Golden Prague Festival offers meetings with Miloň Čepelka, Bohuslav Martinů and StarDance stars – ČT24 – Czech Television
The virtuoso Václav Hudeček invited violinists Jan Mráček and Josef Špaček to the opening concert, which will also provide the audience with live ČT art. Violin mastery will be shown in compositions by Vivaldi, Bach or Telemann. They will be joined on stage by mezzo-soprano Štěpánka Pučálková and horn player Radek Baborák with his chamber orchestra Česká sinfonietta.
The life of Miloň Čepelka and Bohuslav Martinů
Miloň Čepelka will celebrate his 85th birthday on Friday in Golden Prague. He is best known as a member of the Jára Cimrman Theater, a new documentary by Štace Miloň Čepelka, which premieres the festival, but wants to show its broader professional scope. “Miloň is not only an actor, which is why the second level of the film focuses on Miloň outside the theater. We will introduce him as a musician and writer, “confirms director Patrik Ulrich.
Another of the domestic premieres is dedicated to the composer Bohuslav Martinů. The documentary filmmaker Jakub Sommer found the idea for the docudrama My Life with Bohuslav Martinů in the book of the same name. “We start with the birth at the end of the nineteenth century in Poličky. Subsequently, we accompanied him all his life until his death in Switzerland in the late 1950s. Along with Martinů’s personal stories, history goes alongside him in the film. These two planes resonate a lot in our exercise, “he said.
Ondřej Havelka dances the swing
Ondřej Havelka presented his work My Dancing Swing for the first time. It focuses on the history of the Czech swing scene from its beginnings to the present. Havelka and his orchestra Melody Makers itself are associated with the interpretation of swing melodies of the 1930s and 1940s.
“We tried to expand the topic of the Czech swing dance scene to get the audience into context. It can be said that it is a brief flight through the history of Czech jazz and swing, as well as, of course, dance performances. I tell them in a stylized, playful way so that it doesn’t get boring. I think the biggest attraction is that I invited really top Czech dancers to the documentary, who master all the historical styles of jazz and swing dance, “he revealed about the documentary.
Everything bad is for something good
Almost fifty titles from seventeen countries have registered for the festival this year. The longest competitive and non-competitive films can be played not only by the jury, but also by the public in the so-called video library. After booking, it is possible to embark on the New Stage of the National Theater.
“This year’s films in the competition showed a remarkable trend,” says Tomáš Motl, director of the Golden Prague Festival and executive director of ČT art: And so the number of recordings shot in real or atypical means increased, many films were created using film techniques and visual ideas, and creativity began. For the television viewer, this often likes the attractive activity of programs, and I can only repeat the well-known fact that everything bad can be good for something. “
Most films (32) arrived from Germany, with 17 titles representing domestic works. “We tried to submit such films that will represent different genres and at the same time be timeless. For example, Hope for Prague, which was a concert by Daniel Hope on a pontoon on the Vltava, or a documentary about Pavel Černoch, which premiered last year in Golden Prague. Or a very emotional concert, when Bennewitz’s quartet plays in the Memorial of Silence, ie at the Bubny railway station, from where Jews embarked on their last journey during World War II. But there are also cycles, such as the six symphonies of Bohuslav Martinů, which we will play on ČT art in the autumn. And there is, for example, the magnificent project The Nation to Itself – Culture for You, with which we filled the National Theater in February and which became the most watched program in the history of ČT art, ”says Motl.
Meeting with stars not only StarDance
The final day, ie Saturday, belongs to the Golden Day of Golden Prague. “I invite everyone to the piazzetta of the National Theater, where, in addition to other dance performances, spectators will also have the opportunity to meet the stars of StarDance, who have either already danced or will be dancing this year. Marie Doležalová, Marek Zelinka, Miroslav Hanuš will be there, hockey player Martin Procházka, perhaps Pavel Trávníček, will also come. From six o’clock, a concert by Ondřej Ruml will follow, which will sing Ježek’s hits, “revealed the Motl program.
Those interested will also be able to meet Czech personalities on Friday, when one festival afternoon is reserved for special film screenings, and they are accessible free of charge. They will be accompanied by violinist and producer Jakub Třasák or musicians Michal Prokop and Kamil Střihavka.
The closing ceremony of Golden Prague will be broadcast on September 25 by ČT art. The winner of the Grand Prix will also be shown on the Czech Television’s cultural program on the last Monday in September.