Bedřich Smetana - Biography

There is probably not a single person in our country who would not remember the composer Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) this year, the jubilee Year of Czech Music. Even children at school learn about him that he laid the foundations of Czech national music. He composed The Bartered Bride, My Country and Louise's Polka and then the poor man went deaf and died, it's a sad story. How to write about a composer? This is usually done in two ways. Scholarly monographs describe facts gathered by collecting archival material: the more facts, the more accurate the portrait, it's worth it. In this book, Pavel Kosatík tries to go another way. By studying the sources, he came to the conclusion that there may be enough facts available, but that we had not thought them through sufficiently with regard to the needs of our time. The author disagrees with the main thesis, the one most often put forward, about Smetana as the founder of Czech music. He sees him as a representative of European music. He believes that world music did not begin to emerge in this country with Antonín Dvořák, but with Bedřich Smetana. It's never too late to start putting things right, and the time to do so may be now. Pavel Kosatík: Bedřich Smetana - Biography | Read by Jakub Hrůša | Directed by Jitka Škápíková | Sound, editing and mastering by Karolína Škápíková | Music variations of Bedřich Smetana's compositions performed by Ivo Kahánek | Recorded in the studio of S Pro Alfa CZ | CD graphics adapted from the original book cover by Yvone Baalbaki | Photo by Jakub Hrůša © Marian Lenhard | Production by S Pro Alfa CZ | Supervision by Alena Brožová | Published by Euromedia Group, a. does - Témbr, in October 2024. The recording is based on a book. Copyright © 2024 Pavel Kosatík | All rights reserved | Published by Euromedia Group, a. does – v edici Universum v roce 2024. Pavel Kosatík (* 1962) Spisovatel a scenárista. After studying at the Law Faculty of Charles University (he graduated with a doctorate in legal history), he worked for several years as a lawyer at the Dilia agency, editor of the publishing house Čs. writer, editor and editor of Mladá fronta Dnes, deputy editor-in-chief of Reflex and editor-in-chief of the review Národní 3. Since 1996 he has been a freelance author. Among his best-known books is the biography T. G. Masaryk, Jan Masaryk, Ferdinand Peroutka, Paul Tigrid, Přemysl Pitter, Olga Havel, Pavel Kohout, Emil Zátopek, Věra Čáslavská and many others. Among his essay books, the most popular were Czech Dreaming, Czech Democrats, Czech Intelligentsia and Slovak Century. The Euromedia Group has produced books such as Emil the Runner (2015), 100 × TGM (2017), 100 × Václav Havel (2019), Planner Story (2021) and Matches. Blind Man (2023). Jakub Hrůša (*1981) He is chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic and the Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome and from autumn 2025 he will be Music Director of the Royal Opera House in London. He performs annually with the most prestigious orchestras in Europe, such as the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, and with the best orchestras in the USA and Japan. He has directed operas in many European capitals. A video recording of Janáček with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra from Salzburg won the prestigious ICMA award. With his Bamberg ensemble, Hrůša also won the Opus Klassik and twice again the ICMA, as well as the German Critics' Annual Award and the BBC Music Magazine Award. He has been nominated for Grammy and Gramophone awards and twice received the Czech Academy of Music's Angel Award in the classical music category. He studied conducting in Prague and Berlin. He is President of the International Martinů Circle and The Dvořák Society, the inaugural winner of the Sir Ch. Mackerras and winner of the A. Dvořák and the Bavarian State Prize for Music. He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music and an official ambassador of the Year of Czech Music 2024.