Performing arts in Czechia

Music

Prague was a centre for music in the Renaissance, Baroque and early Classical eras but its practitioners remained in the shadow of Vienna, centre of the Holy Roman empire.

The names Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák represent the peak of Czech music. Smetana in particular has been identified with Czech nationalism, while Dvořák built on folk-music traditions but also became internationally famous after his visits through Europe and in North America.

Smetana wrote eight operas and the cycle of six tone poems known as Má vlast, the foundation of his reputation as the Czech national composer. Dvořák’s experiences in America inspired his Symphony No.9 From the New World, his most famous work. Both men were buried in the cemetery at Vyšehrad (Vyšehradský hřbitov a Slavín) in Prague, along with hundreds of famous Czech personalities of the arts, sciences and national achievement.

Following in the footsteps of these giants, Leoš Janáček worked with folk music sources to synthesise them with modern musical styles. Dvořák’s pupil and son-in-law Josef Suk and the 20th century composer Bohuslav Martinů are among the leading names of Czech composition.

Musical ensembles

The Czech national orchestra Česká filharmonie is based at Prague’s Rudolfinum, where the performance halls Dvořákova síň and Sukova síň are named after famous Czech composers.

The Art Nouveau Obecní dům and its Smetanova síň is the other leading venue in Prague, housing further concert halls and auditoriums with dazzling decoration. Czechia’s chamber music society Český spolek pro komorní hudbu also performs at both venues.

Czechia’s national theatre Národní divadlo in Prague is the chief opera venue. The Klementinum is used for chamber music.

The Národní divadlo Brno is a venue for opera and ballet.

Film

Czechoslovak cinema came of age in the 1960s with a wave of modern works. The leading figure in this period was the director and screenwriter Miloš Forman, who emigrated to the US and later won Academy Awards for his films One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Amadeus.

Cinema in English

The Prague international cinema Kino Lucerna shows foreign-language films and many English films in original form with Czech subtitles, or with English subtitles. An added attraction is the cinema’s Art Nouveau décor.

Stage

The Prague theatre scene includes performances in English or with English titles. Czech plays and opera with English surtitles are among the program performed at Národní divadlo. Shows with English text are indicated in the program.

The professional Prague Shakespeare Company performs Shakespearean plays and other English classics. The Divadlo Na zábradlí theatre also performs some works with English surtitles.

Cimrman English Theatre performs English translations of Czech comedic plays (with a twist) at Žižkovské divadlo Járy Cimrmana.

Many performances by Švandovo divadlo also include English titles. For further theatre in English, the The Prague Harman Street Players provide an alternative.