A historically informed interpretation of a unique Byzantine Divine Service with theatrical elements performed by the Polish protopsaltis Marcin Abijski in collaboration with the ensemble Ensemble Hilaris.
The program also includes compositions of a significant musical manuscript from Supraśl dating back to the period the 16th-17th centuries.
Archaion Kallos International Festival of Orthodox Music invites you to a beautiful spiritual and musical experience. In its literal sense, the Greek expression “archaion kallos” means “ancient beauty,” but in the vocabulary of the Holy Fathers of the Eastern Christian Church, “archaion kallos” speaks of a certain archetype, an “original beauty;” that is to say, the beauty which man beheld in Paradise and which he experienced after Creation.
The association Philokallia (a word of Greek origin meaning “love of the beautiful”) gave this name to the first and only festival of Orthodox music in Prague because they perceive every act in sacred music, whether of composition or interpretation, as a kind of conscious or unconscious search for this pristine beauty, the Archaion Kallos.
The festival is held under the auspices of:
the Minister of Culture, Lubomír Zaorálek,
the Mayor of Prague 2, Jana Černochová,
the Ambassador of the Hellenic Republic H.E. Mr. Athanassios Paressoglou,
the Ambassador of the Republic of Cyprus, H. E. Mr. Antonios Theocharous
and with the blessings of
His Eminence Michal, Archbishop of Prague and the Czech Lands.
We look forward to seeing you and trust that this year’s festival will take us all a step closer to Archaion Kallos.