Capella Regia Praha

Capella Regia Praha was founded by Robert Hugo in 1992 as Capella Regia Musicalis, in reference to a famous 1693 collection of Czech sacred music by Karel Václav Holan Rovenský. The ensemble has since become one of the best known old music ensembles in this country. Its repertoire consists mostly of Czech and Central European music of the 17th and 18th centuries (Michna, Biber, Černohorský and Mazak, to mention only a few), with a special focus on sacred Baroque drama (oratorios: J. D. Zelenka, G. Carissimi, A. Graghi) and their staging. The basic personnel comprises four or five singers and a basso continuo. Depending on the individual project’s nature and personnel, the ensemble make take on the size of a chamber orchestra with soloists and a choir. Instrumentalists play exclusively historical instruments or their replicas. Capella Regia Praha regularly performs at renowned festivals in this country and abroad (Prague Spring, WDR Festival Herne, La semaine sainte Caen, Brno Festival of Sacred Music, Concentus Moraviae, Krakow 2000, Old Music in Jaroslaw). The most important items in the ensemble’s discography include the bestselling Czech Christmas Mass by Jakub Jan Ryba with Magdalena Kožená, recorded for the Archiv Produktion of Deutsche Grammophon in 1998 (the recording went platinum in 2003), an extensive set of Adam Michna’s works for Studio Matouš (Grammy Classic 1993 award), Popron (1994) and Arta Records (2001), and a premiere recording of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s oratorium, Penitenti al Sepolcro del Redentore on the Panton label (1995).