Music of the Merciful Brothers

It has been 420 years since the Order of the Merciful Brothers came to Valtice. In addition to sick-caring, they also helped to cultivate the city’s culture and enriched Valtice’s music collection. Therefore, it is this collection that the compositions of George Thomas Hymbre, Stephanus Sailer and Johann Ignaz Mikýsek as well as Tůma and Orschler will be performed by Hipocondria.

Hipocondria Ensemble

Hipocondria Ensemble was founded in 2000. The founding members were young professional instrumentalists who, after several years of work in leading Czech ensembles, decided to create their own chamber ensemble specializing in authentic interpretation of early music. In regards of getting closer to the original text of the interpreted works of the 17th and 18th centuries, the ensemble uses period instruments or their copies and historical tuning systems.

A significant part of the interpretation interest is the performance of vocal-instrumental compositions, with Hipocondria paying special attention to the interpretation of neglected and less performed compositions by Czech masters. The ensemble has had countless concert performances both in the Czech Republic and abroad, including regular appearances in festival productions.

Hipocondria regularly engages in recording activities. A significant achievement was the world premiere CD recording of the church sonatas of F. I. A. Tůma and a selection from Plánický’s work Opella Ecclesiastica. For its recording of the complete works of composer B. M. Černohorský, the ensemble received, among others, highly rated by the prestigious French professional monthly magazine Le Diapasson. Other notable recordings include harpsichord concertos by J. A. Benda and J. A. Štěpán with soloist Edida Keglerová. In 2021, the ensemble recorded a selection of sacred works by Czech composer Šimon Brixi. Today, the Hipocondria Ensemble is a self-confident chamber ensemble that has built a solid place among the renowned early music ensembles in the Czech Republic.

The artistic director of the ensemble is violinist and conductor Jan Hádek, who studied at the Prague Conservatory and the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Already during his studies at the conservatory, he became interested in the informed interpretation of 17th and 18th century music. In 2003, he completed an internship with prof. Chiara Banchini at the prestigious Schola cantorum Basiliensis in Switzerland and participated in early music interpretation courses in Prachatice (Katy Debreczeni). As a baroque violin player, he has had extensive concert activity at home and abroad. He gained experience by working in many ensembles, such as Collegium 1704, Musica Florea, Capella Regia Musicalis, Ensemble Inégal and others. With these ensembles, he participated in the realization of several recordings for domestic and foreign music publishers.

Helena Hozová (soprano)

She studied singing at the Pardubice Conservatory and the Faculty of Music at the JAMU in Brno, completed an internship at the Hochschule für Musik in Dresden and participated in several master classes with personalities from the opera world.

As a soloist, she has performed at many European festivals, collaborated with Czech and foreign orchestras and currently performs mainly with Collegium 1704.

She sang the role of Nicandro in Antonio Vivaldi’s opera Arsilda directed by David Radok under the baton of Václav Luks and also performed the role of Galatea in Handel’s opera Acis and Galatea at the Tage Alter Musik festival in Regensburg.

In 2019, she went on a concert tour in Portugal, Brazil and Peru with the Duo Siempre Nuevo group, premiered a number of song cycles by Luboš Sluka and songs by Lukáš Sommer, František Chaloupka and Miloš Štědroň were composed specifically for her voice.

She recorded Seven Songs on Words by F. L. Čelakovský by Pavel Haas, Singing to Children and Flower Speech by Luboš Sluka and Celebration Jazz Mass by Karel Růžička.

Marta Fadljevičová (alto)

She has been playing the piano and singing since childhood. In 1997, she graduated from the Prague Conservatory with prof. Antonia Denygrová and further improved her skills at the Bratislava Academy of Music and Performing Arts under the guidance of prof. Vlasta Hudecová and participated in interpretation courses with Mario van Altena, Julie Hassler and Howard Crook. Since 1994, she has focused mainly on Renaissance and Baroque music and has collaborated with ensembles such as Musica Florea, Ensemble Inégal, Hipocondria and Collegium 1704, with whom she has made many recordings and participated in Czech and foreign festivals. In 2008–2018, she was a member of the Tiburtina ensemble. She has also participated in several stage performances of Baroque operas in the Czech Republic and abroad and had the opportunity to work with directors Sigrid T’Hooft, Lorenz Charoy, Tomáš Pilař and David Radok, and with the SKUTR duo.

Čeněk Svoboda (tenor)

He comes from Liberec, where he studied singing privately with prof. Svatava Šubrtová, then graduated in Choir Conducting at the Faculty of Education of Charles University in Prague, where he also completed his doctoral studies on the topic of “Historically Informed Interpretation of Early Music”. He is one of the founding and core members of Collegium Vocale 1704, collaborates with ensembles Musica Florea, Collegium Marianum, Hipocondria Ensemble, Dresdner Kammerchor, Doulce Memoire and others.
As a choirmaster, he led the Liberec choir Cum decore in 2000–2025, the mixed choir Ještěd in 2006–2013, and Collegium 419 in 2004–2016. He also works as a university and grammar schoolteacher, and has long collaborated with the magazine Harmonie and Czech Radio Vltava station.

Martin Vacula (bass)

He studied singing at the Institute for Art Studies of the University of Ostrava in the class of Mgr. Michael Kozelský. In 2003–2008, he continued his education in his field privately with baritone Václav Zítek.
In 2003, he became a member of the Opera Choir of the National Theatre in Prague and from 2007 to April 2013 he worked in the Prague Philharmonic Choir. Since 2013, he has been a freelance artist and mainly performs Baroque music.