Věra Čáslavská was a Czechoslovak artistic gymnast and Czech sports official. She won a total of 22 international titles between 1959 and 1968 including seven Olympic gold medals, four world titles and eleven European championships. Čáslavská is the most decorated Czech gymnast in history and is one of only two female gymnasts, along with Soviet Larisa Latynina, to win the all-around gold medal at two consecutive Olympics.
The Makropulos Affair is a Czech opera in 3 acts, with music and libretto by Leoš Janáček. Janáček based his opera on the play Věc Makropulos by Karel Čapek. Composed between 1923 and 1925, The Makropulos Affair was his penultimate opera and, like much of his later work, was inspired by his infatuation with Kamila Stösslová, a married woman much younger than himself.
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 29 December 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia included students and older dissidents. The result was the end of 41 years of one-party rule in Czechoslovakia, and the subsequent dismantling of the planned economy and conversion to a parliamentary republic.
Eileen Farrell was an American soprano who had a nearly 60-year-long career performing both classical and popular music in concerts, theatres, on radio and television, and on disc. NPR noted, "She possessed one of the largest and most radiant operatic voices of the 20th century." While she was active as an opera singer, her concert engagements far outnumbered her theatrical appearances. Her career was mainly based in the United States, although she did perform internationally. The Daily Telegraph stated that she "was one of the finest American sopranos of the 20th century; she had a voice of magnificent proportions which she used with both acumen and artistry in a wide variety of roles." And described as having a voice "like some unparalleled phenomenon of nature. She is to singers what Niagara is to waterfalls."
Renée Lynn Fleming is an American opera singer and soprano. Fleming has a full lyric soprano voice. She has performed coloratura, lyric, and lighter spinto soprano operatic roles in Italian, German, French, Czech, and Russian, aside from her native English. She has also sung chansons, jazz and indie rock. She speaks fluent German and French, along with limited Italian. Her signature roles include Countess Almaviva in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, Desdemona in Verdi's Otello, Violetta in Verdi's La traviata, the title role in Dvořák's Rusalka, the title role in Massenet's Manon, the title role in Massenet's Thaïs, the title role in Richard Strauss's Arabella, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, and the Countess in Capriccio.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink was a Czech-born German-American operatic contralto of German Bohemian descent. She was noted for the size, beauty, tonal richness, flexibility and wide range of her voice.
Rusalka, Op. 114, is an opera by Antonín Dvořák. The Czech libretto was written by the poet Jaroslav Kvapil (1868–1950) based on the fairy tales of Karel Jaromír Erben and Božena Němcová. A rusalka is a water sprite from Slavic mythology, usually inhabiting a lake or river. Rusalka is one of the most successful Czech operas, and represents a cornerstone of the repertoire of Czech opera houses.
The Bartered Bride is a comic opera in three acts by the Czech composer Bedřich Smetana, to a libretto by Karel Sabina. The work is generally regarded as a major contribution towards the development of Czech music. It was composed during the period 1863 to 1866, and first performed at the Provisional Theatre, Prague, on 30 May 1866 in a two-act format with spoken dialogue.
Karel František Koecher is a mole known to have penetrated the CIA.
The Dissolution of Czechoslovakia, which took effect on 1 January 1993, was an event that saw the self-determined split of the federal state of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, entities that had arisen before as the Czech Socialist Republic and the Slovak Socialist Republic in 1969 within the framework of a federal republic.
Alena "Ája" Vrzáňová was a Czech figure skater who represented Czechoslovakia in competition. Vrzáňová is the 1949 & 1950 World champion and 1950 European champion.
Jiří Bělohlávek CBE was a Czech conductor. He was a leading interpreter of Czech classical music, and became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1990, a role he would serve on two different occasions during a combined span of seven years. He also served a six-year tenure as the chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2012. He gained international renown and repute for his performances of the works of Czech composers such as Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů, and was credited as "the most profound proponent of Czech orchestral music" by Czech music specialist Professor Michael Beckerman.
The State Opera, is an opera house in Prague, Czech Republic. It is part of the National Theatre of the Czech Republic, founded by Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic in 1992. The theatre itself originally opened in 1888 as the New German Theatre and from 1949 to 1989 it was known as the Smetana Theatre. More recently it was renamed the Prague State Opera. Currently it is home to approximately 300 performances a year.
Ivo Žídek was a Czech lyric tenor, known for his vivid portrayals of character roles in the operas of Smetana, Dvořák and Janáček.
Crystal Taliefero-Pratt is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist. Taliefero grew with a musical family, performing rhythm and blues with her brother in the Chicago metropolitan area. During her college years she was discovered by John Mellencamp, who helped guide her to a career as a professional musician. Taliefero performed with several artists throughout the 80s and 90s. In 1989 she was hired as a studio musician for the Billy Joel Band, and she has been touring and recording with them ever since.
Lucerna Music Bar is a concert club housed within the Lucerna Palace, located on a hallway or "passage" that connects Vodičkova and Štěpánská streets near historic Wenceslas Square, in the New Town area of Prague in the Czech Republic. The name Lucerna means "lantern" in Czech. Lucerna Palace is an Art Nouveau building built by former President Václav Havel's family. The Lucerna Music Bar is one of the venues within Lucerna Palace involved in the Prague International Jazz Festival and the AghaRTA Prague Jazz Festival. It was used for the Václav Havel Tribute Concert, held in Václav Havel's honor, upon his death in 2011. The Lucerna Music Bar is similar in size to Washington, DC's 9:30 Club, Cleveland's Agora Theatre and Ballroom, Philadelphia's Trocadero Theatre, or Baltimore's Rams Head Live!, however the selection of artists is more international. The Lucera Music Bar has played a role in giving exposure to many bands from the Czech Republic and around the world.
George Cehanovsky was an American baritone and language coach of Russian birth who had a close association with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for six decades. At the time of his death in 1986, he held the record for the most performances given by any artist at the Met with 2394 performances; a number which has since been surpassed by only tenor Charles Anthony and conductor James Levine.
STUHA was an alternative, independent student movement in the late phase of the Czechoslovak Communist régime. It was gradually formed by Prague students in the late spring and early summer of 1989. The movement was the catalyst that mobilized the university students, later culminating in the demonstration and march at Albertov, Prague, and then on to the city centre, on 17 November 1989.
Fiora Corradetti Contino was an American opera conductor and teacher. She was particularly known for her interpretations of Italian verismo works of the late 19th century, and was described as one of the most important figures in opera of the 20th century. Anne Midgette of The New York Times once suggested that she "might have had a far bigger career had she been a man".
Liane Synek was an Austrian operatic soprano.
