelssohn’s Octet.

Program:

Robert Schumann: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in A minor, Op. 105

Evgenia Epshtein, violin (Israel) Donaldas Račys, piano (Lithuania)

Johannes Brahms: Sonata No. 1 for Violin and Piano in G major, Op. 78, “Rain Sonata”

Markéta Fraňková, violin (Czech Republic) Julija Sadaunykaitė, piano (Lithuania)

Interval

Johannes Brahms: Trio in E-flat major, Op. 40

Roman Fedchuk, violin (Czech Republic) Iakov Zats, viola (Italy) Vsevolod Dvorkin, piano (Italy)

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy: Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20

Violins: Roman Fedchuk Evgenia Epshtein Jinhee Joung Markéta Fraňková

Violas: Iakov Zats Lyda Chen Argerich (Switzerland)

Cellos: Denis Severin (Switzerland) Ramutė Kalnėnaitė (Lithuania)

Important Information

Duration: 90 minutes including one intermission

Dress code: casual

Discounts: seniors, students and children up to 15

Seats are not numbered - open seating