Section Archive Panorama
Pianist Diana Fanning: I want people to know about Leoš Janáček’s piano music
Organized by the International Dvorak Society, the American Spring music
festival (April 8th to July 4th) annually brings internationally renowned
soloists and music ensembles to a broad audience in the Czech Republic,
with concerts and master classes taking place in dozens of towns and
villages around the country. Among this year’s performers is pianist
Diana Fanning from Middlebury College, Vermont whose recent piano recital
featured music by the Czech composer Leoš Janáček. When she visited Radio
Prague’s studio shortly after the recital we talked about her passion for
a composer whose music many find hard to understand. More
Czech Post diversifying its business interests in the face of an uncertain future
With the volume of traditional mail severely undermined by electronic
communication the Czech Republic’s postal service, Česka Pošta, has
seen its profits drop in recent years. Now, newly approved legislation
liberalizing the country’s postal services has made matters worse,
putting ever greater pressure on Czech Post to expand into new areas of
business or bow out. More
Athlete philanthropist runs from Prague to Morocco to support safe drinking water projects
In 2012 athlete-philanthropist David Chrištof ran unsupported from Prague
to London to raise money for safe drinking water for an orphanage in
Uganda. This week he set out on a 3000 km run from Prague to Morocco to
bring attention to the world water crisis and raise more money for people
not fortunate enough to have this basic necessity. More
Is the Czech media helping give Romanies a bad name?
A survey out this week has put Romanies at the bottom of the ladder as the
least popular minority in the Czech Republic. It is not for the first time
that they hold this unenviable position, nor is it likely to be the last.
So what makes the Romany minority so unacceptable in the eyes of the
majority white population? According to the Czech government agency for
social inclusion the media is partly to blame. More
Surveillance camera boom in Czech towns and cities evokes concerns over loss of privacy
Many Czech towns and cities are filling with video surveillance cameras as
an effective way of curbing crime. While many have welcomed the practice,
others warn that it could lead to a massive invasion of privacy. More
Hated and admired, Brno’s Orloj lays a claim to fame
It was meant to be the pride of Brno - the town’s own astronomical clock
to rival Prague’s famous Orloj and attract tourists to the Moravian
metropolis. Located on the city’s Freedom Square the shiny black
six-metre-tall, phallus-shaped clock has attracted praise and insults in
equal measure since its unveiling two years ago. As Brno City Hall hoped,
it has become the talk of the town but in a slightly different way than
expected. More
Local designers look for ways to connect with customers and distributors
The Czech design industry got off to a strong start this year with a number
of major events being held in March. The annual Czech Grand Design awards
were presented earlier in the month and Prague hosted a special edition of
the now popular Designblok and the newest Dyzajn Márket. So what is Czech
design like and what are its biggest challenges? More
Czechs and Slovaks: long divorced but still close
Twenty years after their Velvet Divorce the Czech Republic and Slovakia
maintain exceptionally close ties. The two countries’ presidents have
made a tradition of planning their first trip abroad to the former sister
state and the two countries’ governments hold a joint session every year
to discuss matters of common interest. In the eyes of Czechs, Slovaks are
the most favored foreign minority in the country. But do the close to
100,000 Slovaks living and working in the Czech Republic feel at home here?
To find out I met up with Martina Gregorova, a young Slovak who now calls
this country her home. I began by asking her how it all came about. More
Council of Europe urges Czech Republic to improve the lot of people with mental disabilities
The Council of Europe last week released a report criticizing the Czech
Republic for the way it treats people with mental disabilities. The
criticism targeting the living conditions and rights of this most
vulnerable segment of the population is not the first of its kind. The
Czech authorities have previously come under fire for using caged beds in
mental institutions. On a fact-finding visit to the Czech Republic, Council
of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Nils Muiznieks went further,
arguing that many of the patients in mental institutions could be living a
more dignified life outside of these walls. More
Czechs celebrate 7th annual Marriage Week, but marriage rate still falling
Marriage week as a way of celebrating and nurturing the institution of
marriage was established in Great Britain in 1996 and has since taken root
in ten more countries. At the time of its establishment marriage was the
last thing on Czechs minds. The country had recently returned to democracy
and young people were on the brink of discovering the world, living a
Western life and developing successful careers: everything their parents
had been unable to do for four decades. As a result the tradition of
marrying at 18 and having a baby within a year or two died a quick death.
Marriage, at least marriage before one’s 30s, became an unfavourable
prospect and many Czechs who embraced a singles lifestyle found they liked
it too much to give it up or no longer knew how to go about changing their
life. More
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