Prague Spring 2026 ⬩ Barbara Hannigan & Bertrand Chamayou

A chamber recital by Barbara Hannigan and Bertrand Chamayou in the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum opens the artistic residency of the Canadian soprano and conductor at Prague Spring 2026. The programme opens with Olivier Messiaen's song cycle Chants de terre et de ciel (Songs of Earth and Heaven), written in 1938 to celebrate the birth of the composer's son – a work combining deep religiosity with intense emotionality. Bertrand Chamayou bridges the two vocal cycles with two solo piano works by Alexander Scriabin: Poème-nocturne op. 61 and Vers la flamme op. 72. The evening's highlight is the Czech premiere of John Zorn's Jumalattaret (2012), setting fragments from the Finnish national epic Kalevala – a work long considered unsingable. Hannigan gradually transforms into four pagan Finnish goddesses (Akka, Louhi, Tellervo and Ilmatar), employing an enormous vocal range from dizzying heights to throat singing, whispers and laughter. Barbara Hannigan is a Grammy Award winner, Gramophone Artist of the Year, and recipient of the 2025 Polar Music Prize. Bertrand Chamayou is a five-time winner of the French Victoires de la Musique Classique award. Tickets are available online at festival.cz or at the festival box offices in the Rudolfinum and the Municipal House.