From My Homeland concert 6
2023-12-09 19:30 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Josef Suk (1874-1935) Piano Quartet in A minor Op. 1

Johannes Brahms (1833-97) Six songs arranged by David Matthew for baritone & ensemble

Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Intermezzo in B for strings

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) String Quintet in G Op. 111

Roderick Williams joins the Nash Ensemble in this programme of music by close friends. Dvořák’s tender Intermezzo for strings features, along with his son-in-law Josef Suk’s passionate First Piano Quartet. And we hear songs and a sunny String Quintet from Brahms, Dvořák’s energetic Viennese advocate.

Nash Ensemble

Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

Philippa Davies flute

Richard Hosford clarinet

Ursula Leveaux bassoon

Stephen Waarts violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Lawrence Power viola

Adrian Brendel cello

Graham Mitchell double bass

Roderick Williams baritone

see booking link below
The regions of Bohemia and Moravia endured political, military and linguistic control by multiple nations and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘From My Homeland’ showcases some of the most vibrant, imaginative and unusual works written in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as music by Johannes Brahms – friend and champion of Antonín Dvořák.
The series (October 2023 to March 2024) also includes a day of concerts, films and talks dedicated to the victims of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp between 1941-45.
illustration: Moravian Teachers’ Choir poster by Alphonse Mucha

Tomáš Vaněk and guests: Christmas concert
2023-12-09 20:00 - 21:30 | Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL, United Kingdom
A selection of Christmas classics, traditional carols and musical hits in Czech, Slovak and English. Tomáš will be joined by a specially formed children’s choir featuring students from Czech and English schools across London and nearby counties. Plus performances of traditional Slovak folk dances by the children’s folklore ensemble Sovička.
The children’s choir highlights partnerships with charities, voluntary-run organisations and institutions such as the Czech School Without Borders, the Czech School Berkshire, Czech and Slovak School Okénko, Czech School Surrey and Czech and Slovak Club Oxford.
Tomáš Vaněk is a Czech performer, actor and singer.
See booking link below, doors open at 7pm

One Life
2023-12-10 17:30 - 19:30 | Curzon Soho, 99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DY, United Kingdom
The 27th Made in Prague Festival Closing Gala is a preview screening of the upcoming highly anticipated 2023 biographical drama One Life plus Q&A with director James Hawes (tbc)

Directed by James Hawes, the film tells the true story of Sir Nicholas ‘Nicky’ Winton, a young London broker played by Johnny Flynn, who, along with Trevor Chadwick (played by Alex Sharp) and Doreen Warriner (played by Romola Garai) of the British Committee for Refugees in Czechoslovakia, rescued 669 children from the Nazis in the months leading up to World War II. Fifty years later, it’s 1988 and Nicky (played by Anthony Hopkins) lives haunted by the fate of the children he wasn’t able to bring to safety in England; always blaming himself for not doing more. It’s not until a live BBC television show, ‘That’s Life!’, surprises him by introducing him to some surviving children – now adults – that he finally begins to come to terms with the guilt and grief he had carried for five decades.
Director: James Hawes, screenwriters Lucinda Coxon, Nick Drake, UK 2023, 109‘
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Johnny Flynn, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce, Romola Garai
ONE LIFE is in UK and Ireland cinemas from 5 January 2024
Courtesy of Warner Bros
BOOKING LINK COMING SOON

National Theatre Prague: its origins & development
2023-12-19 18:30 - 20:00
An online Zoom event, free for everyone.
Jana Marková explores the establishment of a Czech National Theatre in Prague, its interior and the importance of its work today.
Jana is an official guide of the National Theatre, the Estates Theatre and the State Opera. She is the founder and owner of the Absolutely Prague Travel Agency.
Registration is essential via the Eventbrite link below.

"Get to know you" social evening
2024-01-10 19:00 - 22:00 | Bohemia House, 74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX, United Kingdom
This is an opportunity for anyone interested in the British Czech and Slovak Association (members, supporters and friends) to meet, eat, drink, chat (maybe practise your Czech or Slovak) and get to know each other in a relaxed and informal setting.
Everyone interested in Czech and/or Slovak matters is most welcome to join us.
We will be in one of the rooms at Bohemia House, normally the first room on the left.
Food and drinks are available for purchase.
West Hampstead has three stations served by the Jubilee line, Overground and Thameslink.

Janáček's Jenůfa
2024-01-11 19:00 - 2024-01-14 19:00 | Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, EC2Y 8DS, United Kingdom
Janáček’s searing opera explores a woman’s limited options in a suffocating small town. Jenůfa is pregnant, but she isn’t married. In her mountain village, this means disgrace, or even death. Her stepmother, Kostelnička, wants to help her, but what should she do?

Janáček pondered his characters’ predicament for many years. The opera he eventually completed is a blazing vision of human suffering and redemption, rooted in the rhythms of everyday life.
London Symphony Orchestra
Sir Simon Rattle conductor
Asmik Grigorian Jenůfa
Katarina Karnéus Kostelnička
Aleš Briscein Laca
Nicky Spence Steva
Jan Martiník Starek the Foreman/Mayor
Carole Wilson Grandmother Buryjovka
Claire Barnett-Jones Barena/Herdswoman
London Symphony Chorus

From My Homeland concert 7
2024-01-13 19:30 - 21:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Selection from Cypresses for string quartet
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Sextet No. 1 in B flat Op. 18
Josef Suk (1874-1935) Meditation on an old Bohemian Chorale (St Wenceslas) for string quartet Op. 35a
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Piano Trio in E minor Op. 90 ‘Dumky’

NASH ENSEMBLE

Alisdair Beatson piano

Stephanie Gonley violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Lars Anders Tomter viola

Rachel Roberts viola

Adrian Brendel cello

Gemma Rosefield cello

In musical reflections old and new, this concert combines Dvořák’s instrumental reworking of youthful love songs with Brahms’ first large-scale string chamber work and Suk’s tender Meditation on ‘Saint Wenceslas’. The brilliant fireworks of Dvořák’s ‘Dumky’ Trio complete the programme.

General sale for this concert will open at 10.00am on Tuesday 10 October.
The regions of Bohemia and Moravia endured political, military and linguistic control by multiple nations and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘From My Homeland’ showcases some of the most vibrant, imaginative and unusual works written in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as music by Johannes Brahms – friend and champion of Antonín Dvořák.
The series (October 2023 to March 2024) also includes a day of concerts, films and talks dedicated to the victims of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp between 1941-45.
illustration: Moravian Teachers’ Choir poster by Alphonse Mucha

Bohumil Hrabal: Pearls of the Deep
2024-01-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
Pearls of the Deep is one of the delights of the 1960s Czechoslovak New Wave. Based on stories by Bohumil Hrabal, the film is a compendium of five films each demonstrating the differing styles of five emerging filmmakers: Jiří Menzel, Jan Němec, Evald Schorm, Věra Chytilová, and Jaromil Jireš.
Each vignette (Mr Balthazar’s Death; The Imposters; The House of Joy; The Restaurant The World; Romance) displays unique approaches to Hrabal’s multi-faceted tales of ordinary people and odd obsessions.
With an introduction by Mehelli Modi.
Second Run presents the world Blu-ray premiere of Pearls of the Deep from a brand new 4K restoration.

Spiral stabilization exercise method
2024-01-30 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
An exercise method invented by a Czech medical doctor that can be used by anyone who wishes to improve their posture, treat back pain, prevent injuries, maintain good health and sports conditioning. It is suitable for adults of all ages as well as athletes and children. The exercises can be done comfortably at home or under the supervision of a therapist.
Therapist Jana Mitačková of Spiral Stabilization UK will demonstrate some of the exercises and answer your questions afterwards.
This event will take place in person and will also be livestreamed.
Light refreshments will be provided.
BCSA members enjoy free entry but registration via Eventbrite is essential. Non-members £10, full-time students £5. See booking link below.
All proceeds from this event will go to the BCSA School Support Fund established in 2004 to provide support for English language skills in Czech and Slovak schools and other educational institutions. For more information about our fund see https://www.bcsa.co.uk/school-support-fund/

Santini and his world of architecture
2024-02-01 09:00 - 2024-02-24 18:00 | National Technical Museum, Kostelní 42, Prague 7, 170 78, Czech Republic
An exhibition to mark 300 years since the death of Jan Blažej Santini Aichel. The Prague-born architect of Italian origin is known for his Baroque Gothic style. Among his most famous works is the church of St John of Nepomuk on Zelená Hora which has UNESCO World Heritage status.
He died in Prague on 7 December 1723 aged 46.
closed on Mondays
Find out more in this article 300 years since death of great Czech architect Jan Blažej Santini Aichel | Radio Prague International
photo: Martina Schneibergová, Radio Prague International

From My Homeland concert 8
2024-02-10 17:30 - 18:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Selection from Slavonic Dances (for piano duet)
Josef Suk (1874-1935) Piano Trio in C minor Op. 2
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Horn Trio in E flat Op. 40

NASH ENSEMBLE

Simon Crawford-Phillips piano
Alasdair Beatson piano
Stephanie Gonley violin
Adrian Brendel cello
Richard Watkins horn

Josef Suk was just 17 when he completed his Piano Trio – whilst studying with Dvořák, later to become his father-in-law. Suk’s passionate Trio is paired here with Brahms’s chamber showpiece for horn, and a selection of Dvořák’s famous Slavonic Dances.
General sale for this concert will open at 10.00am on Tuesday 10 October

The regions of Bohemia and Moravia endured political, military and linguistic control by multiple nations and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘From My Homeland’ showcases some of the most vibrant, imaginative and unusual works written in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as music by Johannes Brahms – friend and champion of Antonín Dvořák.
The series (October 2023 to March 2024) also includes a day of concerts, films and talks dedicated to the victims of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp between 1941-45.
illustration: Moravian Teachers’ Choir poster by Alphonse Mucha

From My Homeland concert 9
2024-02-10 19:30 - 21:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)

Waltz in A Op. 54 No. 1

Waltz in D flat Op. 54 No. 4

String Sextet in A Op. 48

Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) Clarinet Quintet in B minor Op. 115

NASH ENSEMBLE
Stephanie Gonley violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Lars Anders Tomter viola

Rachel Roberts viola

Adrian Brendel cello

Gemma Rosefield cello

Richard Hosford clarinet

Brahms’s Clarinet Quintet was written for a virtuoso whom he teasingly described as his ‘Prima donna’. Its rich lyricism makes for a perfect pairing with Dvořák’s Sextet, which features several hat-tips to his good friend Brahms.

General sale for this concert will open at 10.00am on Tuesday 10 October

The regions of Bohemia and Moravia endured political, military and linguistic control by multiple nations and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘From My Homeland’ showcases some of the most vibrant, imaginative and unusual works written in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as music by Johannes Brahms – friend and champion of Antonín Dvořák.
The series (October 2023 to March 2024) also includes a day of concerts, films and talks dedicated to the victims of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp between 1941-45.
illustration: Moravian Teachers’ Choir poster by Alphonse Mucha

From My Homeland concert 10
2024-02-11 11:30 - 12:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) From My Homeland for violin and piano
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904) Piano Quartet No. 2 in E flat Op. 87
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1959) Suite from La revue de cuisine

NASH ENSEMBLE

Simon Crawford-Phillips piano

Stephanie Gonley violin

Lars Anders Tomter viola

Richard Hosford clarinet

Ursula Leveaux bassoon

Philip Cobb trumpet

Three generations of Czech music feature in this lively programme. Smetana’s late, quasi-operatic violin pieces From My Homeland are followed by Dvořák’s vibrant second Piano Quartet; and from Martinů comes a drama of kitchen utensils in the brilliantly witty La Revue de Cuisine.

General sale for this concert will open at 10.00am on Tuesday 10 October

The regions of Bohemia and Moravia endured political, military and linguistic control by multiple nations and governments in the 19th and 20th centuries. ‘From My Homeland’ showcases some of the most vibrant, imaginative and unusual works written in the 1800s and 1900s, as well as music by Johannes Brahms – friend and champion of Antonín Dvořák.
The series (October 2023 to March 2024) also includes a day of concerts, films and talks dedicated to the victims of the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp between 1941-45.
illustration: Moravian Teachers’ Choir poster by Alphonse Mucha

Pavel Haas Quartet
2024-02-11 14:30 - 16:30 | Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Hope Street, Liverpool, L1 9BP, United Kingdom
The Czech ensemble presents a celebration of composers from their homeland.
Martinů String Quartet No.3
Kaprálová String Quartet No.1, Op. 8
Dvořák String Quartet No.11 in C major, Op.61C
The quartet is based in Prague and studied with the late Milan Škampa, the legendary violist of the Smetana Quartet. They take their name from the Czech-Jewish composer Pavel Haas (1899–1944) who was imprisoned at Theresienstadt in 1941 and tragically died at Auschwitz three years later. His legacy includes three wonderful string quartets.

Pavel Haas Quartet
2024-02-12 19:30 - 21:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom

The Awakening of Czech National Consciousness
2024-02-13 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
This illustrated talk will trace the great cultural and intellectual revival that began in the early years of the 19th century with a key moment being the foundation in 1818 of ‘The Society of the Patriotic Museum in Bohemia’. In the second half of the century the nationalist movement gathered momentum and found its expression in works of art and architecture, literature and music, culminating in the foundation of the new Czecho-Slovak Republic.
Caroline Cannon-Brookes is an art historian, trained at the Courtauld Institute and a former lecturer in the University of Oxford, Department for Continuing Education. She has led many tours to the Czech Republic to which she is a regular visitor.
Tickets £15 (includes a glass of wine following the talk)
Register via Eventbrite link below
All proceeds raised go towards the care and conservation of Czech heritage.
Image: The František Palacký Monument (1912) by Stanislav Sucharda, in Prague’s New Town. Two groups of sculptures wage a battle between the forces of good and evil.
© Elis J, Creative Commons Wikimedia.

“Get to know you” social evening
2024-02-14 19:00 - 22:00, 2024-03-13 19:00 - 22:00 | Bohemia House, 74 West End Lane, London, NW6 2LX, United Kingdom

A Tale of Three Grandmothers: Božena Němcová in her time and ours
2024-02-22 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
Božena Němcová’s ‘Babička’ is one of the best-loved works of Czech literature. She herself was a prominent figure in 19th-century literary circles and the National Revival despite the disadvantages which she faced as a woman writer and in a troubled personal life. Susan Reynolds will consider the two existing translations into English (1891 and 1962), the challenges of preparing a new one, and changing perceptions of Němcová’s life and work in the 21st century. Susan has recently completed a new translation of Božena Němcová’s ‘Babička’ for Jantar Publishing.

Susan Reynolds was appointed as curator of Czech and Slovak at the British Library in 2004 and now works in its department of Research Services. She has lectured and published on Czech cultural links with France and Germany, and her publications include translations of Karel Jaromír Erben’s ‘Kytice’ (2013), the Adorno-Kracauer correspondence (2020) and a chapter in ‘Racine’s Roman Tragedies’ (2022).

This event will take place in person and will also be livestreamed.
BCSA members enjoy free entry but registration is essential via Eventbrite. Non-members £10, full-time students £5.
All proceeds from this event will go to the BCSA School Support Fund established in 2004 to provide support for English language skills in Czech and Slovak schools and other educational institutions. For more information about our fund, see https://www.bcsa.co.uk/school-support-fund/
Light refreshments will be provided.

Theresienstadt-Terezín 1941-1945
2024-03-09 15:00 - 17:00 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
This focus session on the composers sent to Terezín in the 1940s includes a talk by writer and broadcaster Simon Broughton, a filmed interview with holocaust survivor Zdenka Fantlová, and a screening of the award-winning film The Music of Terezín.
Theresienstadt – or Terezín to give it its Czech name – was a Nazi camp where inmates were allowed to stage a whole range of entertainment for visitors. In reality the prisoners were starved, suffered hard labour and disease, and struggled for survival. The Nash Ensemble seeks to offer a reminder of these struggles through the presentation of films and talks, a children’s art exhibition, and the performance of works by composers whose exceptional talent was so cruelly cut short.
This event will take place in the Wigmore Hall Learning Room.
General sale for this event will open at 10:00AM on Tuesday 3 October.

Theresienstadt-Terezín 1941-1945
2024-03-09 17:30 - 18:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
This concert brings together string chamber works by four of the most artistically active composers who spent time in Terezín. Klein, Krása and Domažlický all wrote their pieces at the camp, whilst Haas’s Janáček-inspired Second Quartet dates from the 1920s.
Gideon Klein (1919-1945) String Trio
František Domažlický (1913-1997) Song without Words for string quartet
Hans Krása (1899-1944) Tanec for string trio
Pavel Haas (1899-1944) String Quartet No. 2 Op. 7 ‘From the Monkey Mountains’ for string quartet and percussion

Nash Ensemble

Benjamin Nabarro violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Lawrence Power viola

Adrian Brendel cello

Chris Brannick percussion

General sale for this concert will open at 10:00AM on Tuesday 3 October.

Theresienstadt-Terezín 1941-1945
2024-03-09 19:30 - 21:30 | Wigmore Hall, 36 Wigmore Street, London, W1U 2BP, United Kingdom
Ullman and Krása – students of Schoenberg and Zemlinsky respectively – feature in this programme alongside the so-called ‘father’ of Czech nationalist music, Smetana. Krása’s Brundibár was performed an astonishing 55 times in Terezín, carefully arranged by its composer for the forces available in the camp.
Viktor Ullman (1898-1944) String Quartet No. 3 Op. 46
Bedřich Smetana (1824-84) Piano Trio in G minor Op. 15
Hans Krása (1899-1944) Suite from Brundibár (arranged for piano, flute, clarinet, trumpet, string quartet and percussion)
Selection from songs by Ilse Weber, Adolf Strauss, Carlo Sigmund Taube, Hans Krása and more

NASH ENSEMBLE

Philip Moore piano

Benjamin Nabarro violin

Jonathan Stone violin

Lawrence Power viola

Adrian Brendel cello

Chris Brannick percussion

Konstantin Krimmel baritone

General sale for this concert will open at 10:00AM on Tuesday 3 October.

Smetana Unveiled
2024-03-12 19:00 - 21:00 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
Join us to celebrate the bicentenary of Bedřich Smetana, the Czech composer whose melodies have echoed through generations and whose music includes the enchanting cycle of symphonic poems My Country and the popular opera The Bartered Bride.
Delve into Smetana’s fascinating journey with us as we explore his tumultuous life, his unwavering nationalist spirit, and his enduring impact on the Czech musical heritage.
From the heartrending strains of his orchestral works to the poignant tales woven into his operas, Smetana’s oeuvre captures the essence of Czech identity and resilience.
Our distinguished panel of experts, including Jan Smaczny, emeritus professor at Queen’s University Belfast, Dr. Thomas Jaermann, composer and musicologist, and Sandra Bergmannová, Director of the Bedřich Smetana Museum, will reveal the mysteries behind Smetana’s life and work.
Tomáš Hanus, Music Director of Welsh National Opera will discuss (via ZOOM from Brno) the latest production of Smetana’s opera Dalibor, directed by Sir David Pountney in Brno which he conducted.
Chaired by John Allison, Editor of Opera magazine.

Tickets @ £6.13 via Eventbrie link below
Part of the Year of Czech Music and Smetana 2024.
In collaboration with the Czech Tourism.
SPEAKERS:
Sandra Bergmannová
Sandra Bergmannová is the Head of the Bedřich Smetana Museum – National Museum in Prague. She is one of the main authors of the exhibition Famous Czech Composers (2020-2022) and the books of the same name in Czech and English. In the research on the life and work of Bedřich Smetana she specializes on creating of the online catalogue of works and is head of the project of the critical edition of the 3rd volume of Smetana’s correspondence (1875-1879). Previously she worked as a musicologist at the Bohuslav Martinů Institute in Prague, where she stood at the beginning of the crucial projects, such as: digitisation of Bohuslav Martinů’s works, Martinů database online, and Bohuslav Martinů Complete Critical Edition.
Tomáš Hanus
Tomáš Hanus, Music Director of the Welsh National Opera, is recognised as one of the Czech Republic’s most exciting and important conductors. He has conducted at major European opera houses including the Wiener Staatsoper, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, Royal Danish Opera, Oslo Opera House, Teatro Real Madrid and the Teatro alla Scala. In demand as a conductor of symphonic music, he has conducted many prestigious orchestras including the LSO, SWR Symphonieorchester Baden-Baden, Czech Philharmonic, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He opened the 2023 Prague Spring Festival with WNO Orchestra with Smetana’s Ma Vlast. In February 2024 Tomáš returned to the Brno Theatre with a new production of Dalibor.
Dr Thomas Jaermann
Originally from Zurich, Switzerland, Dr Thomas Jaermann obtained a PhD in musicology from the University of Zurich for his research on music and national identity. His postdoctoral research resulted in the award of the inaugural Recognition Prize from the G. A. Derungs Foundation for his compilation of a catalogue of the complete works by Swiss composer Gion A. Derungs. Since moving to the UK, Thomas has taught music and German at independent schools in the London and South East areas. His current research involves the life and work of composer Bedřich Smetana and his most recent invited paper on Smetana was presented as part of the 2023 international conference on Bedřich Smetana and European Opera in Litomyšl, and is due to be published in 2024. Thomas also composes music including piano, chamber music and orchestral film scores.
Jan Smaczny
Jan Smaczny is well known as an authority on many aspects of Czech music. His publications include books on Dvorak’s B-minor Cello Concerto, the repertoire of the Prague Provisional Theatre, many articles, chapters and major encyclopaedia entries on Czech music and culture as well as edited volumes on Irish Music and Bach’s B-minor Mass. Jan is a graduate of Oxford University and studied for two years at the Music Faculty of the Charles University, Prague. He is the Sir Hamilton Harty Professor of Music Emeritus at Queen’s University, Belfast.
Chair:
John Allison
John Allison is Editor of Opera and Music Critic on The Daily Telegraph. He has written for leading newspapers around the world, including the New York Times, and is a regular contributor to BBC Music Magazine. He is the author of two books (Edward Elgar: Sacred Music and The Pocket Companion to Opera), and has contributed articles to the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians and New Penguin Opera Guide, as well as several chapters to other books. He edited the Glyndebourne Festival programmes from 2000 to 2012 and now acts in a similar capacity for Wexford Festival Opera. A jury member at many international music competitions, he also co-founded the International Opera Awards in 2013

Jenůfa
2024-03-13 19:30 - 2024-03-27 19:30 | English National Opera, St Martin’s Lane, London, WC2N 4ES, United Kingdom
A tale of honour, love and sacrifice, Leoš Janáček’s opera Jenůfa explores the stigma of pregnancy out of wedlock against the backdrop of a small community.
Loved by two half-brothers, Jenůfa is secretly pregnant by one of them. Abandoned by the child’s father, she gives birth alone, only assisted by her stepmother. Unaware of the child, the second brother pledges to marry Jenůfa, but, as their wedding looms, tragedy strikes.
Concerned for the family’s reputation, her stepmother commits an unspeakable act in the hope that dishonour is averted and Jenůfa does not remain alone. But when a baby’s body is found in the river on the wedding day, the devastating truth is revealed to all.
Directed by David Alden, ENO’s Olivier Award-winning staging updates the setting to an isolated 20th century industrial estate in the Eastern Bloc, giving the story a contemporary edge that makes it feel even more relevant for today’s audiences.
Janáček’s powerfully rich score is conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson. Soprano Jennifer Davis makes her role debut as Jenůfa, with Susan Bullock as her stepmother Kostelnička and Richard Trey Smagur making his ENO debut as Laca. ENO Harewood Artist, John Findon, sings Steva.
Sung in English with the words displayed above the stage (surtitles)

BCSA Annual General Meeting 2024
2024-03-20 18:00 - 18:45 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
The BCSA AGM is open to all subscription members. The agenda includes the presentation of the chairman’s and financial reports for 2023 plus the election of honorary officers of the executive committee. Copies of the independently examined accounts for 2023 and the minutes of the AGM held on 21 March 2023 will be available at the meeting together with the treasurer’s report.
The four honorary officer posts – chairman, vice-chairman, secretary and treasurer – are held for one year and are subject to election at every AGM. The current vice-chairman, Ruzena Holub, secretary, Blanka Shrimpton and treasurer, Ivona Klemensova, are willing to stand for re-election.
Ladislav Hornan is standing down as chairman. The executive committee is nominating Jana Nahodilova for this post.
No other committee members are eligible for re-election this year.
Any subscription member of the BCSA can be nominated as an honorary officer or committee member. Nomination forms can be obtained from Blanka Shrimpton by e-mail: secretary@bcsa.co.uk and returned to her by 13 March 2024.
Please register your attendance, or apologies for absence, to secretary@bcsa.co.uk.
The AGM will also be livestreamed via Zoom; the link will be made available following registration.
Jakub Hrůša in conversation will follow the formal part of the evening.

Jakub Hrůša in conversation with Nigel Simeone
2024-03-20 19:00 - 21:00 | Czech Embassy cinema, 26 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
The Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša and musicologist Nigel Simeone will discuss their musical careers & Czech music. They will go back to their musical beginnings, their life experiences in various countries and the role that classical music and Czech music play in contemporary society. Their common loves, such as Leoš Janáček or Leonard Bernstein, will be at the forefront of the discussion. They may also share their opinion about the new critically acclaimed movie “Maestro“. Their discussion will also be livestreamed.
This event marks the Year of Czech Music 2024 and also the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Dvořák Society for Czech and Slovak Music in the UK.
Years ending in a four have special significance in Czech music, often coinciding with the anniversaries of the birth, death of the most prominent Czech composers, or else the creation of their key works. 2024 marks the 120th anniversary of the passing of Antonín Dvořák and 130 years since composition of his piano pieces Humoresky. It is also 200 years since the birth of Bedřich Smetana, 140 years since his death and 150 years since the composition of his famous symphonic poems Má vlast. It is also 170 years since the birth of Leoš Janáček and 120 years since his composition of Jenůfa.
More information about the Year of Czech Music can be found at: Year of Czech Music | Rok české hudby 2024 (rokceskehudby.cz)
Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Music Director Designate of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (from September 2025), Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, and Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. He was previously Principal Guest Conductor of the Philharmonia Orchestra and of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra. He is the 2023 Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year.
Hrůša is a frequent guest with many of the world’s greatest orchestras, enjoying close relationships and performing regularly with the Vienna Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Bavarian Radio Symphony, Munich Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Tonhalle Orchester Zürich, Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony and the Mahler Chamber Orchestra – and in the USA with the Cleveland Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Jakub is one of the ambassadors of the Year of Czech Music 2024, a patron of the Smetana 200 project and is due to perform Smetana’s opera Libuše with the Czech Philharmonic at the Prague Spring and Smetana Litomyšl festivals.
Nigel Simeone was born in London in 1956. He is a writer and broadcaster with a lifelong interest in Czech music – an enthusiasm ignited by seeing a production of The Cunning Little Vixen during a school trip to Germany in 1970. He is the author of three books on Janáček including Janáček’s Works (1997) and The Janáček Compendium (2019). His other books include three with a focus on the relationship between composers and conductors: The Leonard Bernstein Letters (2013), Charles Mackerras (2015) and Ralph Vaughan Williams and Adrian Boult (2022). He appears regularly on BBC Radio 3 (Record Review and Opera on 3) and contributes articles to Opera and Gramophone (most recently a feature on Smetana in the March 2024 issue). He also writes programme notes for the Salzburg Festival, Wexford Festival, Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra and the Wigmore Hall.
Light refreshments will be served following the talk.
Booking is essential via Eventbrite to attend in person or receive the online link (see below)
BCSA and Dvořák Society members enjoy free entry. Non-members £10, full-time students £5.
All proceeds from this event will go to the BCSA School Support Fund established in 2004 to provide support for English language skills in Czech and Slovak schools and other educational institutions. For more information, see https://www.bcsa.co.uk/school-support-fund/

Hybrid symposium - Arthur Fleischmann (1896 – 1990)
2024-03-22 09:30 - 17:30 | Slovak Embassy, 25 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY, United Kingdom
The Significance of Arthur Fleischmann’s International Career
See our profile of Arthur Fleischmann here
The decision by the City Council of Bratislava in 2023 to close the Arthur Fleischmann Museum (established in 2002) has raised concern in international academic and cultural circles and has been featured in depth on Slovak television. Discussions are underway to re-open it, either at its original location, Fleischmann’s family home, a sixteenth-century town house in the centre of Bratislava, or at an alternative venue in the city.
Since his death in 1990, Fleischmann’s sculpture has inspired global scholarly interest, reflecting the scope of his international career in Bratislava, Vienna, Padua, Johannesburg, Bali, Sydney, London and Los Angeles.
Symposium Programme
9.30 – 9.35
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Court of St James’s, Róbert Ondrejcsák
9.35 – 9.40
British Ambassador to Slovakia, Nigel Baker OBE MVO
Session 1 Arthur Fleischmann in Bali and Australia – Chair Dominique Fleischmann, son of Arthur Fleischmann
9.40 – 10.00
Arthur Fleischmann and his Australian Legacy, Jim Bertouch
10.00 – 10.20
Arthur Fleischmann on Bali: contexts and connections, Gianni Orsini
10.20 – 10.50
What We Have Seen in Heaven: the Jewish Temple, Christian Mystical Ascent and the Art of Arthur Fleischmann, Fr Dominic White O.P.
10.50 – 11.00 Q&A
11.00 – 11.20 Coffee break
Session 2 Arthur Fleischmann’s Early Life – Chair Joanna Barnes, Arthur Fleischmann Foundation Trustee
11.20 – 11.40
The Press Photography of Red Vienna 1929-1938, Professor Eva Bransome
11.40 – 12.00
Fleischmann’s background: family, schooling and early artistic life before 1938, Dr Thomas Lorman
12.00 – 12.20
My Personal Recollections of the Establishment of the Arthur Fleischmann Museum, Štefan Holčik
12.20 – 12.40
Arthur Fleischmann and the Interwar Slovak Moderna, Marianna Oracová
12.40 – 1.00
Arthur Fleischmann’s Ceramic Sculptures and Artifacts from the Interwar Period, Mgr Zuzana Francová
1.00 – 1.20 Q&A
1.20 – 2.00 Lunch Break
Session 3 London and the later work – Chair Dr Robert Burstow, University of Derby
2.00 – 2.20
Lot’s Wife and the Worlds of Yesterday and Tomorrow, Dr Philip Ward-Jackson
2.20 – 2.40
Space. Light and Form, Dr Lucia Gregorová Stach
2.40 – 2.50 Q&A
Session 5 Central European Émigré Sculptors – Chair Dr Holly Trusted, Public Statues and Sculpture Association
2.50 – 3.10
Oscar Nemon (1906–1985) – Émigré Sculptor, Aurelia Young
3.10 – 3.30
Arthur Fleischmann and Peter László Péri: the work and patrons of two Hungarian-born sculptors in Cold War Britain, Dr Robert Burstow
3.30 – 3.50
Parallel Lives? – Arthur Fleischmann and Willi Soukop: Two Émigré Sculptors in London, Sarah MacDougall
3.50 – 4.00 Q&A
4.00 – 4.20 Tea break
Session 6 Arthur Fleischmann’s Legacy – Chair Gervase Hood, Arthur Fleischmann Foundation Trustee
4.20 – 4.35
Sculptors’ Archives as Challenge and Legacy: the Example of Arthur Fleischmann at Tate?
Dr Darragh O’Donoghue
4.35 – 4.45
The Arthur Fleischmann Archive, Peter Simpson and Dominique Fleischmann
4.45 – 5.00
From Water, Light and Starwars to Figure and Abstraction, Nick Hornby
5.00 – 5.15 Q&A
5.15 – 5.30 Closing remarks, Dominique Fleischmann

Free event, but you must register to attend by emailing: ArthurFleischmannFoundation@gmail.com
It is imperative that you bring photo ID with you to the event.

To see Abstracts of Papers and Biographies of Speakers and Chairs click here

The Ride of the Kings (Jízda Králů): a folkore festival
2024-04-23 18:30 - 20:30 | Czech Embassy, 26-30 Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W8 4QY
This annual tradition held in Vlčnov, Moravia dates back over 200 years. Its origins are associated with a legend that when King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary fled from King Jiří z Poděbrad of Bohemia, he wore a girl’s dress, covered his face with a ribbon, and held a rose in his mouth so as not to be recognised. The king is played by a young boy, also with a rose in his mouth and a ribbon around his head, who enters the village on a white horse. In 2011 it was added to the UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage.
Ben Meyer is an Australian/American documentary photographer who has lived in the Czech Republic for the past seven years. During the festival he stayed with members of the king’s entourage and was ‘exposed to an incredibly rich and proud Czech folklore culture’.
This event will take place in person and will also be livestreamed.
BCSA members enjoy free entry but registration is essential. Non-members £10, full-time students £5.
Light refreshments will be provided.
All proceeds from this event will go to the BCSA School Support Fund established in 2004 to provide support for English language skills in Czech and Slovak schools and other educational institutions. More information about our fund, see https://www.bcsa.co.uk/school-support-fund/

Baroque in Bavaria and Bohemia
2024-04-24 10:00 - 2024-05-08 18:00 | National Museum Prague, Václavské náměstí 68, Prague, Czech Republic
This exhibition focuses on the period from 1720-1820 with 218 items on loan from 54 Czech and 33 foreign institutions. It explores a shared culture despite political conflicts and is divided into six sections covering art, architecture, music and science.
Previously hosted by the House of Bavarian History in Regensburg.

Padesátá léta (1950s)
2024-04-24 10:00 - 2024-05-30 18:00 | National Museum Prague, Václavské náměstí 68, Prague, Czech Republic
A new exhibition in the Historical Building of Prague’s National Museum introduces visitors to a dark decade of Czechoslovak history when the country was decimated by totalitarianism and controlled by the party apparatus. At the same time, there was an era of post-war optimism and the vain hope among some people that they were building a better tomorrow.

The 1950s is one of the bleakest periods in modern Czech history. The ruling Communist Party of Czechoslovakia was responsible for political trials, judicial murders, lawlessness, and the liquidation of democratic principles of state administration, according to the exhibition’s curators.

The totalitarian regime affected all areas of the Czechoslovak social structure, including the economy, culture, politics, and foreign image of the country. This era set the future character of Czech society and distorted it for many decades.

The exhibition presents the broader context of the 1950s, with a central focus on the deaths of Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin and Czech party chairman Klement Gottwald.
Source: expats.cz New National Museum exhibit sheds light on the shadowy 1950s – Prague, Czech Republic (expats.cz)
Photo: National Musuem
