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WitnessAlistair Beattie and the wrong kind of Skoda
In 1967 the young Scottish music student, Alistair Beattie, won a British
Council scholarship to spend two years studying at the Academy of Musical
Arts in Prague. It proved quite an adventure, as he lived through all the
hopes of the Prague Spring and the bitter disappointment that followed the
Soviet-led invasion. Alistair Beattie was recently in Prague again,
playing the viola in the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. While he was
here he told Radio Prague about his very first experience of
Czechoslovakia thirty-six years ago.
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MailboxMailbox
This week's topics: Growing number of self-immolations. Beethoven's
connection to Prague. The Clam-Gallas family. Listeners quoted: George
Rosseli, Franz Schwartz Jr., Jan Fermich.
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Current AffairsMagdalena Kozena to present new CD of French arias in Prague
The International Music Festival Autumn Strings begins this Friday at
Prague Castle and one of the main stars will be the internationally
acclaimed Czech mezzo-soprano, Magdalena Kozena. She will open the
festival with songs from her new CD called "French Arias",
conducted by Michel Swierczewsky. Although she is now based in Paris,
Magdalena Kozena told Radio Prague that she is always happy to return
home. Besides, she expects Friday's concert to be rather special:
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ArtsLibor Pesek - Czech conductor and Knight of the British Empire
Hello and welcome to another Encore. Libor Pesek is one of the best known
Czech conductors. A few weeks ago he celebrated his seventieth birthday -
although, with his sheer energy and joie-de-vivre, you have the impression
of a man a good ten years younger. In a career spanning nearly fifty
years, he went from being trombonist in a jazz band, to a celebrated
decade from 1987 to 1997 as chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic in Britain. For his work with the orchestra, he was made an
honorary Knight of the British Empire, and he remains their conductor
laureate. His great musical love is the Czech turn-of-the century composer
and Dvorak's pupil and son-in-law, Josef Suk. A few days ago I had the
pleasure of joining Libor Pesek for a glass of champagne outside Prague's
Rudolfinum concert hall, and he began our conversation by telling me that
it was thanks to his passion for Suk that he found his way to the
Liverpool Philharmonic.
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WitnessLibor Pesek and the liberators who trod on the flowers
Libor Pesek is one of the best-known and most respected Czech conductors,
famous in the English-speaking world for the ten successful years he spent
in Britain as chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He
recently celebrated his 70th birthday, but for this week's
"Witness", he looks into his distant past long before his
musical career began, to a childhood memory of the day in 1945 when the
Red Army liberated Prague.
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ArtsSmetana's Litomysl opens for 45th time
On Friday, Smetana's Litomysl International Opera Festival opens for the
45th time. In its history, it has attracted thousands of visitors every
year who have flocked to the little Bohemian town of Litomysl - the
birthplace of composer Bedrich Smetana - to enjoy the best of Czech
classical music, performed by international artists. I spoke to artistic
director Vojtech Stritesky to find out what this year's festival has to
offer:
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ArtsSir Charles Mackerras on his love of Czech music
The 58th International Prague Spring Music Festival ended this week,
featuring many distinguished musicians from all over the world and also
the Czech Republic. As part of the festival, the Czech Philharmonic
Orchestra performed a concert featuring the works of Leos Janacek,
Bohuslav Martinu and Josef Suk, under the baton of the world-renowned
conductor Sir Charles Mackerras. The concert was dedicated to the 120th
anniversary of the birth of Czech conductor Vaclav Talich, who used to be
Sir Charles' mentor back in 1947 when the young musician first came to
Czechoslovakia to study music.
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ArtsFrom Smetana to Zappa: an interview with the director of the Prague Spring international music festival, Roman Belor.
Hello and welcome to another edition of Encore, our monthly programme
devoted to classical music. Now, it's not by chance that I started the
programme with an extract of the Czech Philharmonic performing Smetana's
My Country - one of the potent symbols of the Czech national revival in
the 19th century. My Country is traditionally played at the opening
concert of the Prague Spring international music festival, which begins on
Monday and continues over the next three weeks. 2003 is the festival's
fifty-eighth year, and over the decades the festival has acquired a
reputation as a major event on the international music calendar, at the
same time enjoying the affection of concert goers for its informal
atmosphere. And if you assume that the festival is a conservative,
traditional and solemn event, this year you'll certainly be in for some
surprises. To talk about that and more I'm joined now by the man who has
been directing the Prague Spring for the last two years, Roman Belor.
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ArtsAlexandrov ensemble comes to Prague, Arts news
In today's edition, we'll be looking at some of the cultural events coming
up in the next few days and reflect upon a breathtaking performance by one
of the biggest song and dance ensembles in the world. Stay tuned:
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One on OneAdela Drozdova - violinist and graduate of Prague's prestigious music academy
Adela Drozdova is a charming and most talented violinist who recently
performed a final graduation concert to finish her studies at Prague's
distinguished music academy HAMU, a repertoire that included Baroque works
by Jean Philippe Rameau and Jean-Marie Leclair, as well as contemporary
pieces by Sergei Prokofiev and Igor Stravinsky. Discussed in this week's
One on One: what it takes to become a professional musician, the London
Symphony Orchestra, and just how aggravating it is when a cell phone
goes off in the middle of a concert.
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