Portál Pražana
Classical music at the Zoo
From May to September, you will not only hear tigers' roars and parrots' squawks, but also classical music at Prague Zoo. 'Hudební procházky' (Music Walks) will take place every Sunday at 1pm in Gočár's Houses.
Sunday open-air music concerts with Gočár’s Houses in the background have already become a tradition, enriching the experience of walking around the zoo for many visitors. This musical accompaniment is completely free for listeners, who relax on the benches and on the lawn during concerts. Most of the time, the music played is by old masters, including Mozart, Haydn, Brahms. This year, Trio Boema, the Antonín Rejcha quintet, and Musica spirituale, among others, will perform their music for the Zoo’s Music Walks.
Gočár’s Houses were originally at the airport
The concerts will be hosted at Gočár’s Houses. This pair of unique wooden buildings was built as a project by the renowned Czech architect and urbanist, Josef Gočár, the designer of the cubist building The House of the Black Madonna (‘Dům U Černé Matky Boží’). Gočár’s Houses were built between 1920 and 1921 for Kbely Airport: one was to serve as an apartment for the airport manager, the other as a waiting and refreshment room.
In the 1970s, they were relocated to Prague Zoo, near the ‘Rocky Outcrop’ enclosure. In 2002, the houses were damaged by the Prague Flood. After renovations, they found their current home at the top of the zoo. Today, Gočár’s Houses are used for exhibitions and other cultural events in the zoo, such as concerts.
Music and Scorpions
In addition to the concerts, a unique collection of scorpions will be on display in Gočár’s houses for the first two Sundays of the musical series. Visitors can gain a better understanding of these unique creatures thanks to guided tours that also take place every Sunday in Gočár’s houses. The exhibition features nearly 40 species of scorpions including Heterometrus spinifer, the giant forest scorpion.
Concerts in May and June
26/05/19 Grande Duetto Concertante (G. P. Telemann, G. F. Handel)
02/06/19 Musica per tre (E. Schulhof, J. Ibert)
09/06/19 Antonín Rejcha Quintet (W. A. Mozart, J. Haydn)
16/06/19 Hudba Kalich (J. Brahms, R. Strauss)
23/06/19 Musica spirituale (J. Družecký, W. A. Mozart)
30/06/19 Trio Iuventa (W. A. Mozart, D. Milhaud)