• Piano Institute of Bedřich Šimák: pupil(s) of institute

The preliminary Dalibor 1/4/1859 announcement stated that three musical soirées were to take place at the piano institute of Bedřich Šimák on 3/4, 10/4 and 16/4/1859. These dates were confirmed by the subsequent report published by Dalibor 10/5/1859 (p.111), which also mentioned Šimák’s success as a teacher and noted the strength of the institute in having as instructors besides Šimák himself, also Bruša, Kolář and Šourek. This report included too a selective résumé of music performed during the course of the three soirées, and listed certain pupils who participated over the course these events. However, the specific programmes and performers who took part in each of the individual soirées were not published. Therefore, from this periodical source we may only ascertain limited specific programme details in the case the first soirée, on 3/4/1859, for which the earlier Dalibor 1/4/1859 announcement noted that Miss Julie Šimová, a pupil of Kateřina Podhorská, was to sing the listed Schubert song and the unspecified aria by Meyerbeer. The overall repertoire of the three productions was listed by Dalibor 10/5/1859 as follows:

Overtures, presumably in piano arrangement, including:
[R. Wagner]: Overture to opera Tannhäuser
[D.F.E. Auber]: Overture to opera La muette de Portici [S16]
works for piano ‘by native’ [Czech] composers:
‘L. Dusek’ [J.L. Dussek]: unsp. ‘Duo’
W.H. Veit: unsp. Romance
Alex. Dreyschock: Chant de combat
J.F. Kittl: [Impromptu] Le zéfir [op.18/6]
Ch. Wehle: unsp. Nocturne
V.J. Tomášek: Grand caprice, D min.
Bedřich Šimák: Étude Märchen am Spinnrad, op.12; Mélancholie, op.13; Idyll, op.14

The report published in Dalibor 10/5/1859 also noted that during one unspecified soirée Fr. Šmidt, a graduate of the Prague Conservatory, performed:

H.W. Ernst: Elégie, vl, [pf]
Mořic Mildner: Touha [Le désir], vl, [pf, op.9/2]
C.A. de Bériot: unsp. Fantasie, vl, [pf]
L. van Beethoven: Sonata, vl, pf, F maj. [op.24, Spring]