Related articles
Current AffairsMuch respected singer-songwriter Zuzana Navarova dies at 45
Czech music fans and musicians were deeply saddened on Tuesday by the news
that the singer-songwriter Zuzana Navarova has died of cancer at the age
of just 45. Her death came as a shock to many: she appeared in concert
only last month, and received a gold record for 10,000 sales of her 2001
CD Barvy vsecky.
More
Current AffairsThe inflexions of Czech Scrabble
Czech Scrabble fans say that it can change your life. The game, where you
put together words with tiles, can easily grow into an obsession. The best
Czech Scrabble players tested their vocabulary last weekend at the 11th
Scrabble Championship of the Czech Republic.
More
Current AffairsLarge crowds turn out for Prague's International Folklore Festival
Prague's first International Folklore Festival is being held this week.
Thousands of people have been attending the event in the last few days and
they have been treated to an extensive concert programme and various other
items of interest.
More
Czech MusicReinventing folk music with the Moberg Ensemble
...and I felt happy within these songs, in which sorrow is not
reckless, laughter is not crooked, love is not ridiculous and hate is not
apprehensive, where people love with their bodies and souls, where they
draw knives or sabres in hatred, dance in joy, throw themselves into the
Danube in despair, where, for that matter, love is still love and pain is
still pain, where the original emotion is not yet devoid of itself and
where values are still unravaged; and it seemed to me that within these
songs I was at home, that I had my roots in there. That their world was my
primal point of reference... Milan Kundera, The Joke
More
Press ReviewPress Review
The front pages of most of today's papers feature photos of popular Czech
singer Jaromir Nohavica who was inducted to the Hall of Fame by the
Academy of Popular Music on Saturday during a ceremony announcing the
winners of the Golden Angel Award.
More
Czech MusicEncore: Raduza - the emotional power of the accordion
When the "Year of Czech Music" was launched in January, the jazz
flute player, Jiri Stivin, complained that this year's celebrations were
focusing far too much on classical music. So I make no apology for
departing from our usual classical themes in this week's Encore to look at
a musician whose music comes closer to the beer hall than the concert
platform. The thirty-year-old singer Raduza shot to fame a decade ago,
when she shared a stage with Suzanne Vega here in Prague. She accompanies
her songs on the accordion, and despite a huge and still growing following
here in the Czech Republic, she prefers to play in the intimacy of pubs
and clubs. Raduza's songs are powerful, raw and emotional, and are firmly
rooted in the pub and folk tradition. My colleague Mark Fernandes caught
up with her at one of her regular concerts in the Balbinova Club just
round the corner from the radio here in the centre of Prague. He recorded
some of her songs and she talked about her music.
More
ArtsFolk singer Karel Kryl died ten years ago
Ten years ago, on March 3rd, 1994, just four years after the collapse of
communist rule, one of the icons of anti-communist resistance died at the
age of fifty. Folk singer Karel Kryl emigrated from Czechoslovakia after
the Soviet occupation but clandestine copies of his records circulated
among people till the very end of the communist regime.
More
Current AffairsCommemorating legendary protest-song writer Karel Kryl
This month, Czechs will be commemorating Karel Kryl at several venues in
Prague as this year marks the tenth anniversary of his death and sixtieth
anniversary of his birth. As part of the Year of Czech Music, several
concerts and exhibitions focus on the life of the singer and protest-song
writer who became an icon in 1960s folk music through his tireless
struggle for the freedom of expression. Dita Asiedu has more:
More
Current AffairsCechomor cap successful year with release of live album
The Czech folk-rock group Cechomor have just brought out a new live album,
simply called "Cechomor Live" and the release caps a very
successful year for the group. Last week I saw them play a two-hour set at
Prague's Akropolis theatre, and immoderately good it was too.
More
