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Current AffairsKing Lear at Prague Castle: Jan Triska is a tour-de-force
With summer in full swing in Prague crowds have been lining up for tickets
to one of the city's most exciting summer festivals - performances of
Shakespeare's plays at Prague Castle. This year performances include both
Hamlet as well as King Lear - last season's critically-acclaimed
production starring Czech-born actor Jan Triska. Radio Prague's Jan
Velinger attended the performance of Lear this week, and as you will find
out, there was good reason to be impressed.
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ArtsWaiting for a train among puppets
Masarykovo nadrazi train station in Prague is not exactly the most poetic
of places. You hardly raise your eyes to admire the beauty of the grand
Empire-style building from the times of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. You
rather watch your step and try to get on your train or out of the station
as quickly as possible in order to escape the noise of the slot machines
from the bars, loud pop music from the cheap eateries and the looks of the
people who usually hang around railway stations in big cities. But for a
couple of days in July, the central hall put on a more friendly face and
filled with sounds other than the usual noise of a railway station, the
screeching of metal against metal as the trains brake to a stop,
announcements on the public address system and people rushing by.
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Current AffairsSecond Prague Fringe Festival
Czech theatre buffs and visitors to Prague are in for a treat. The Czech
capital is currently hosting a marathon of cutting-edge theatre from
around the world -and there's something in it for everyone. The Prague
Fringe Festival - which was a huge success last summer - is back with an
exciting array of high quality theatre productions - non-verbal shows,
plays in Czech, English, and French as well as shows for children. Fringe
Festival director Steven Gove explains why he thought Prague was a good
venue for an international theatre festival.
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ArtsNational Theatre to produce new opera featuring Nagano golden victory
The National Theatre, next to the National Museum, is the biggest and most
famous cultural institution in the Czech Republic and a trip to Prague
would not be complete without an opera, ballet or theatre performance as
good quality entertainment is guaranteed. But to offer some variety to its
visitors, the National Theatre has decided to turn to something more
contemporary and feature an opera based on a sport that is close to many
Czechs' hearts - ice hockey.
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ArtsThe incredible story of the opera written at Terezin concentration camp
This Saturday, March 15, London's Opera Up Close company is holding the
premiere of their production of "the Kaiser of Atlantis"
("Der Kaiser von Atlantis"), which was written by Viktor Ullmann
with a libretto by Petr Kein. A Vienna-born Jew, Viktor Ullmann later took
Czech nationality, and was already well-known as a composer before being
sent to Terezin concentration camp in September 1942. It was there - in
the most incredible circumstances - that he wrote "the Kaiser of
Atlantis", before meeting his death in Auschwitz in October 1944.
When I spoke to Opera Up Close director Russell Plows in London last week,
he told me Viktor Ullmann was just one of many leading Czech Jewish
artists and musicians imprisoned at Terezin.
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ArtsArts news
Anna K and Daniel Landa hold concert for Czech soldiers in Kuwait. Galileo musical kicks off on anniversary of famous scientist's birth. Czech Philharmonic travels to USA. Theatre Institute releases two publications. National Gallery offers special Valentine's Day programme.
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ArtsCzech-English theatre group performs "Jacques and his Master"
In this week's Arts we look at some of the developments in the Czech world
of film and will be hearing from the director of a Czech-English
production of Milan Kundera's adaptation of Jacques and his Master, that's
currently being performed at one of Prague's theatres:
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ArtsPounding on the Iron Curtain
Prague's Stavovske Divadlo, or Estate Theatre, was host to an unusual
performance recently that is part of the Pounding on the Iron Curtain
project. This project, which was launched in the State Opera Prague last
season and is now to be continued in the Estate Theatre, aims at giving
the new generation of talented composers a new taste for opera and a
chance to perform their work before a large audience. The first such
performance was the world premier of "Priceless Arias",
supported by the Guarded Parnass grouping that promotes contemporary art
in the country.
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