Dobršská brána Festival 2025, Dobrš, Saturday, August 16, 2025
The all-day Saturday program of the ninth annual Dobršská brána Festival once again offered a wide range of artistic and, above all, musical experiences. The morning began with the opening of an art exhibition at the CoCo Gallery in Dobrš Castle, which is an annual part of this festival. This year’s exhibition, Tohle není náhoda (This Is No Coincidence), presented five contemporary artists who combine personal engagement with formal refinement, humor with introspection, and playfulness with criticism of social reality in their work. Vojtěch Hrubant, Samuel Kollárik, Lucie Pouchová, Markéta Soukupová, and Vojtěch Trocha together create an image of the world that is changeable, layered, and ambiguous, and therefore so close to our everyday experience. The common denominator of their approach is sensitivity to the subject and medium, courage to experiment, and the ability to reflect on the world in a way that oscillates between seriousness and absurdity, intimacy and exaggeration. Their works combine psychological depth with visual ingenuity, playfulness with critical empathy.
An interesting artistic experience on two floors of the Dobšice Castle.
The first Saturday concert took place as usual at 1:30 p.m. in the castle courtyard, because HlasKontraBas Oktet would not fit into the church. This unique musical ensemble of four singers, Ridina Ahmedová, Alice Bauer, Markéta Zdeňková, and Mirka Novak, and four bassists, Petr Tichý, Klára Pudláková, Ondřej Komárek, and Ondřej Stajnochr, left nothing to chance from the very beginning and launched into the opening Kuleri Be from their excellent, recently released CD Kaleidoscopes with full verve. The song V Beskydech brought a brief moment of calm, after which a fifth bassist, Mats Eilertsen, joined the octet to perform his Funkle with great feeling. The perfect performance continued in grand style, culminating in the dynamic final song Mustang.
An excellent start to Saturday’s festival program!
Michal Kratochvíl:
It looked like the weather was going to cause a real mess, but the rain magically stopped almost exactly at the start of the first Saturday performance, and four lovely voices and four double basses spread out over Dobrší. It was truly wonderful, with perfect sound from the band’s sound engineer (and the festival’s main sound engineer) Honza Středa. Mats Eilertsen enjoyed the performance from the side of the stage before he was invited to play Funkle with them, a song he wrote for the band himself. For me, the highlight of the current album was the song V Beskydech, which is full of plants and animals. I really enjoyed the dark passage, in which Ondra Štajnochr also sang, and it sounded truly monumental live. Once again, a very successful performance.
For comparison, you can check out the report and video clip from their first performance at Dobršská brána 2019.
The organizers quickly moved the second Saturday concert by the Slovak trio Robert Ragan Jr. from the Dobrš church to the castle courtyard due to the rainy weather forecast. Bassist Robert Ragan Jr. brought along the excellent pianist Klaudius Kováč and experienced drummer Peter Solárik. The gentlemen presented their latest project, Turns, which consists of Ragan’s original compositions in various musical moods. Klaudius Kováč played brilliantly, astonishing the audience with his dedication and enthusiasm for music as well as his superb technique. Finally, we enjoyed a wonderfully developed standard, I Hear A Rhapsody, and the closing Blues, where all three musicians excelled. See for yourself in the video clip.
Michal Kratochvíl:
Robert Ragan Jr. admitted to us that he inherited his bandmates from his father, and I must say that they worked together brilliantly. A modern piano trio that isn’t afraid to tackle even Rachmaninoff arrangements.
After refreshments at the unique Dražný pub on the village green in Dobrš, the festival program continued in the church instead of outdoors by the chapel due to the threat of rain. The unique combination of three top bassists, Petr Tichý, Nenad Vasilić, and Mats Eilertsen, evoked memories of the legendary SuperBass trio of Ray Brown, John Clayton, and Christian McBride. Instead of rehashing jazz standards, the bass trio in the Dobrš church launched into playful, free, and unique improvisations based on their own imagination. Nenad mostly held the basic line, while Petr and Mats competed in the originality of their musical ideas, which everyone then happily developed. The first-class understanding and interplay of the three experienced musicians in developing their own motifs certainly thrilled everyone in the crowded church. A truly beautiful, unforgettable musical experience!
Michal Kratochvíl:
Petr Tichý, Nenad Vasilič, and Mats Eilertsen decided to treat the introduction as a joke, patting each other on the back, playing each other’s instruments, and performing other pranks. After a while, however, they got down to more serious playing, which led to Mats swapping places with Petr and… Actually, it makes no sense to describe this improvised performance. Just watch the eloquent video clip and let’s hope that an audio recording of this exceptional concert and highlight of the entire festival will be released someday!
After passing through the Dobrš Gate, we were greeted by this year’s third bass solo on the stage by the castle. American multi-instrumentalist and singer Scott Mulvahill enlivened the Dobrš Gate program with his own songs, accompanied by his uniquely modified double bass, whose body is covered with numerous metal switches for various samples and loops. The result was supposed to be a cohesive sound, rich in changing rhythms and melodies. Unfortunately, his concert DataBass was damaged during transport by Delta Airlines, so he arrived in Dobrš with the initial prototype, which unfortunately malfunctioned repeatedly. Scott therefore had to play most of his performance without his original effects. Nevertheless, it was an interesting addition to the festival program.
Michal Kratochvíl:
This really wasn’t my cup of tea, so I decided to use Scott’s performance as an opportunity to relax.
The intimate setting of the small church in Dobrš is perfect for MAOMAH (Music Army Of Mystery And Hope), a musical army fighting for mystery and hope. The exceptionally successful master’s project by the very promising bassist Klára Pudláková, performed together with three top violinists, Anna Romanovská, Jana Havláková, and Milan Jakeš, thrilled the eager audience in the crowded church from the very first, almost twenty-minute-long Mysterium II. The lovely interplay of the three violins, often grounded by Klára’s bass, was balm for the soul of any music connoisseur. For me, it was clearly the musical highlight of Saturday’s festival program, if not the entire festival! Perhaps the video clip will convince you too.
Michal Kratochvíl:
Maomah, on the other hand, were my cup of tea, and when they launched into their sweetly avant-garde whirlwind in the church, a general feeling of well-being prevailed among the audience. This group around Klára Pudláková has incredible dynamism and energy. Avant-garde passages alternate with melodic ones, and when someone in the audience shouted “Wow, that’s something” after one of them, I think that said it all. Mystery, hope, and love—yes, that’s it!
The description of the closing concert by the international trio of Greek bassist Petros Klampanis, Estonian pianist Kristijan Randalu, and highly experienced Israeli drummer Ziv Ravitz promised a powerful finale to the ninth edition of the festival. However, their latest project/album, Latent Info, serves as a sincere tribute to everything that remains invisible, hidden in latent mode, often overlooked or left unnoticed in the hustle and bustle of life’s cacophony. The very gloomy stage lighting requested by the band and the somewhat bland music did not bring the expected jazz excitement in the first half of their concert. However, the musical intensity gradually increased until it reached a climax at the end of the performance with virtuoso solos by all members of the trio, which was joyfully appreciated by the full castle courtyard.
Michal Kratochvíl:
Modern jazz to my taste, a well-executed piano trio, just the way we like it, although in this case the main driving force is probably Petros Klampanis on double bass. The gentlemen played with precision and were very solid, but I still felt that something was missing for me to be completely satisfied. Petros explained the concept behind their latest album, from which they mainly played, and tried to explain that it captures hidden feelings that are often overshadowed by everyday life and noise. A nice ending and farewell to Dobrš.
All that remains is to thank the organizers for another unforgettable festival experience and congratulate Ivo Kraml, Michaela Ditrichová, and all their colleagues on the well-deserved success of the ninth edition of Dobršská brána, a festival unique in Czechia, which once again opened the door to the world of contemporary music!
I am looking forward to the TOP TEN at the tenth anniversary of Dobršská brána!
Michal Kratochvíl:
I can’t believe that I have been to Dobrš for the sixth time and I am seriously considering whether to return for the seventh time. But it will be the tenth anniversary, which is supposed to be a showcase of the best we’ve heard in Dobrš over the years. Ivo certainly knows where to find inspiration, and if he happens to need a hint, Markus Stockhausen and Yilian Cañizares definitely can’t be missing next year!