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SpotlightCzech Museum of Music celebrates Dvořák's 170th birthday
It’s September, and all other anniversaries aside, that means the
birthday season of the genius Antonín Dvořák. Had the Czech musical
maestro lived to his deserved age he would be 170-years-old this month,
and
music-lovers and –ologists are marking the occasion with all due
enthusiasm. Alongside the Dvořák festivals and radio tributes this month
there is also the uniquely interesting, interactive Dvořák exhibition at
the Czech Museum of Music (Karmelitská 2, Malá Strana), which is our
destination in this week’s Spotlight. More
Czech HistoryLeoš Janáček, the composer for a new republic
The first two names always given at the top of the pantheon of Czech
classical music are Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana; the third is
invariably Leoš Janáček. Probably the most innovative of the three,
Janáček likely lags behind the famous duo only because even today, 80
years after his death, musicians, musicologists and music lovers are still
reassessing those innovations, which took classical music into uncharted
territory. More
Sunday Music ShowA tribute to composer Ladislav Simon
Last Thursday, Czech Radio lost one of its most esteemed colleagues and the
Czech Republic one of the major figures in modern music with the death of
Ladislav Simon at the age of 82. His music has been a staple of television,
radio and contemporary classical music for more than half a century and he
was tirelessly involved in the artistic management of some of the
country’s leading cultural institutions, such as the National Theatre,
and the founding of Czech Television and the Prague Philharmonia. More
Sunday Music ShowKarel Hašler a patriot whose songs cost him his life
This edition of Radio Prague’s Sunday Music show is dedicated to one of
the country’s great patriots – singer, composer and cabaret star Karel
Hašler. Hašler’s love of his country is in his music and although he
composed his songs more than a century ago they are still alive in
people’s hearts and minds. More
PanoramaThe film score genius Zdeněk Liška
Some of the best Czech films of the 1960s and 70s, such as Markéta
Lazarová, Shop on Main Street, and The Cremator, have one thing in common,
besides the country of origin: the author of the score, Zdeněk Liška.
Only a few recordings of his music came out independently; most recently,
the British label Finders Keepers published his soundtrack of The Little
Mermaid. In this edition of Panorama, we look the life and work of this
prolific composer, and one of the most versatile artists in the field. More
Sunday Music ShowSunday Music Show
This week’s Sunday music broadcast we present the work of František
Ignác Tůma, a Czech composer of the late Baroque era who wrote some of
the most inventive music of the period. More
Music ExpressMiroslav Srnka, a rising star of contemporary classical music
In the sometimes baffling but absolutely innovative world of
“contemporary classical” music in the Czech Republic, few young
composers have enjoyed the kind of success that Miroslav Srnka has. The
35-year-old’s complex and greatly imaginative work has been performed far
and wide by the eminent musicians and conductors of today, and he is
endlessly commissioned to produce more for some of the best known
orchestras and festivals. His clear talent did not however emerge at an
early age, and he told me how it was that he began composing when we met
earlier this week in a Prague café. More
Music ExpressComposer Sylvie Bodorová
The name of Sylvie Bodorová has been closely connected with modern
classical music in the Czech Republic for about the last 30 years, in which
time her compositions have been performed on every continent, including
Antarctica. She is one of few female composers whose work is a staple of
classical musical festivals the world over and is featured on more than two
dozen albums. The first in that long list of compositions was a piano piece
written when she was seven years old - she performed it in her public debut
a year later. When we met in the studio recently, I couldn’t help but
wonder how she sees that piece today, with so many decades of success
behind her. More
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