Eva Zaoralová, a popular film critic and former director of Karlovy Vary IFF, sadly passed away on Thursday, March 10, 2022. “R.I.P. Film critic, former KarlovyVaryFF @KVIFF director, and long time #TSFF correspondent & friend #EvaZaoralová has passed away…” the tweet read. Zaoralová was awarded the Czech Ministry of Culture Award for Contribution in the Field of Cinema & Audiovisual Work in 2020. In 2002 she was nominated chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and in 2020 she was awarded the Czech Ministry of Culture Award for Contribution in the Field of Cinema and Audiovisual Work, for her lifelong promotion of Czech films and filmmakers abroad. Zaoralová has received numerous domestic and international awards for her longtime activities not only with the Karlovy Vary IFF, but also for her work in film journalism, criticism, and translating. On the occasion of the state holiday on 28 October 2010, President Václav Klaus awarded her the Medal of Merit for her work in the field of culture. The French government made her a Knight of the Order of Art and Letters, and in 2012 she was elevated to Officer. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the...
For many decades of the long 19th century, the renowned department store at Celetná Street No. 15 offered Prague residents and visitors a wide selection of luxurious goods. According to the late 19th-century guide, was “gorgeously equipped…, had cellars and two storeys. There are 50 gentlemen and 10 ladies employed in the shop.” Run by August Goldschmid, the U města Paříže (At the City of Paris) store focused on Prague’s elite and initially opened a haberdashery store. Immediately it became a success, so he started to add more and more types of goods, divided into individual sections like modern shopping centers. Unfortunately, the business did not survive, and after August’s son Karel’s death, the Bata company acquired the house, demolished it and built a functionalist shoe shop instead. At that time, the department store was the biggest one in Europe. In 1852, August Goldschmid “received” the shop as a wedding present from his father. It offered a little bit of everything – from groceries to drugstores to household items. August had the spirit of an entrepreneur, and he decided to focus on just one product range at a time. That’s why he chose haberdashery as a unique assortment to find...
It will become fully accessible to the public this summer. After three years of conducting major repairs, Prague is close to completing the renovation of the Baroque Clam-Gallas Palace. According to the Czech capital’s website, the palace once housed the highest social classes of the Viennese court, with composers like Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven reportedly having performed there. Councillor for Culture and Tourism Hana Třeštíková commented on the significance of this, sharing that the palace and Mozart’s legacy would strengthen Prague’s position ‘on the culture map of Europe’. Taking this further, Třeštíková stated: “We [Prague] definitely have something to offer in the field of classical music. Czech history is proud of names such as Josef Mysliveček, Bedřich Smetana, Leoš Janáček and many others. We will be very happy if we manage to turn this rich potential into a concrete result.” According to the capital, the renovation work should cost around CZK 460 million (over EUR 18 million) and be completed by this summer. After this, the palace will become fully accessible to the public. The Museum of the City of Prague will set up an exhibition space alongside a café, restaurant, and gift shop. Other parts of the Clam-Gallas Palace will remain reserved for...
Divadlo D21 in Prague is pleased to finally present Oscar Wilde’s classic play The Importance of Being Earnest. It is the most popular of Wilde’s plays, which include A Woman of No Importance, Lady Windermere’s Fan and The Picture of Dorian Gray. In this play, Wilde shows us an insider’s view of life in high-society London, and all the posturing and posing that was vital to keep up appearances. On a short trip to London, Ernest visits his friend Algernon in the hopes of running into Algernon’s cousin, Miss Gwendolen Fairfax, with whom Ernest is deeply in love. Unfortunately, Gwendolen is accompanied to Algernon’s by her mother, Lady Bracknell, who is not so sure Ernest is the right man for her daughter. During their conversations about cigarette cases and life in the country, Algernon discovers that his friend is also a committed Bunburyist — that is, one who employs an alter ego so they may get out of commitments they wish to avoid. When Algernon learns that Ernest has a young ward in the country, he makes it his duty to engage in his biggest Bunburying escapade ever — to meet Cecily. While in the country, we meet Cecily’s school teacher, Miss Prism and their esteemed Rev....
“Zátopek,” director David Ondříček’s biopic about Olympic champion Emil Zátopek, dominated the 29th annual Czech Lion Awards, winning in eight categories across 13 nominations. The Czech Lion Awards were held on Saturday evening at Dvořák Hall in Prague’s Rudolfinum. The awards, which are voted on by a 350-person jury of members from the Czech Film and Television Academy, are considered the highest film honors in the Czech Republic. During the ceremony, “Zátopek” won awards for best film, director, actor in a leading role, cinematography, editing, sound, production design and makeup and hairstyling. Prior to the ceremony, it was also announced that the film had previously won the fan vote category at the awards, as well as an award for its poster design. “Zátopek” stars Václav Neužil, recipient of the Czech Lion for leading actor, as long-distance runner Emil Zátopek, who won four gold medals at the Olympics and is widely considered one of the greatest runners of all time. The film is structured around a meeting between Clarke and Zátopek during the 1968 Summer Olympics, during which the film flashes back to notable moments in Zátopek’s life, including his win in the marathon competition of the 1952 Olympics, the first...
The National Theatre of Prague presents Carmen, an opera by Georges Bizet. The opera had its grand opening on January 23rd, 2020, and returns to the National Theatre historical building for another performance. Bizet’s Carmen is a staple of the repertoire of the majority of opera houses worldwide. The opera is extremely popular owing to the music, abounding in torrential rhythms, engrossing melodies and bewitching songs of the beautiful Gypsy, as well as the overwhelming power of the passions depicted in the story. Carmen is actually one of the first verismo operas that preceded the “manifesto” of the Italian artistic movement. Its style, and the death of the title heroine, which were at variance with the established opéra comique conventions, seem to have been the reason why the work did not give rise to much public enthusiasm at and in the wake of the world premiere in Paris in 1875. Yet Carmen soon triumphed in other European cities. Bizet’s Carmen is a staple of the repertoire of the majority of opera houses worldwide. It is extremely popular owing to the music, abounding in torrential rhythms, engrossing melodies and bewitching songs of the beautiful Gypsy, as well as to the overwhelming power of...
On March 2, 1978, Czech cosmonaut Vladimír Remek became the first and only Czech to fly to space, and the first non-Soviet and non-American astronaut to make the trip to outer space. After graduating from aviation school as a lieutenant in 1970, Remek began active service for the Czechoslovak air force. From 1972 to 1976 he continued his studies at the Gagarin Air Force Academy in Monino, U.S.S.R. In 1976 he joined the Soviet cosmonaut unit as part of the Intercosmos program. The non-Soviet cosmonauts of Intercosmos flew alongside Soviet crews on missions intended to demonstrate unity between Warsaw Pact and other countries sympathetic to the Soviet Union. After a three-day delay, Soyuz 28 took off from Kazakhstan on March 2, 1978, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the 1948 Prague coup. The crew docked with the Salyut 6 space station, where the cosmonauts conducted scientific research and experiments. After nearly eight days in space, Remek and Gubarev returned to Earth on March 10. “Before me there was the same number of Soviet and US cosmonauts, 43. So I became the 87th earthling to see our planet from outer space,” he later said. “I was doing something for my country. It was, to use sporting terminology, a place on the podium, third spot....
It has been two years since the Metronome Festival has been able to bring top-notch musical artists to Prague for their annual summer outdoor fest. They have been trying and they haven’t given up, yet. Headliners for Metronome 2022 (June 23-25) are Beck, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Underworld. When Beck first played in Prague in the mid-1990s, at the Belmondo Club at Vltavska, he was a fresh face with a swagger and hip-hop meets street-rock sound in tune for those times. This was the time of his first hit, “Loser,” from “Mellow Gold,” a hurtful insult turned into an anthem. Since then, Beck has calmed down, or rather, evolved to be one of the most innovative and thoughtful composer-songwriters in pop music. Generations have passed since his Prague debut, and not too far from that initial spot; Beck will finally be back, and this appearance has been postponed since 2020, due to you know what. Based for much of his musical career in the hilly and remote Silver Lake area of Los Angeles, Beck has been kind of an outsider on the music scene due to his consistency in crossing genres ala Neil Young, from alternative rock...
Czech archaeologists have made another major discovery in Egypt. 370 large vessels and other objects used during the mummification process in the sixth century B.C. have been found in a burial shaft in the Abusir necropolis by a team of Egyptologists from Charles University. The researchers found traces of natron, a substance used to dry the body, and detected residues of resins, oils, and myrrh in the jars. Unused limestone canopic jars, which were used to hold viscera removed from the body during the embalming process, were also recovered. “Interestingly, there were inscriptions on them including the name of the owner,” said team member Jiří Janák. “That’s what helped us identify the person to whom this deposit belonged.” “Among the objects, we found there were other smaller vessels as well as pieces of ashes from a fire that burned somewhere near the place where the person was mummified. We also found remnants of natron, a substance that the Egyptians used to dry the dead body.” Wahibre-mery-Neith, the owner of the tomb, is thought to have been buried in the structure adjacent to the mummification deposit, Janák explained. The team will continue to analyze the contents of the jars in an...
The State Opera in Prague presents Der fliegende Holländer– the opera by Richard Wagner which tells the tale of a Dutchman and his quest to find love. The opera had its grand opening on 20th January 2022 and is continuing to be shown throughout the year, with the next performance on Sunday 20th February. The opera tells the tale of “The Flying Dutchman” who was a sea captain who once found himself struggling to round the Cape of Good Hope during a ferocious storm. He swore that he would succeed even if he had to sail until Judgment Day. After seven years, the ship enters the harbor and the Dutchman goes ashore and searches for love. Written by Richard Wager, it is claimed in his 1870 autobiography “Mein Leben” that he had been inspired to write the opera following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839. The opera’s original 1843 production ran more than 2 hours and 20 minutes without intermission and consisted of three acts. The cast of the National Theatre’s production includes Joachim Goltz as The Flying Dutchman and Elizabeth Teige as Senata. The audience will be able to enjoy...
The 19th century, among many other innovations, saw the rise of the bicycle. Early models were not exactly ideal; the cycle had no pedals, and the cyclist had to push it with his feet while seated (women did not cycle in those days). 1858 was the year that pedals were added to the machine, creating an effective, if rough, ride for enthusiasts of the “velocipede”. In 1869 the iron wheels on velocipedes were replaced with wheels of solid rubber, and the term “bicycle” was used for the first time. On November 16, 1880, the Czech Velocipedists’ Association was established in a brewery in Smíchov. The young men who founded it were particularly fond of the bicycle known as the “penny farthing”, on which the front wheel is enormous, while the rear wheel is much smaller. This bicycle, also known as an “ordinary” or a “high wheeler”, gets its name from the penny and farthing coins in the United Kingdom; a side view of this cycle looks vaguely like a penny pulling a farthing behind it. The Czech Velocipedists’ Association was only the second such organization in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the first in Bohemia. The first outing of the...
Article by Vita Cafnik, pre-school teacher at Cherry Tree, an English-speaking preschool in the heart of Vinohrady. If you are looking for ways to spend some good quality intellectual time with your kids, you can prepare your monocles and get your mustache-twisting fingers ready, as we have visited some of Prague’s museums, and found three wonderful gems, that are a joy for the whole family. Prague truly has a lot to offer culture-wise, and amongst countless museums and galleries, here are just a few that caught our attention. So if winter months give you the blues, let these places bring some color into your world. National Museum of Agriculture National Museum of Agriculture mastered the art of making its exhibitions fun for the whole family. With its interactive nature and playful science, it will charm the pickiest of visitors. The museum is worth visiting for the beautiful rooftop garden alone, and the picturesque view of the Prague that surrounds it, however, I would not recommend missing a single exhibition, as each one offers a unique and fascinating view into one of our most important inventions. You can look forward to a journey through stories of agriculture, forestry, gastronomy and food...
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