The new St. Vitus organ resounded the cathedral for the first time

The Cathedral of St. Vitus, Wenceslas and Adalbert at Prague Castle finally has the majestic organ it has awaited for decades. The Academy of Classical Music, which organises the Dvořák Prague Festival, played a major part in achieving this historical milestone from the very outset.

‍Work on the organ - a true masterpiece built by the renowned Spanish organ-maker Gerhard Grenzing - began in 2017. The instrument weighs over 45 tonnes. The organ intonation and tuning took 900 hours. The tiniest pipe measures a mere 7 millimetres, while the largest is an incredible 10 metres in length.‍

A successful public collection raised funds for the new organ

‍A national public collection organised by the St. Vitus Organ Fund has raised over CZK 154 million to date. “After we received the first donation of CZK 5 million from Karel Komárek’s KKCG group’s Sazka company (currently Allwyn), we held an initial benefit concert at St. Vitus Cathedral. To my great delight, members of the broad public donated an unbelievable CZK 22 million through the text-to-donate campaign during the concert and the subsequent benefit adoption of individual organ pipes. From the very start, I believed that we would be able to raise the funds to build the organ. It has become a nation-wide event. It reminds me of the historic public collection for the National Theatre,” said Robert Kolář, Director of the Academy of Classical Music and a member of the Managing Board of the St. Vitus Organ Fund.

A tribute to the St. Vitus Organ

The new instrument was inaugurated on 15 June to the sound of Dvořák’s Mass in D Major (“The Lužany Mass”). The consecration was followed by the “St. Vitus Organ Octave” concert series, designed for donors to thank them for their support. The first concert evening in the series, entitled “A Tribute to the St. Vitus Organ”, was co-organised by the Academy of Classical Music and the St. Vitus Organ Fund.

Phenomenal Latvian organist Iveta Apkalna was honoured to perform and share the full majestic beauty of the sound of the new organ with the audience. The programme included Bach’s iconic Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, the Romantic Fantasia and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H by Liszt and the famous organ solo from Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass. Dvořák’s Czech Suite, performed by the Brno Philharmonic led by Jiří Rožeň, became a symbolic “thank you” to the thousands of donors who contributed to the effort. The evening closed with the monumental Concerto for Organ, Timpani and Strings by Poulenc.

‍“In my opinion as Artistic Director, with a superb instrument like this, we would be doing ourselves an injustice to not use it to its full potential,” says the Festival Director Jan Simon, adding: “If you’re wondering what our plans are for the 2027 Festival programme, you will have to wait. We’re going to keep you in suspense for now, but you can definitely look forward to innovations.”

The concert partner is KKCG Real Estate.

Photo © Radoslav Vnenčák