• Estates Theatre orchestra: participating orchestra
• NESVADBA, Josef: director of ensemble

Early news of this event appeared in Prager Morgenpost 21/1/1859, in an announcement noting that ‘The Academic Readers Society will also in this year’s Lenten period give a concert for [the benefit of] its own funds. The programme promises to be very interesting in that this time it will contain compositions by native Composers.’ A month later, Dalibor 20/2/1859 also opined that this concert would constitute one of the most interesting concerts of the 1858-1859 season, reporting that the programme would contain a number of works that had either not previously been given in Prague or were receiving their very first performance. The latter included Jan Ludevít Procházka’s Alfred Symphony.

The works and participants noted in the unsigned review published in Dalibor 20/3/1859 (pp.70-71), and continuing in the following issue of the periodical on 1/4/1859 differed in certain details from the original Dalibor 20/2/1859 announcement. Those works and participants mentioned by the February text that subsequently did not appear in any later published report, and therefore seem not to have been performed in this concert, comprise:

  M.I. Glinka: Overture to opera A Life for the Tsar ‘[to be performed in Prague] for the first time’
2 unspecified Czech songs to be given by Miss Emilie Miková [in the event her place was taken by Miss Albertína Ferlesová]
unspecified Czech national songs to be given by Jan Ludevít Lukes [no mention of Lukes appeared in later periodical reports]

Concerning the programme that was ultimately given, the violin solo was played by František Bauš and evidently not by ‘Slahský’ [Slanský] as stated by the initial Dalibor report. The chorus by Hynek Palla was premièred in this concert as a result of winning a competition held by the editor of Dalibor, E. Meliš, for the best choral setting of Vítězslav Hálek’s verse Náš zpěv [Our song]. The results of this competition were reported by Dalibor 20/1/1859 and Prager Morgenpost 20/1/1859, with the latter report noting that Palla’s work would be sung at a forthcoming concert of the Academic Readers Society, although no further details of this event were related. The second prize of the competition was awarded to Vilém Blodek and ‘Accesit’ [Commended] to Václav Zavrtal.

The review commencing in Dalibor 20/3/1859 included specific commentary about the overture by J.J. Abert, and a description of Procházka’s Alfred Symphony. Both were being performed in Prague for the first time. In Alfred Procházka was said to have ‘proved himself to be a talented composer.’ Such measured praise was, however, offset by critical comment. For instance, criticism was levelled at Procházka’s orchestration, particularly in his heavy use of brass instruments. Of the basic musical substance of the work, Dalibor noted that ‘Both main motives are charming and elegant... we have to say that one reminds us of Beethoven’s Fidelio, but certainly this is in no way detrimental to the composition. These motives are worked by turns very skilfully and with diversity; thorough elaboration of them is not wanting. In our opinion, through [too] many repetitions of both main ideas this Symphony becomes long winded and does not leave a unified impression. Yet having said this we must point out that this seminal work reveals great buoyancy of intellect, poetic ideas and deep feeling, which assures us that upon [gaining a] mastery of form this talented composer... will have still more success at hand.’

The programme record is reproduced in order corresponding with the Dalibor 1/4/1859 review, which also noted that actively participating in the concert were J.L. Procházka, Karel Slavík, and Hynek Palla. The two sonata movements by Wehle were being given their public première. The orchestra ‘performed the instrumental compositions very precisely and well’ under the direction of Josef Nesvadba, then the second Kapellmeister of the Estates Theatre.