Meet Adam Viktora and Gabriela Eibenová with Ensemble Inégal | Zelenka: Missa Omnium Sanctorum

Ensemble Inégal was founded in Prague in 2000 by the conductor and organist Adam Viktora together with the soprano Gabriela Eibenová. The core of the ensemble is formed of excellent Czech players and singers, all specialist interpreters of early music. Initial success and superb reviews (Fanfare, Concerto, Early Music Review) procured the ensemble’s first important performances at music festivals, such as the Prague Spring. The year 2005, with the world CD premiere of Jan Dismas Zelenka’s (1679 - 1745) Oratorio Il Serpente di bronzo, determined Ensemble Inégal’s direction towards the work of this Baroque composer. The star of this man of genius has been rising steeply in the 21st century and the history of music is being re-written.
The ensemble accepted numerous invitations to international European music festivals, (Musica Antiqua Brugge, Oude Muziek Utrecht, Lufthansa Festival London, Aschaffenburger Bachtage and Bach Festival Riga) and collaborates regularly with many Czech and foreign media organisations (BBC, EBU, Czech Television, Czech Radio, Deutschlandradio Kultur). From 2007 the ensemble organises its own festival series in Prague: CZECH MUSICAL BAROQUE - DISCOVERIES AND SURPRISES at which Czech Baroque compositions are newly premiered, with a special focus on the work of Jan Dismas Zelenka. Two new festival series were added from 2012: MUSIC VISIONS, presenting early and modern music in unusual contexts, and ENSEMBLE INÉGAL FOR CHILDREN: puppet shows with Baroque music and entertaining educational features. Ensemble Inégal aims and succeeds to collaborate with many excellent musicians: Terry Wey, Peter Kooij, Roberta Mameli, Carlos Mena, Hannes Rux, Florian Deuter, Jonathan Pešek, Jean Tubery, Lisandro Abadie, Kai Wessel, Cyril Auvity, and Makoto Sakurada.
Adam Victora:
The organist and conductor Adam Viktora has performed at the music festivals throughout Europe, lectured and given concerts at international organ congresses, advised on expert commissions in the restoration of important historical organs and recorded for European radio and television stations. He pays great interest to historical organs and activities seeking to save and promote them. He is the founder and artistic director of the unique project Czech Organ Festival. He teaches organ at the Conservatory in Pilsen and music theory at the Conservatory in Prague. He is the artistic director of the Ensemble Inégal and the Prague Baroque Soloists, with whom he has performed countless concerts and recording premieres of the European Baroque repertoire and with whom he has also become the most prominent representative of the process of rediscovering the work of Czech Baroque genius Jan Dismas Zelenka.
Gabriela Eibenova:
Accomplished soprano Gabriela Eibenova graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1993 and studied with Prof. Julie Kennard at the Royal Academy of Music in London. She took masterclasses in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Great Britain, Germany and Sweden. Gabriela Eibenova has drawn attention to herself by her solo performances at musical festivals held both in the Czech Republic and in other European countries. Her special attraction to early music has led to numerous interesting musical engagements (for example with S. Standage, S. Stubbs, E. Tubb, E. Kirkby, I. Partridge, R. Holton, E.L. Banzo, M. Zanetti and others). She has given concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and with Südwest Baden-Baden Orchestra. Gabriela has made many radio and television recordings and her discography now amounts to almost 20 CDs. With the Ensemble Inégal, she has recorded works by Jan Dismas Zelenka, such as Missa Omnium Sanctorum (ZVW 21), with the Ensemble Inégal and the Prague Baroque Soloists, conducted by Adam Viktora.
The organist and conductor Adam Viktora is her husband.
Translation from Czech:
● Jana Garnsworthy, DipTrans MCILare
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