Help: trad. music in Prague and points north

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: Bert
Date: 11 Apr 01 - 12:12 AM

Try making contact with Radio Praha. I had a friend there named Dora Slaba, but we lost touch years ago.

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 10 Apr 01 - 09:45 PM

Petr, nope, that festival in Vlènov is this year: "05/2001: 25.-27," which would be next month, the 25th through the 27th. :)

I wish I could go... Hey, leeneia: You and your husband wouldn't want to temporarily adopt me, would you? I'm almost 27, but I can pass for a hideously deformed teenager, if I try...

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 08:10 PM

to clarify, when I said touristy I just mean youre more likely to get overcharged but it is a very well known venue (the foods not much, when I was there there were about 3 items on the menu, goulash, pork & dumplings with sourkraut (the national dish) and we didnt even catch any music at the time (there was no band but it was still full). Possibly the best advice is to ask the locals at the hotels. They are big on classical, as well as bluegrass and country music. Again brass band music (dechova hudba or dechovka) is very common in a lot of pubs usually there are singers as well, and the eastern moravian music which is very different in style you will definitely find in Moravia if you have a few days to spare I would recommend it. There are many country inns which catered to shepherds. Often there is music in these places. While Prague is definitely a beautiful destination many people spend a few days there and miss out on the lovely countryside. enjoy your trip there (I did have a look at the above site and the Festival in Vlcnov (Vlchnov) is last years) but that is very much in the Moravian style. petr

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 06 Apr 01 - 09:33 AM

Thanks, Lepus Rex. I will print this out and see if it comes to anything.

"Klub sportu a kultury" just might refer to a club with sports and culture, don't you think?

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: Lepus Rex
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 09:56 PM

Hi, leeneia. I promise I won't annoy you this time;) I found MUZIKONTAKT, a Czech musical directory. Partly in English, but probably makes more sense if you read Czech. Took a quick look around the site, and during your stay there, I found two folk music festivals. One is in Prage, the other in Vlènov, in Moravia. There was no email address for these festivals, but there's phone #'s...

In Praha:
SBRATØENÍ
Slavnostní pøehlídkový festival folklorních i jiných souborù
05/2001: 25.-27. - SLAVIÈÍN
Folklorní sdru¾ení ÈR
Senová¾né nám. 24; 116 47 Praha 1
tel.: [phone]; fax: [phone]


In Vlènov:
VLÈNOVSKÉ SLAVNOSTI
s tradièní 192. jízdou králù
05/2001: 25.-27. - VLÈNOV
Klub sportu a kultury
687 61 Vlènov
tel.: [phone] + fax, OÚ: 675212


Hope this helps:)

---Lepus Rex

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 12:04 PM

Petr: U Fleku may be touristy, but if it's got interesting music, what's wrong with that? Thanks for the tip.

It's a sad thing that when it comes to music, all the travel books we have cover rock, jazz, and classical music, but give no tips on where to find the authentic music of the region being discussed.

(When we were in Ireland two years ago, we found what little traditional music there was by asking the staff at our hotel. Usually we started with the owner, who then asked an employee, who was usually named Theresa. The query goes, "Theresa, is there traditional tonight?"

Does anybody else know anything about Prague or Germany?

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 12:08 AM

I fofgot a standard Prague joke. Why do Prague policemen go around in groups of 3. #1 can read, #2 can write, and #3 keeps a steady eye on those two intellectuals.

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,Bruce O.
Date: 05 Apr 01 - 12:06 AM

A Rusian scientist from Moscow U (who has subsequently stayed with me for several days at at a time in the USA) took me on a tour of Prague and the Saturday after a symposium there. While coming back from main old downtown we were crossing Charles Bridge, when we were approached by two men who asked if we wanted to change money. I didn't know what was going on, so looked at my new found Russian friend. He also looked at me, and said "They mean you. They don't want rubles". A few minutes later we discovered that the potential money changers were being followed by two obvious plainclothes policement. Whether the first two were being watched, or tourists were being lured into entrapment we didn't know.

The excellent transportation system was explaind to me, and it was noted that the few kopecks charged for fares were just to keep schoolkids from getting on and riding on all sightseeing trips.

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 10:51 PM

You are whetting my appetite. Keep it coming.

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,petr
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 02:40 PM

I believe in May there is a Classical music festival with free concerts in many venues. I caught one when I was there in 95'. Often there are bands busking on the Charles Bridge and in front of Hradcany Castle. I spent my first decade in Czechoslovakia (as it was then) and heard quite a lot of Brass band music - it comes from the Austrian and German military tradition - the older tradition was fiddle and bagpipe (which were bellows pipes and the piper often sang at the same time). The cimbalom, a dulcimer played often with 2 hammers in each hand is commonly played in the eastern parts of the republic (Moravia) where the music is markedly different, more greek and gypsy influenced. (the instruments are usually fiddle, cimbalom, clarinet and vocals) I dont know where you could hear that in Prague but one well known venue is a pub called U Fleku (At Flek's) which has live music and several cabaret rooms. its Touristy. enjoy your holiday. Petr

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: Stewart
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 02:34 PM

My wife and I were in Prague last Sept. - a beautiful city and quite walkable (also good public transportation). Stopped by a restaurant courtyard just off the Old Town Square, where a small group was playing trad music with dancers (I think it was more Romanian gypsy than Czech). At the east entrance to the Castle (Hradcanske namesti) there is a fine string-quartet street music group playing trad Czech music - say hello to Josef (with the mustach). Re the cymbolon - when we were in Dresden earlier, along the river, stopped to hear and talk to two street musicians - father playing a flute accomp by his son on the cymbolon, probably Rom gypsies, not German. Enjoy your trip - Prague is beautiful.

Cheers, S. in Seattle

Subject: RE: Help: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,#1
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:50 PM

I don't think that was Omaha, where I started from. At an inn/bar I heard some in Prague, but the audience was so much more interested in talking than listening, that I couldn't hear much of it. If you run into a jazz man named Pliva, say hello from a friend of his father (transplanted to Pennsylvania)

Subject: trad. music in Prague and points north
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 04 Apr 01 - 01:42 PM

Me and the DH (dear husband) are going to central Europe from May 16 - 27th. We will be in Prague four days, then we will boat north on the Elbe/Labo to Berlin.

Where might we go to hear traditional Czech or German music on this route? (I understand that the Czechs have an instrument called the cymbolon which seems rather like a hammer dulcimer and would like to hear one.)

I have a friend from a Czech-American town in Nebraska, and she says that brass bands were big. That would be okay, too.

Yes, I know the Spring music festival is on, but I can hear Mozart and Beethoven anywhere.