Showing 1 - 14 of 14
Artist: Vaclav Talich
Vaclav Talich was the most renowned conductor of Czechoslovakia, primarily responsible for the rise of the Czech Philharmonic to international standard.
His father was a choirmaster and music teacher who taught him violin. On the recommendation of composer Antonin Dvorak, the Prague Conservatory awarded Vaclav a scholarship and other financial... [+] Read More
Artist: Vaclav Trojan
Artist: Vaclav Pichl
As a Czech student of music, Pichl was taught music by Pokorny and counterpoint by Seger at Tyn. He served in various capacities -- primarily as a violinist -- in Prague, Milan, and Vienna. Because of his skills as a composer, for which he was well known, Pichl made the acquaintances of Martini. Cherubini and Reichardt and also served Prince... [+] Read More
Artist: Jan Václav Vorísek
A Bohemian pianist and composer noted for piano pieces; his impromptus influenced Schubert. ~ Mary K. Scanlan, All Music Guide [+] Read More
Artist: Vaclav Jan Krtitel Tomasek
Tomasek was one of the most influential Czech composers and teachers during the early to mid nineteenth century. He not only affected his students, like Vorisek, Kittl and Hanslick but also the music of Schubert. Remaining outside of the conventional musical circles of Prague, Tomasek's home and school, which he founded, became the centers of... [+] Read More
Artist: Czech Philharmonic Orchestra
The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world's leading orchestras with a particularly strong reputation not only in music of its own country but in French music and 20th Century works. In 1894 the members of the orchestra of the Czech-speaking National Theater formed themselves into a Philharmonic Orchestra. Their first performance,... [+] Read More
Artist: Grand Drive
Grand Drive's brothers Danny Wilson (lead vocals/guitar) and Julian Wilson (keyboards) were originally from Australia, but grew up in the stony southwest London suburb of Sutton in the '70s. In school, they met bassist Ed Balch and formed their first group, Soul Green, with several temporary drummers. It wasn't until 1992 that they found a more... [+] Read More
Artist: Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa was one of the most accomplished composers of the rock era; his music combines an understanding of and appreciation for such contemporary classical figures as Stravinsky, Stockhausen, and Varèse with an affection for late-'50s doo wop rock & roll and a facility for the guitar-heavy rock that dominated pop in the '70s. But Zappa was... [+] Read More
Artist: Stan Puls
Jazz bassist Stan Puls started out in music learning the piano from his mother at the age of 11. By the time he'd entered his teens, he'd begun playing string bass, and at 19 won a national championship, which led to his study with Vaclav Jiskra, first bass of the Chicago Civic Symphony. He spent the years 1936-1941 as a member of the orchestra,... [+] Read More
Artist: Milan Knizak
A highly controversial figure in the Czech Republic, Milan Knizak is mostly known in America for his membership in Fluxus in the 1960s-1970s. A performance artist, Knizak is an art renegade who was banned by the Communist regime and kept in the fringes because of his political activism and art terrorism. After the Velvet Revolution, he was given... [+] Read More
Artist: Pavel Fajt
Since the mid-'80s, Pavel Fajt (pronounced "fight") has been one of the most prominent musicians on the Czech alternative rock scene. As a drummer, a composer, and a bandleader, he has been instrumental in the shaping of a distinctive Czech rock identity. Back home, he first got noticed among the seminal group Dunaj. Internationally, he is... [+] Read More
Artist: Smetana Quartet
Few chamber music groups have as proud a history as the Smetana Quartet, or a history that evokes as much nationalistic passion. Founded during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, the group's very existence was an anomaly during an era when any manifestation of Czech nationalism was outlawed. They survived into the post-Nazi era, and went on... [+] Read More
Artist: The Kennedys
The Kennedys, a D.C.-area husband-and-wife folk-pop team, have been tearing up the scene since their 1995 debut, the Celtic-tinged River of Fallen Stars (Green Linnet). The jangly guitars, tight harmonies, positive energy and smart lyrics found on this album and its all-star follow-up, 1996's Life Is Large, have garnered the couple many awards,... [+] Read More
Artist: Plastic People of the Universe
This band's debut may well have been one of the most amazing and radical records to be released during the punk era (or any era for that matter), recorded under the most extreme conditions in the years before punk rock was a reality (1973-1974). Prague's Plastic People of the Universe, and the band they later became, Pulnoc, remain one of rock &... [+] Read More
