Czech Mix

The first step is admitting you have a problem...

2011-01-28T12:00:00.000-08:00

You know how when you’re starting off in a relationship, it’s all warm fuzzies, I love you, no I love you more, want to know everything there is to know about you? I’m there. Yes, it’s true that there are others; faithful old loves that I know inside and out and they still thrill me – La bohème, Turandot, Aïda… the list goes on. This is something new though; unexpected… intriguing. I can’t seem to get enough. It’s official. There’s no use denying it…

I am a raving, self-admitted Rusalka-holic.

Any others out there? I love the sheer beauty of the orchestration; you hear it and suddenly you’re in this magical world with water nymphs and wood sprites. I’m not quite sure what the difference is between a nymph and a sprite, but that’s beside the point. I love that it’s in Czech; the language becomes part of the characters as they sing. It’s unusual enough to keep you entranced for all three acts. Most of all though, I love the story. It’ll rip your heart right out, but heck, every girl loves a good cry now and then. Guys, you’re welcome to join in the sobbing; high fives are generally accepted too. In Rusalka, we’ve got opera doing what opera does best; emotional rollercoaster storytelling… with nymphs and sprites.

--Cherity Koepke

More information about Rusalka is available at http://www.operacolorado.org/

Music in the Blood

2011-01-25T08:42:00.000-08:00

Dvořák’s heritage is carried on today by Josef Suk III (b. 1929), his great-grandson via Dvořák’s daughter Otylie and her husband, composer Josef Suk I. A gifted violinist and violist, Suk III has recorded and performed in concert with most of the top figures in music for the past sixty years. His repertoire ranges from Mozart to Alban Berg and does not neglect that of the best known member of his family. His recent CD “Songs my Great-Grandfather Taught Me” is a collection of Dvořák songs transcribed for violin or viola with piano. The selections with viola were performed on Dvořák’s own personal viola, released for the occasion from the museum where it resides. One likes to imagine that the instrument felt at home in Suk’s hands.

To see Suk in action, go to either of these You Tube links; both have him performing Dvořák’s music.

Josef Suk playing the first movement of Dvorak’s Violin Concerto:

Josef Suk playing the second movement of Dvorak’s Violin Sonatina:

--Betsy Schwarm

Dvořák and American Music

2011-01-21T12:40:00.000-08:00

When Dvořák came to the

to lead the National Conservatory, he found students who, as he observed, might have talent but lacked direction. His mission was to give them direction, and he did so with determination. In an editorial he wrote for the New York Herald in 1893, he observed, “The new American school of music must strike its roots deeply into its own soil.” One specific suggestion he made for developing an American style was to examine Black American music, which he himself had learned from his student Harry Burleigh. Northern urban audiences were skeptical of the value of spirituals, yet Dvořák’s assertions still stands as an early validation of Black musical resources.

--Betsy Scwarm

Learn more about how American music influenced Dvořák at this weekend's concerts at the Colorado Symphony. More information about the "Inside the Score" concerts at this link.

Big news during Dvořák's life

2011-01-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

The Statue of Liberty being assembled in Paris

Another highly selective list, this time of important historic events during Dvořák’s lifetime:

- 1848: revolutions in Europe, in the wake of the publishing of The Communist Manifesto
- 1849: the California Gold Rush (Colorado’s was in 1859)
- 1857-58: Indian Mutiny against British rule
- 1861-65: US Civil War
- 1866: the unification of Italy
- 1871: the unification of Germany
- 1886: the Statue of Liberty is erected (six years later, Dvořák and his family sail past it into New York Harbor)
- 1894: Nicholas II becomes the last Tsar of Russia
- 1898: Austrian Empress Elisabeth is assassinated by an Italian anarchist
- 1899-1902: the Boer War in South Africa
- 1901: The Victorian Era ends with the death of Queen Victoria; she is succeeded by Edward VII
- 1901: US President William McKinley is assassinated; he is succeeded by Theodore Roosevelt
Can you imagine what it would have been like to be a journalist? Even a diligent reader of newspapers would be amazed at many of these events!
--Betsy Schwarm

Scientific Landmarks

2011-01-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

Consider the following highly selective list of important landmarks in science during Dvořák’s lifetime:
- 1846: founding of the Smithsonian Institution
- 1856: Henry Bessemer perfects his process for converting iron into steel
- 1858: the first trans-Atlantic telegraph
- 1859: Charles Darwin publishes On the Origin of Species
- 1867: Alfred Nobel patents dynamite
- 1869: completion of the first American transcontinental railroad (Dvořák loved trains)
- 1876: Alexander Graham Bell perfects the telephone
- 1877: Thomas Edison develops the phonograph (and in 1879 the light bulb)
- 1886: Karl Benz patents his first automobile, the Motorwagen
- 1888: George Eastman patents the Kodak camera
- 1895: Guglielmo Marconi develops the wireless telegraph, fore-runner of radio
- 1903: the Wright Brothers’ first flight
Such a time it would have been to be a science journalist!
--Betsy Schwarm

Nationalism and music in the Czech Republic

2011-01-18T11:20:00.000-08:00

Many upcoming Czech Point Denver events include discussions of Nationalism and its indlufence on the Czech Republic at the turn of the last century and the early twentieth century. Betsy Schwarm shared these thoughts about Nationalism's influence on Czech composers.

In European politics, 1848 was a watershed year, as Marx and Engels published their Communist Manifesto, planting the seed that common people should take charge of their own fate. Within the greater Austrian Empire, that ideal led various ethnic groups long controlled by the Hapsburgs to demand independence. Prague, principal city of Bohemia, became a focal point of that unrest. There was an artistic angle in this move toward national expression. Czech-born composers, Smetana first, but soon Dvořák and various others, began making a point of alluding to Czech folk song and dance in their works for the concert hall, proving that one could be simultaneously Czech and also a composer of great music.

If you are interested in this topic, here are some upcoming events that might interest you:

KAFKA, SPORTS, AND CZECHOSLOVAKIAN JEWISH IDENTITY

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 19, 7:30 PM, AT SOBO 151 (151 S. Broadway in Denver)
Join Robert Adler Peckerar, assistant professor of Jewish Literature and Culture at CU-Boulder, for an interactive evening that examines the phenomenon of Jewish soccer in central and eastern Europe at the start of the last century – its controversies, politics, and importance in understanding the birth of a new European Jewish culture. And do it while enjoying a refreshing Czech beer in Denver’s favorite Czech sports bar. Free event. 21 ID required.

CZECH INSIGHTS FROM MUSIC AND LITERATURE

TUESDAY, JANUARY 25, 7:00 pm, TATTERED COVER BOOK STORE LODO
From Dvorák to Kafka, Czech cultural figures have had a lasting impact on the arts. In this program with live music illustrations, we’ll consider the world view of three generations of Czech artists and how they have affected the arts even beyond their own borders. Includes presentations by music historian Betsy Schwarm, CU Boulder associate professor of German & Comparative Literature, Humanities and Jewish Studies, Davide Stimilli, and performances by the Opera Colorado Young Artists.

The challenges of singing in Czech

2011-01-17T12:47:00.000-08:00

While Rusalka is regarded by many people as a masterpiece of the operatic repertoire, it is rarely performed. The main stumbling block is language. Few opera singers are trained to sing in Czech. As rehearsals begin for Rusalka this week, we asked a few questions of our Czech language coach Petra Ulrych as she prepares to help our singers tackle this somewhat daunting challenge.

You have a quite a bit of experience with the Czech language. Would you mind telling us a little bit about how you got interested in the language and the culture?

Because I don't speak with an accent in English, many people don't immediately know that I am Czech! I was born there a year before the Warsaw Pact troops occupied the country in 1968, so I grew up speaking Czech at home with my parents. I came to the US when I was 2 years old, so I learned English at school and from Sesame Street! My mother was very strict in her desire to have her children retain the Czech language, so despite the fact that she learned English, she would basically pretend to not hear us unless we spoke to her in Czech, so I quickly came to understand as a child that if I wanted to eat, I had to say to, "Mam hlad!" not "I'm hungry!"

When I was in my early twenties, Communism was overturned in the Czech Republic (then Czechoslovakia), and I was able to live in Prague for a year and a half, and I interned at the Academy for the Performing Arts. I made my living teaching English to Czech students in the Music, Film, Theatre, and Art Academies, and they taught me all the good slang of the day. To supplement my meager teaching salary, I did my fair share of translation work (primarily Czech to English) as there were very few "native" speakers of both English and Czech in the early 1990s in Prague. So, while my grammar still is quite imperfect in Czech (grammar is incredibly difficult in Czech), I understand Czech without needing to translate in my head, and I am lucky to have spoken it since birth, so the phonemes and sounds don't sound foreign to me. I hold a BA in Theatre and Communications, so I have very much enjoyed learning dialects, accents, and language, and I was lucky enough to have direct instruction on "standard stage Czech" working with Czech actors, singers, and artists while I lived in Prague. I can hear my own American accent creep into my Czech when I haven't been speaking it frequently or when I am speaking to a Czech person that I don't know so well and am nervous. Czechs are very prideful of their language, and they are very quick to correct you!

So, I grew up steeped in Czech culture with my mother reading Capek's Kocicka a Pesek (Kitty and Doggie) stories and listening to Czech fairy tales on 45s that my grandparents mailed to us, and as an adult I have been happy to retain my Czech language, as it has helped me understand who and whence I come from, even though I don't have many opportunities to speak Czech! There just aren't that many of us in the world who speak Czech!

What are some basic things to remember when trying to pronounce Czech words? Any helpful tips for beginners or those new to the language?

Wow, tough question! Czech is really a very phonetic language, unlike French or English. When you learn the Czech alphabet, you learn the sounds that each letter makes. Those letters always make the same sounds, unlike English vowels which have multiple pronunciations. So, learning the Czech alphabet is really helpful because if you know what each letter sounds like (and remember this is consistent) then you just string them together. Czech uses diacritical marks that tell you very overtly when a letter is to make a different sound, so the letter "s" is the same in English, but the letter "s" with the diacritical mark called a hacek (little v over it) makes the sound that our "sh" combo in English makes. There are very few spelling rules, in fact, Czech doesn't have a verb that means "to spell," instead people simply say, "How do you write that?" and then they just sound out the word more slowly, emphasizing each individual sound.

Some of the singers from Rusalka have said that singing in Czech can be very difficult because there are so many pairings of consonants and few vowels. What is some advice specifically for singers who are attempting to sing Czech repertoire?

Yes, English speaking people tend to be thrown off by the Czech consonant combinations, I believe, mostly because they are unfamiliar consonant combinations. Take for example Rusalka's composer, Dvořák. A "d" followed by a "v" is not something that happens in English words, but I think you just have to slow down your tongue and brain for a moment, tell yourself, over 10 million Czech speakers make these sounds every day... and think about mashing the two together instead of thinking that there needs to be a syllable break between the consonants, in the same way that no English speaker hesitates when they see "gl" as in "glow" or "tw" as in "tween" or "str" as in "street."

By far the hardest Czech phoneme is ř. This is most often described as a combined rolled "r" (like in Spanish or Italian) with a "zh" (like television), and while that is true, I think English speakers then think they must make each sound distinctly with a vowel breaking it up. Most English speakers pronounce "Dvořak" as a 3-syllable word, "da-vor-zhak" but it's a 2-syllable word..."Dvo-rzhak." The best way to learn the pesky "r" sound is to roll your "r" and then to bite down on it with your teeth, much like you would if you were a ravenous dog wanting to learn Czech! Many Czech children don't master the "r" until age 6 - 8 years of age, so it's not the easiest thing! So, knowing the syllable count is helpful to know where to smash things together!

Do you have any favorite moments from Rusalka?

How can anyone not love Ježibaba's conjuring the potion scene? Also, the joy and majesty in the wedding march is tasty especially because we know that the prince will ultimately reject poor Rusalka, so it is bittersweet!

We’ve started to immerse ourselves in Rusalka and the music of Dvořák. Who are some other Czech artists that you might suggest we familiarize ourselves with?

My all-time favorite musical piece by a Czech composer is Smetana's the Vlatava from his Ma Vlast (My Country). I cannot listen to that without crying! I also love all Czech fairy tales, as they are odd combinations of darkness and magical creatures that can hurt you or be helpful. Dvořák's Carnival Overture, Op. 92 is not as well known as his New World Symphony, but I like the exuberance and joy that we hear in the Carnival piece. Prague and the Czech Republic are often seen through a very dark and Gothic lens (Kafka-esque), but Czechs can also be joyful, and so I like the Carnival Overture for that reason. I think if one loves magic and fantasy, the world of Czech puppetry is absolutely fantastic, including the Black Light Theatre convention.

Dvořák and Trains

2011-01-14T08:51:00.000-08:00

Music and family were not Dvořák’s only love: trains, too, were a favorite. Free afternoons in Prague were often spent at the central train station, where he was on a first name basis with the engineers and diligently tracked favorite locomotives as they came and went. During his years in New York City, he sought the same diversion at Grand Central Station, but found himself denied such close contact. Still, he could watch for locomotives, and if academic obligations prevented a personal visit, he might dispatch students to bring a report. Those report generally lacked the detail that a true locomotive aficionado desired, but apparently were better than nothing for keeping in touch with his hobby.

On Saturday, January 15, the Colorado Railroad Museum will host "All Aboard: Dvořák Explores the New World." The event celebrates Dvořák's love of trains and his music. Betsy Schwarm will be speaking and the Opera Colorado Young Artists will be performing. More information available at www.czechpointdenver.com.

--Betsy Schwarm

Dvořák and His Wife

2011-01-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

Dvořák married Anna Cermakova November 17, 1873. They would be together until his death over forty years later, and had nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Yet Anna had not been his first choice. Initially, he had fallen for her sister Josefina, who was studying piano with him, but Josefina would not have him and married instead an aristocrat, becoming the Countess Kaunitz. However, all parties remained on good terms and Dvořák kept track of which of his compositions Josefina particularly liked, sometimes quoting their melodies in new works in tribute to her. Apparently, he thought she would appreciate the gesture, and perhaps also knew that Anna would not mind.

--Betsy Sccwarm

Dvořák and his descendents

2011-01-12T10:14:00.000-08:00

Dvorak with his wife, children, and friends in New York.
Photo courtesy of Muzeum Antonina Dvoraka v Praze.
(Antonin Dvorak Museum in Prague)

Numerous Dvořák descendants are alive today, though few bear the name Dvořák. The name itself is common enough in families of Czech heritage. The problem in the case of this composer is that of his six surviving children, four were girls who gave up the family name upon marriage. So of the dozens of descendents of those four girls (all of whom had children), none has the name Dvořák. As for the composer’s two sons, the elder boy, named Antonín after his father, married but had no children. The younger boy, Otakar, married and numbered one son amongst his children. That boy’s descendents still carry on the family name today.

--Betsy Schwarm

Dvořák and His Contemporaries

2011-01-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

Antonín Dvořák (1841 – 1904) was one of the greatest composers of his day, but he had serious competition for that honor. Here are just some of the great names of music born within three years of Dvořák:

- George Bizet (1838 – 1875): Carmen

- Modest Mussorgsky (1839 – 1881): Pictures at an Exhibition

- Peter Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893): The Nutcracker

- Sir Arthur Sullivan (1842 – 1900): The Pirates of Penzance

- Edvard Grieg (1843 – 1907): music for Peer Gynt

- Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844 – 1908): Scheherazade

With contemporaries like that, it’s hard to become the single leading name. However, one thing is clear: the late 1800s was a great time for fine music.

--Betsy Schwarm

First Look: Dvořák's Symphony No. 9

2011-01-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

How does great music sound at first hearing? In the case of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, we have an answer thanks to the New York Herald, which cleverly dispatched a reviewer to an open rehearsal of the work given the day before its premiere in Carnegie Hall December 16, 1893. Excerpts from the review follow. Note that the Herald’s press room was apparently not equipped for Czech diacritical marks, and printed the composer’s name in straight text:

Dr. Dvorak’s Great Symphony –
The Director of the National Conservatory
Adds a Masterpiece to Musical Literature

“Dr. Antonin Dvorak, the famous Bohemian composer and director of the National Conservatory of music, dowered American art with a great work yesterday, when his new Symphony in E minor, ‘From the New World,’ was played was played at the second Philharmonic rehearsal at Carnegie Music Hall. The day was an important one in the musical history of America. It witnessed the first public performance of a noble composition…. The work was of heroic proportions. And it was one cast in the art form which such poet-musicians as Beethoven, Schubert, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Brahms and many another ‘glorious one of the earth’ has enriched with the most precious outwailings of his musical imagination…. And this new symphony by Dr. Antonin Dvorak is worthy to rank with the best creations of those musicians whom I have just mentioned. Small wonder that the listeners were so enthusiastic. The work appealed to their sense of the aesthetically beautiful by its wealth of tender, pathetic, fiery melody, by its rich harmonic clothing; by its delicate, sonorous, gorgeous, ever-varying instrumentation. ”…

The review, illustrated with drawings of the composer and of the orchestra and conductor Anton Seidl in action, continues for several thousand more words of highly insightful musical description, which clearly presupposes a readership familiar with musical vocabulary, not just instrument names, but also terms such as ‘unison’ and ‘tremolo.’ Connections to Native American music are suggested, and of this thought, the writer sums it up as follows: “It is, as Dr. Dvorak said, the ‘spirit’ of a national music as distinguished from the formal characteristics. And it is that spirit, passed through the imagination of a great poet.”

Ah, the good old days: when newspapers dared to dedicate two full pages to fine arts reporting! Incidentally, the symphony’s formal premiere that evening shared the program with the Brahms Violin Concerto and selections from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

--Betsy Schwarm

Šťastný nový rok (Happy New Year!)

2011-01-07T10:16:00.000-08:00

After a holiday hiatus, Czech Mix is back and going strong!

And Czech Point Denver launches next week with a free kickoff party at the Downtown Aquarium.

Why the aquarium? Good question!

Simple answer: MERMAIDS!

The centerpiece of Czech Point Denver is Opera Colorado’s production of Rusalka, Antonín Dvořák’s fantasy opera about a water sprite who falls in love with a mortal prince. Many people compare the story of the opera to Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Little Mermaid. The stories are indeed similar—though the Czech opera is a grown-up, tragic love story. (In addition to Andersen, Dvořák was inspired by a popular novel called Undine—also about a mermaid—as well as Czech folk stories about water sprites who were supposed to live in Bohemia.)

So we hope you’ll join us on Wednesday, January 12 from 5:30 to 8:30 pm at the Downtown Aquarium, 700 Water Street, in the Nautilus Ballroom. There, in Rusalka’s watery realm, we’ll celebrate the opening of the Czech Point Denver festival while enjoying some musical selections from the opera and food provided by the Aquarium. We will have door prizes and lots of information about upcoming events during the festival. Pilsner Urquell, the Czech Republic’s leading brand of beer, will also be there with drink specials. And yes, there will be mermaids! The Mystic Mermaids will perform in the Under the Sea exhibit and will also be there to meet and greet guests of the party. The Aquarium is providing discount admission to guests of the party so you can enjoy the mermaid performance.

And of course, we've got a whole host of events starting up in the coming weeks. To see the entire schedule, please visit our website: www.czechpointdenver.com or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/czechpointdenver.

--Rex Fuller, Director of Marketing

Czech Gestures

2010-11-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

In America, we have a lot of gestures we think are fairly universal. Shrugging your shoulders means “I don’t know.” Holding your thumb upright outstretched from a closed fist means “good job” or “ok.” While these are found in Czech culture, there are other gestures that are not found in American culture.

For example, pointing at your forehead or temple with your finger means, “You’re stupid or not that bright.” Holding one’s hand in a closed fist with the thumb inside is a way to wish someone good luck. Slapping one’s palm over the top of their fist is an obscene gesture related to sex. Holding one’s hand with the fingers outstretched, thumb pointed toward the nose, is a way or ridiculing or jeering the other person. Holding your hand in a fist with the index finger and pinkie outstretched is a rude gesture to indicate to the receiver that their partner is cheating on them. It’s often used at football (soccer) games when the crowd disagrees with the referee’s decision.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Kure Na Paprice (Chicken Paprika)

2010-11-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Kure Na Paprice (Chicken Paprika)

Ingredients
-2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken, cut into chunks
-4 teaspoons paprika
-1 Tablespoon butter
-1 Tablespoon olive oil
-½ cup onion, chopped
-1 cup chicken broth
-¼ cup sour cream
-Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions
1. Season chicken with 1 teaspoon paprika, salt and pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in skillet over medium to high heat and sauté chicken on both sides until thoroughly cooked. Set aside.
3. Add butter to skillet. Sauté onion until softened, about 3 to 4 minutes.
4. Add remaining 3 teaspoons paprika and stir.
5. Add chicken broth to mixture and boil until sauce is thickened, about 8 minutes.
6. Place chicken back in skillet. Turn heat down to low and add sour cream, mixing to blend thoroughly. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve with knedlíky (dumplings).

Makes 6 to 8 servings.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Clementinum

2010-11-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

The second largest complex of buildings (after Prague Castle), the Clementium has had a long and fascinating history and includes some of Prague’s most interesting architecture. It began life as an 11th-century chapel to St. Clement and eventually became a Jesuit college for hundreds of years. In 1773, it was established as an observatory, library, and university by the Empress Maria Theresa of Austria.

In the 20th century, the Clementinum was incorporated into the National Library system and it is home to more than five million books. (Ironically, during its time as a Jesuit college, about 30,000 “heretical” books were burned in one of the courtyards.)

The complex includes five courtyards, the St. Salvator Church, St. Clements Church, and the Italian Chapel. The complex is also home to the Mozart Hall, which houses some of Mozart’s original manuscripts. Visitors to the Clementinum can also visit the Baroque Library Hall, the home of the Czech National Library, with 20,000 books dating back to the 16th century. There’s also the Astronomical Tower; you can climb 172 steep steps to the top for amazing views of Prague. The music lover’s visit wouldn’t be complete without touring the Mirror Chapel, a gorgeous space with extensive frescoes, artwork, carvings, and (you guessed it) mirrors. The Chapel also has an 18th-century organ played by Mozart himself.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Dvořák and His Wife

2010-11-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

Dvořák married Anna Cermakova on November 17, 1873. They would be together until his death over forty years later, and had nine children, six of whom survived to adulthood. Yet Anna had not been his first choice. Initially, he had fallen for her sister Josefina, who was studying piano with him, but Josefina would not have him and married instead an aristocrat, becoming the Countess Kaunitz. However, all parties remained on good terms and Dvořák kept track of which of his compositions Josefina particularly liked, sometimes quoting their melodies in new works in tribute to her. Apparently, he thought she would appreciate the gesture, and perhaps also knew that Anna would not mind.

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Dusicky

2010-10-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Czech do not celebrate Halloween – at least not the way it’s celebrated in America. There are no children dressed as ghosts, knocking on doors and asking for sweets. Instead, the Czech people celebrate what many other cultures celebrate in the fall – a day to honor the deceased.

Interestingly, Halloween began as a harvest festival among the Celtic people – a group that likely originally settled in the land known today as the Czech Republic. They believed that was the day the lines between the worlds of the living and the dead were thinnest and that the spirits of the departed could walk among the living.

In the Czech Republic, November 2 is Dusicky, and is also called All Soul’s Day, All Saint’s Day, Day of the Dead, or Commemoration of All the Departed. That night, and in some cases several days leading up to it, Czech people all over the country visit graveyards to honor their dead. They come in droves, with flowers and candles and wreaths to decorate the grave markers of their ancestors.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Česnečka (Garlic Soup)

2010-10-27T09:32:00.000-07:00

Garlic soup? I was skeptical, too – but I’m told it’s actually quite tasty. It’s a thinner soup and can be made with or without meat and served with fried bread cubes (I bet you could have dumplings if you wanted!).

Ingredients
-8 cups water or broth
-1 Tbs salt
-6 cloves garlic
-1 tsp marjoram
-4 slices of dark rye bread
-1 tsp caraway seeds, crushed
-2 medium potatoes, diced
-1 tsp fresh black pepper
-2 Tbs butter or lard
-2 Tbs fresh parsley, chopped

Directions
1. Mash the garlic with the salt: do this either with a mortar and pestle, or use a garlic press to crush the garlic and then mix in the salt.
2. Place the garlic and salt in a large pot and add the water or broth. Slowly bring the water to a boil, reduce heat and keep on a simmer.
3. Add the crushed caraway seeds, potatoes, marjoram, butter or lard, and ginger.
4. Simmer, uncovered, till the potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Add freshly ground black pepper and some more salt if needed.
5. Fry the slices of bread in bacon drippings or butter till golden brown. Place a slice of bread in each soup bowl and ladle the garlic soup over it. Sprinkle on parsley.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

The Sedlec Ossuary

2010-10-26T08:40:00.000-07:00

One of the creepiest places I’ve ever heard of is in Sedlec, a suburb of the Czech city of Kutná Hora: The Sedlec Ossuary.

The ossuary is part of the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady and St. John the Baptist. Below the cemetery of the Church of All Saints is a small Roman Catholic chapel, the interior of which is completely decorated with human bones.

A cemetery was first founded here in the Middle Ages and became famous in 1278 when the abbot from Sedlec went on a diplomatic mission to the Holy Land under orders from King Otakar II. The abbot returned with a small handful of dirt from the hill where Christ is believed to have been crucified. He sprinkled the dirt in the cemetery and the place was soon known throughout Europe.

During the 14th century, it became necessary to enlarge the cemetery because of the plagues. By 1318, it’s estimated that 30,000 people were buried there. After 1400, the chapel was built in the middle of the graveyard. Under the chapel, the bones from abolished graves were arranged by monks. This continued until 1870 when a local wood carver named František Rint was employed by the ruling Schwarzenberg family to rearrange the bones in a more attractive manner.

Rint outdid himself. The ossuary now contains the remains of an estimated 40,000 people. Their bones cover the interior, arranged in decorative patters. Sometimes the bones are used to form planters, candelabras or coats of arms of the royal family. In one particularly gruesome feature, a chandelier hangs at the center of the ossuary. The chandelier contains every bone in the human body, delicately arranged in macabre patterns, using various bones to form creepy crystal-like patterns.

Visit the chapel’s website here: http://www.kostnice.cz/

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Dvořák and the Premiere of the New World Symphony

2010-10-25T09:57:00.000-07:00

On December 17, 1893, the headlines of the New York Herald announced a monumental event. “Dr. Dvořák’s Great Symphony” it declared, and then continued for a full page, lauding the New World Symphony’s premiere. In the concert the night before with the New York Philharmonic and conductor Anton Seidl, the work had shared the program with Brahms’ Violin Concerto and selections from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, yet all attention was granted to the symphony. That such an important work had premiered in Carnegie Hall, not in Europe, particularly excited the editors. They seemed to imagine that Dvořák had composed it only for the pleasure of American audiences.

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Looking For a Good Ghost Story?

2010-10-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

Like any culture, the Czechs have their share of ghost stories. In honor of Halloween, I did a little research and found a few particularly famous stories.

The Young Turk
This ghost is said to haunt the plaza of Tyn Court in Prague on the full moon. The Turk was a wealthy guard who fell in love with a beautiful, young blonde. He returned to his homeland to ask his parents’ permission to marry. His bride-to-be waited years without hearing from him and believed he had died or forgotten her. She fell in love with another man, but the Turk returned to Prague on her wedding night. In anger, he cut off her head but instantly regretted it; they say his ghost carries her head in a box.

The Begging Skeleton
Outside the Karolinum, the original building of Charles University, visitors swear they see a thin, tall ghost begging for money. According to legend, a university professor was fascinated by a taller-than-average student and offered him money for his skeleton after his death. Thinking it was easy money – after all, the professor was much more likely to die first – the student agreed. Later that night, the student was killed in a drunken brawl. It’s said that the ghost begs passer-by for money to buy his skeleton back.

St. John of Nepomuk
In the late 14th century, John took confession from Queen Johanna, King Wenceslas IV’s wife. The priest refused to tell the king what she said and was tortured and tossed off the Charles Bridge. His ghost was seen for almost 300 years after, until an artist was commissioned to carve statues of saints along the bridge. When the artist finished the statue of St. John, his ghost was never seen again. Local lore tells visitors that if they have a secret, touching the statue will ensure no one discovers it.

Perchta, the White Lady of Český Krumlov
This 15th-century noblewoman was forced to marry Jan von Lichtenstein, a violent and brutal man. Perchta was tormented by him as well as his mother and sister until a royal intercession allowed her to return home. She did not see her husband again until he lay on his deathbed, asking for her forgiveness. She refused, and he cursed her to roam the Český Krumlov castle forever. It is said that if she is smiling and wearing white gloves, good news will follow. If she looks serious and wears black gloves, however, bad tidings are coming.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Kulajda (Dill Soup)

2010-10-20T09:35:00.000-07:00

Kulajda, or dill soup, is a popular dish. Dill is used in many Czech dishes, along with parsley, caraway seeds and thyme. Dill soup is very rich and creamy, so it makes a perfect fall meal.

Kulajda Soup
Makes about 6 – 8 portions

Ingredients:
-8 cups vegetable stock
-1 pound of potatoes, diced
-4 – 5 cups of mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)
-1 cup of heavy cream
-1 cup of milk
-3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
-3 eggs, hard boiled, sliced
-1 cup of fresh dill, finely chopped
-3-4 Tbs of white vinegar
-1 Tbs of caraway seed
-salt

Instructions
1. Bring vegetable stock to boil and add potatoes.
2. After 10 minutes add sliced mushrooms, caraway seeds and salt.
3. Whisk flour into milk and cream and thru strainer slowly, while stirring it, pour into the boiling soup (you will see it thicken). On low heat boil for 5 more minutes, potatoes should be now tender.
4. Add more salt, chopped dill and take off the heat.
5. Finish the taste with vinegar.
6. Before serving, put small cube of butter on top and slices of hard boiled egg, serve with dark bread or sesame crisps.
7. Serve with bread or dumplings.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Vysehrad Cemetery

2010-10-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

Vysehrad Cemetery, which was built in 1869 on the grounds of Vyšehrad Castle in Prague, is the final resting place of many artists, writers, scientists and politicians. It is one of the most famous cemeteries in the Czech Republic and a number of famous Czechs are buried there, including writer Karel Čapek, composers Antonín Dvořák and Bedřich Smetana, and artist Alphonse Mucha.

The cemetery, which has been carefully arranged and designed, also features a map to guide visitors to some of the most famous gravesites. The centerpiece of the cemetery is the Slavin Monument designed by Antonin Wiehl, the communal resting place of over 50 Czech artists and sculptors.

Another famous site is the grave of the Romantic poet Karel Hynek Macha. His headstone was the assembly point in November 1989 for the officially sanctioned demonstration that led to over 50,000 people attempting to march on Wenceslas Square before being stopped in Narodni.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Unhappily Ever After

2010-10-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

In his memoir of his father, Otakar Dvořák recalls a family lunch in 1901 (Otakar was sixteen), when his father came to the table and declared that someone had died. "Who died?," everyone inquired. As Otakar tells it, Dvořák responded, “Well, she kissed him, so he had to die for this one kiss. This is the way it happened in the fairy tale.” Thus, the Dvořák family learned that Father had come to the end of his new opera Rusalka and that it was not the death of anyone they knew, just of a fairy tale prince who has been warned of the price of that kiss but must have it nonetheless.

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Czech It Out: Druha Trava

2010-10-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday, and Czech Mix is looking forward to the weekend! Kick off yours with a concert featuring Czech band Druha Trava tonight.

Druha Trava
Friday, November 15 at 9 pm
Sobo151 | 151 S. Broadway.
$10 at door

Druha Trava is a wonderfully individual band from the Czech Republic that is hard to describe. They perform new acoustic world music with bluegrass influences. You might hear them perform a bluegrass tune, Bob Dylan tune or one by another American or British artist, or one of their many originals. Though they basically use a typical bluegrass complement of instruments, you might see the banjo player also pick up a clarinet or Irish whistle. This along with the versatility of the dobro player helps create much of their unique sound. The Bluegrass Association of the Czech Republic declared Druha Trava "Group of the Year" in both 2005 and 2006.

Check out their website and hear sound clips here.

Dead Wet Girls

2010-10-14T08:25:00.000-07:00

So were you as creeped out by the movie The Ring as I was?

I was curious what the word “rusalka” actually meant and went searching the Internet for a description.

Dvořák’s opera Rusalka is a bittersweet story of unrequited love—often described as a sad version of The Little Mermaid. The opera is truly beautiful and moving and was inspired by a Czech folk story.

But the original legend behind that folk tale is actually a little closer to that scary chick who crawls out of the TV in the movie The Ring than it is to sweet Ariel who cavorts with her pal Sebastian the Crab in the Disney film.

Before we go any farther, DO NOT WORRY: the opera is NOT some creepy horror movie or some weird director’s reinterpretation of the opera. (I can already hear my General Director’s heart beating faster as he reads this blog post.) Dvořák’s opera is safe in the hands of Opera Colorado and director Eric Simonson—it’s a beautiful and romantic masterpiece and Opera Colorado’s production will do the hauntingly beautiful “Song to the Moon” justice. I PROMISE.

Also, it’s true, Dvořák was inspired by this Czech folk legend, but he parted ways with the legend early on and took his inspiration more directly from Hans Christian Anderson than from some morbid Bohemian fantasy.

But in honor of Halloween, I thought it would be fun if I share some of the ooky details of the legend of the rusalki (plural for rusalka).

According to the good people at Wikipedia, the rusalka is an evil water creature specific to Slavic cultures. She’s similar to a mermaid, but she doesn’t have fins. The rusalka is the soul of a young woman or girl whose death came unnaturally or violently, due to the actions of an unfaithful lover. Transformed into a half-human creature living in lakes and ponds and streams, the rusalka can be freed from her cruel fate only when her death is avenged. With long reed-like hair and irresistible shrill laughter, a rusalka lures unsuspecting men into the water and drowns them.

In some versions of the myth, her eyes shine like green fire. Others describe the creature as having extremely pale and translucent skin and no visible pupils. Her hair is often perpetually wet—supposedly, if her hair dries out, she will die. (That’s the part that reminded me of The Ring… Shudder…)

Happily, this is October and we’re well past “Rusalki Week.” That’s the time of year in early June when the rusalki are supposed to be at their most powerful.

Spirits similar to the rusalki appear in other European mythologies, such as the Irish banshee (a female spirit who wails), the German nix (shape-sifting water spirits) and the Romanian lele (a female spirit that only appears at night).

Japanese cinema also has featured many similar spirits. (If you Google “Dead Wet Girls,” you actually get some really interesting articles.) In many Japanese horror films, ghosts are often accompanied by water. Long stringy hair is associated with symbols of madness or demonic possession.

In addition to the evil character of Samara from The Ring, for you video game fans out there, rusalka-like creatures have also appeared in video games such as Quest for Glory IV: Shadow of Darkness and Devil May Cry 4.
-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Photo credit: Michal Daniels, Minnesota Opera.

Bila Fazolova Polevka (Navy Bean Soup)

2010-10-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

October’s a good month for soup! And the Czech people love their soups, so we’ll be adding soup recipes all through October. Check out this tasty addition:

Bila Fazolova Polevka (Navy Bean Soup)
-8 oz navy beans
-1 cup milk
-5 cups water
-salt
-2 carrots - diced
-1 pinch sugar
-1 small onion - chopped
-1 pinch pepper -- black
-10 ounces potatoes - cubed
-1 pinch thyme
-1 ounce lard
-1 tablespoon vinegar
-3 tablespoons flour
-1 garlic clove - crushed

1. Soak beans for several hours in cold water without salt. Add water, carrots, onion and potatoes. Cook slowly until tender. Sieve or puree with blender or food processor.
2. Prepare a roux from flour and lard, dilute with milk, and add to soup. Simmer for about 20 minutes.
3. Flavor with salt, sugar, pepper, thyme, vinegar, garlic.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Capuchin Monastery Catacombs

2010-10-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

In honor of October and Halloween being just around the corner, Travel Tuesday will be taking you to some of the more macabre sights of the Czech lands. In Brno, the second-largest city in the Czech Republic, you can find a Capuchin monastery with a large network of catacombs filled with mummies.

That’s right – mummies. Mummified monks, to be exact. The church was built in the 17th-century and the unique composition of the soil and dry air came together to create the perfect environment for natural mummification. While the monks never intended to preserve their fallen brothers, their vows of poverty and the catacombs’ climate led to an inexpensive and easy way to dispose of the deceased. This went on for 300 years, until at the end of the 18th century, Emperor Joseph demanded a more hygienic means of disposal.

Today, visitors to the catacombs can see about 150 bodies that were laid to rest before 1784, including monks, townspeople, and a few noblemen, including Baron von Trenck, a soldier, adventurer, gambler and womanizer. The Baron, while not an upstanding moral citizen, had bequeathed a lot of money to the monastery and was rewarded by being laid to rest in a glass coffin in his own room. (His thumb and head, however, have been stolen since his demise.)

The site isn’t for the squeamish. Bodies of monks rest directly on the floor and several, due to the mummification process, look as though they did not go peacefully. A grim reminder lies above an arched vault; part of the wall is inscribed, “As you are now, we once were, as we are now, you shall become."

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

A sample of Bohemia in the Big Apple

2010-10-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

If you’ve ever traveled to New York City, you know that some days the city can be a little too much hustle and bustle. Even if you’re on vacation, you may feel the need to escape your vacation when you’ve had too much of the Manhattan rat race.

On a recent trip to New York, I was seeking just such an escape. And New York is the city with something for everyone, so relief was just a short train ride away. Tucked away in a corner of Astoria, Queens, is one of the oldest European-style beer gardens in the United States. I was lucky enough to be there as The Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden kicked off its centennial celebration.

During the 1800s, Czech and Slovak immigrants were making their way to the U.S. searching for a better life. Many settled in New York. In 1892, The Bohemian Citizens’ Benevolent Society of Astoria was formed with the mission of preserving traditional Bohemian culture in this new land. The society offered dramatic presentations, lectures, language lessons and more. It became a social hub for the community and in 1910 the Society laid the cornerstone for what would become the Bohemian Hall.

At one time, there were over 800 German and European-style beer gardens all over the city, three in Astoria alone. Today, The Bohemian Hall is the only historic hall and garden that survives. The facility was built on what was once farmland in the borough of Queens. First to be constructed was just a small hall, but soon a larger hall was added that also served as a gymnasium. By 1919, an outside beer garden had been completed—just in time for 10 years of prohibition. But those Czechs are tough and the beer garden survived and flourished.

The Benevolent Society still owns and maintains the garden, though now it is in the center of a vibrant urban neighborhood. It’s right next to the elevated train tracks, but once you step into the garden, it’s as if you’re in a different country and the city begins to melt away. (The beer probably helps with this process a little bit.)

In addition to a beer garden, the Society also maintains a Czech and Slovak school where language lessons are offered tuition-free. According to their website, lessons for school-aged children follow Czech and Slovak curriculum standards and also include other culturally-rich activities to help young people understand their heritage.

The main building is somewhat sprawling with lots of smaller rooms and a cozy bar as you enter. But step out into the spacious garden and you feel as if you’ve entered a rural landscape in Bohemia. The open-air space is shaded by large trees and a tent. Dozens of picnic tables are lined up end to end and you instantly make new friends by finding a spot among the other guests. A stage and a dance floor are at one end. The night I was there, the folklore group Zemplinčane SVOJINA was just tuning up for session of folk dancing. This was the beginning of the centennial celebration, so there was a special emphasis on traditional folk music. But the place also offers “80s Night” and other special events aimed at attracting younger patrons, so there’s always something for everyone.

However, even though the bar does offer weekly Ladies Nights, this place has much more of a family feel. Kids are welcome. Grandparents were enjoying themselves along with the grandkids when I was there.

The Bohemian Hall has an extensive menu of Czech and Slovak dishes. Czech entrees tend to range from $8 to $14 and most are filling platters of meat and potatoes.

They also offer a good selection of beers with an emphasis on traditional Boehemian selections. I sampled a Golden Phesant, my first Slovakian beer. It was somewhat darker and heartier than the light Budweis-style beers I have been sampling. Not as dark as something like Guinness, but definitely a shade or two darker than Czechvar or Pilsner Urquell (which are also available at Bohemian Hall).

Obviously, this place draws large crowds on summer weekends when all New Yorkers are seeking an inexpensive escape from the sweltering city, but if you ask me, it’s definitely worth a ride on the N train to enjoy this charming destination. Visit their website...

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Czech Proverbs

2010-10-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

You can tell a lot about what a culture values by its proverbs. In America, for example, we often say “Time is money” or “Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” These phrases show how Americans typically value a strong work ethic.

Here are some of my favorite Czech sayings that I've found:

Bez peněz do hospody nelez.

Don't go to the pub without money.

Bez práce nejsou koláče.

Without work, there are no koláče.

Co je doma, to se počítá.

What's at home, counts.

Dobrá rada nad zlato.

Good advice is better than gold.

Host do domu, Bůh do domu.

A guest in your home is like a God in your home.

Kdo jinému jámu kopá, sám do ní padá.

He who digs a hole for someone, will fall in it himself.

Trpělivost růže přináší.

Patience brings roses.

V noci každá kočka černá.

Every cat is black at night.

Vyhni se opilému, jakož i bláznu.

Avoid a drunkard as well as a fool.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Czech Soup for the Soul

2010-10-06T11:35:00.000-07:00

There was a chill in the air this morning. As the days get shorter and the air turns cooler, when I think of food I start thinking: soup.

Soup is very important in Czech cuisine. There’s a Czech saying: “Soup forms the foundation of any meal.” Most Czech lunches start off with a first course of soup. So what makes Czech soup unique? It uses the ingredients common to the area, including carrots, potatoes, onions, parsley, onions, garlic, peppers and paprika.

A Czech cookbook will feature a variety of soups, including:
-Potato soup (bramboračka)
-Goulash soup (gulášová polévka)
-Tripe soup (dršťková polévka)
-Garlic soup (česnečka)
-Chicken noodle soup (kuřecí polévka s nudlemi)
-Beef soup with liver dumplings (hovězí polévka s játrovými knedlíčky)
-Sauerkraut soup (zelná polévka or zelňačka)
-Dill soup, made from sour milk (koprovka)
-Cream of mushroom soup (kulajda)

Hungry for soup now? Try this recipe:

Czech Potato Soup
-1/2 cup dried mushrooms or 1 cup fresh mushrooms, sliced
-1 quart boiling water
-1 celery stalk
-1 large carrot, chopped
-1 medium onion finely chopped
-1/4 tsp. caraway seeds
-1/8 tsp. marjoram
-1 tsp. salt
-2 medium potatoes
-2 Tbls. flour
-2 Tbls. butter
-pepper to taste

1. Stir mushrooms into the boiling water, add celery, carrots, onion, caraway seeds, marjoram, salt and pepper and cook slowly for 1 hour.
2. Add potatoes and simmer 40 minutes more.
3. Make thickening by slightly browning flour and butter in skillet. Add to soup and bring to boil before serving.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Rock Town

2010-10-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Rock climbers and nature lovers, get ready to plan your trip to Europe. In the northeastern part of the Czech Republic is a hidden oasis of sandstone formations Adršpach-Teplice Rocks, also known as the Czech “rock town.” It’s located near the villages of Adršpach and Teplice nad Metují.

A national nature reserve since 1933, this is a popular destination for rock climbers. The area features well-marked paths through pine forests and valleys where hikers can see waterfalls, hawks, and even Siberia.

That’s right – Siberia. There is a section of the reserve that is much cooler than the rest and has a variety of plants that typically grow at higher attitudes and lower temperatures.

With imaginative names for the rock formations like Giant’s Armchair, Sugar Cone, the Guillotine and Medusa’s Head, it’s no wonder this is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike. Though you do have to pay to get into the reserve, you’ll find it an amazing journey through nature.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Timeline: Dvořák and the Arts

2010-10-04T09:51:00.000-07:00

Consider the following highly selective list of important landmarks in the arts during Dvořák’s lifetime:

- 1846: Adolph Sax patents the saxophone

- 1847: Emily Bronte publishes Wuthering Heights

- 1851: Herman Melville publishes Moby Dick

- 1853: Heinrich Steinway opens his piano factory in New York.

- 1862: Victor Hugo publishes Les Miserables

- 1869: Leo Tolstoy publishes War and Peace

- 1874: the first Impressionism exhibit in Paris

- 1875: Mark Twain completes The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (it’s published the next year)

- 1887: Arthur Conan Doyle (not yet Sir) publishes his first Sherlock Holmes story, “A Study in Scarlet”

- 1888: Vincent Van Gogh paints Sunflowers

- 1889: World Exhibition in Paris (the first exposure for most of Europe to East Asian cultures, and the event for which the Eiffel Tower was built)

- 1898: HG Wells publishes War of the Worlds

Such a time it would have been to be an arts journalist!

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Come Dance the Polka With Me

2010-09-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

Polka, a couples dance that originated in the nineteenth century, is actually from the Czech Republic – Eastern Bohemia, to be exact. Creation of the dance is generally attributed to one Anna Slezak, a peasant girl in Labska Tynice who supposedly invented the dance in 1834.

The name comes from the Czech word pulka, which means “half-step,” which refers to the rapid shift from one foot to the other. Polka is often thought to have originated in Poland; polka means “Polish woman” and the dance may have been named in honor of the Polish people who helped the Czech people during an unsuccessful revolution during Austrian occupation.

The polka, like kolache and other wonderful Czech creations, caught on fast. The dance made its way into the ballrooms of Prague shortly after its creation and caught on more broadly when a Prague dance teacher demonstrated the polka in Paris. Parisians fell in love with the new dance and the trend swept Europe and the United States.

One of the few dances created in the 19th century to survive, polka did see a brief decline around the time ragtime music and jazz were increasing in popularity. The dance, however, saw a revival after World War II when Polish immigrants to the United States adopted the polka as their "national" dance. It also became more popular from efforts of Lawrence Welk and other post-war bands.

Feel like dancing now? Watch a video on the basic steps of the polka and feel free to practice at home (we won’t tell!).

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Devoted to Dumplings

2010-09-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

Czech food isn’t for the faint of heart. While it has recently become lighter in fare and has more fruits and vegetables, traditionally the cuisine is hearty, heavy, and somewhat fatty – it’s meant to be filling after a hard day of work in the fields.

One of the Czech people’s most well-known foods is knedlíky, or dumplings. (How do you pronounce that?). The Czech Republic is the leading producer of pre-prepared dumplings, contributing to 95% of the world’s supply.

There are actually three types of dumplings. Houskové knedlíky (bread dumplings), which are wheat-based and are often served as a side dish alongside beef or pork with a thick sauce. The dumpling is cooked in cylindrical shapes and then cut into round slices, similar to our bread. They are sometimes made from stale bread rolls. Bramborové knedlíky (potato dumplings) are made much the same way, but are potato-based. They can often be served with duck. Ovocné knedlíky (sweet dumplings) are stuffed with fruit filling, like plums or apricots. In some areas, the fruits are coated with the dough and boiled, then served with butter and sugar. Fruit dumplings are often served as the main dish. Each region has its own special way of making dumplings. In the spa town of Karlovy Vary, the dough is made of left-over bread, egg and spices.

Houskové knedlíky (bread dumplings)

-2 eggs

-1/2 c. milk

-1 tsp. salt

-3 c. flour

-Pinch of baking powder

-4 slices white bread, cubed

1. Beat eggs, salt and milk in a large mixing bowl.
2. Sift flour with baking powder and add, gradually, to egg mixture.
3. Continue beating with a large spoon. The dough must be smooth and stiff enough to hold its shape.
4. Stir in bread cubes.
5. Shape dough with wet hands into an oblong roll (or make two rolls about 7" in length).
6. Have salted water boiling in a large kettle.
7. Drop in dumpling rolls.
8. Boil, covered, about 40 minutes.
9. Take out of water and slice with thread, to about 1/2" thickness.
10. Keep hot until ready to serve. Excellent with pot roast, roast beef, stew, etc.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Time Out for Prague

2010-09-28T15:42:00.000-07:00

Czech Mix has been on vacation for a week, but we're back with Czech food, travel, history, culture and more!

Need a one-minute vacation? Check out this video from WatchMojo.com - beautiful video of the magical city and interesting factoids - it's better than a coffee break! (Better yet, grab some coffee and come back and watch. It's ok - we'll wait.)

Travel to the Czech Republic
Uploaded by MojoSupreme. - Exotic and entertaining travel videos.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing CoordinatorPhoto by Conor Glesner.

Telč: Stepping Into the Past

2010-09-21T12:27:00.000-07:00

About 100 miles away from Prague is Telč, a charming town in Southern Moravia whose city center was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1992. The town is believed to have been founded in the 13th century as a royal water fort and was nearly destroyed in 1530 by a massive fire. But Telč’s destruction was also its revitalization; Zachariáš of Hradec, the local lord, moved to the town after the fire and was inspired by his trip to Italy and decided to rebuild the town in Renaissance style.

About 6,000 people live in Telč year-round, but more than 200,000 visitors see its beauty ever year. The town is known most for its Renaissance-style chateau and the medieval town square. The chateau was rebuilt by Zachariáš of Hradec on the site of an original Gothic castle. The chateau features wine cellars, chapels, libraries and ballrooms and visitors can take a guided tour. One of the more interesting parts to the chateau is the African Hall. The Leichtenstein-Podstatzký family who lived in the chateau during the early twentieth century were fond of trophies: there are dozens of crocodile, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, lion, leopard and buffalo hides decorating the walls.

The town square is an exquisite outdoor plaza surrounded by cafes, restaurants and shops. While this is standard for most plazas, each structure is an arcade-fronted townhome that are all roughly the same size. Each building, however, is individually decorated with unique designs and they are all very well-preserved, leading visitors to feel as though they’ve walked right into the past.

Want to learn more about Czech Point Denver? Send an e-mail to info@operacolorado.org and ask to be added to our Czech Point Denver e-mail list.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

St. Vitus

2010-09-16T09:30:00.000-07:00

Last week I wrote about Prague Castle, which includes one of the most recognizable landmarks in all of Prague, St. Vitus Cathedral.

Commissioned by Charles IV, construction on the cathedral began in 1344 and wasn’t full completed until 1929. It is the largest church in Prague and was the site of numerous royal coronations.

The Cathedral was built on the site of an original church that was consecrated to St. Vitus. The original church was built in 925 by the Duke of Bohemia, Wenceslas (yes, the one with the Christmas song named after him.) St. Vitus was chosen because King Henry I of Germany gave him the bones of one hand of St Vitus. Some speculate that Wenceslaus, wanting to convert his subjects to Christianity, chose a saint whose name sounds very much like the name of Slavic solar deity Svantevit.

But who was St. Vitus? According to legend, he was a 4th-century Sicilian who converted to Christianity when he was 12. Among his accomplishments, Vitus is said to have freed the son of the Roman Emperor from an evil spirit, but was sentenced to death when he refused to make a sacrifice to the Roman gods. Several tales tell of failed attempts – he was thrown to the lions, tossed in a cauldron of molten lead – but most stories say he was thrown into boiling oil. He has become the patron saint of dancers, artists, singers and entertainers – which makes him an especially appropriate saint for the culturally-inclined Czech people.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Potatoes in Prague

2010-09-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

All right, I admit it. I’m not a full-blooded Czech. (Though the more I research Czech foods, the more I feel I’ve found my people.) Potatoes, for example. Who doesn’t love potatoes? Baked, fried, mashed…it’s not surprising that this ubiquitous food has became a staple of Czech cuisine.

With good reason – the tuber is high in fiber, Vitamin C and potassium and are relatively cheap and filling. (And did you know there are almost 4,000 different types of potatoes?)

Potatoes likely originated in Peru and historians believe Spanish sailors in the 16th-century brought the food back as stores for their trip and then planted the leftovers. However, the food did not become a widespread part of the European diet until the late 18th century.

Around that time, Prague was just coming out of a dark time. Protestant reformer Jan Hus’ efforts to fight the Catholic church led to years of fighting and virtual destruction of Prague. In the late 18th century, Emperor Joseph II decided to unify the city, leading to the National Revival of 1784, which led to a stronger national identity and renewed interest in science and cultural arts.
Now, I’m not saying that the widespread adoption of the potato ended the fighting.
But it makes you wonder…

Potato Pancakes (Bramborák)

This recipe makes large, thin potato pancakes that are crispy and nicely flavored with garlic. Potato Pancakes are served both with meals and as a snack in the Czech Republic. Makes 4 potato pancakes.

Ingredients:
-4 large potatoes
-1/4 cup milk
-1 clove garlic
-1 egg
-4 heaping tablespoons flour
-Salt
-Pinch of pepper
-4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Instructions:
1. Peel potatoes and grate with a grater.
2. Heat milk until hot (be careful not to burn it).
3. Squeeze all liquid out of the potatoes with your hands and place them in large bowl.
4. Immediately add the hot milk to the potatoes and mix until combined. This prevents them from turning brown.
5. Finely mince the garlic or put through press and add to bowl.
6. Add the egg, flour, pepper and salt. Stir until all ingredients are combined. The consistency should be more like a thick batter than a dough. Add more milk if it is too thick, or more flour if it is too thin.
7. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet.
8. For each pancake, pour a ladle full of potato mixture into skillet and spead out until it is about 1/2 inch thick and 7 inches in diameter.
9. Cook on each side, turning only once, until golden brown.
10. Drain on paper towels.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

See Prague - Live!

2010-09-14T11:03:00.000-07:00

Don't you wish you could be in Prague right now? I do! I'd love to be in Prague's historic city center, right in front of their beautiful Old Town Clock. I wish I could see the hourly parade of the mechnical saints built into the clock.

Oh, wait - I can be there virtually! Check out...PRAGUE CAM! Through the magic of the Internet (and a camera set atop the Grand Hotel Praha), you too can see Prague in real time. Just don't forget - they are 8 hours ahead so it'll be getting dark there in a little while!

Click here to view PragueCam!

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Eduard Hanslick

2010-09-13T09:38:00.000-07:00

One of the most important musical figures of the late 1800s was born in Prague but was not himself a composer, though he’d had some composition training. Eduard Hanslick (1825 – 1904) was the most influential music critic of the day. Son of a Prague music teacher, young Hanslick first studied law before taking up music. For nearly fifty years, this native of Prague dominated the musical world in Vienna, making and sometimes almost breaking careers with his mostly conservative views. Although he couldn’t change Wagner, he could surely try, and those who earned his favor – Brahms and Dvořák amongst them – gave thanks for Hanslick’s informed commentaries. Over a century later, they still make for good reading.

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Festival Italiano THIS Weekend!

2010-09-10T10:05:00.000-07:00

Where will YOU be this Saturday and Sunday? Hopefully at the Belmar Italian Festival! Opera Colorado will be at the Festival on both days with a booth and will be providing some of the entertainment - some of our singers will be performing at noon and 3 pm on both days on the Torino Stage.

If you’ve never been, you’re missing out: there's wine, great Italian food, lovely gifts and flowers as well as chef demonstrations and live music. There's also a children's grape stomp!

Festival Italiano: Food & Wine Festival

Saturday and Sunday, 10am - 7pm

Belmar, Alameda Ave and Wadsworth Blvd

Opera Colorado's booth will be near the corner of Upham and West Alaska Streets, across from Dick's Sporting Goods.

It’s always a fun (and free) time, so be sure to come by and say hi!

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Beer, Guns and Money

2010-09-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

If it weren’t for the Czech Republic, you couldn’t enjoy a Budweiser beer, dance the polka, or shoot a pistol.

Well, you probably could – but they might not be called the same thing. Our language has many words from other cultures, and more than you’d think come from this particular region of the world.

The Czechs, known for their beer, gave us the words Budweiser and pilsner. Budweiser is named for the beer-making city of Budějovice, which is called Budweis in German. Pilsner also comes from the name of the city of Pilsen, which derives from plz, the old Czech word for “damp.” (Just what you want to think of when you think of beer, right?)

Having spent a great deal of the region’s history being occupied by conquering nations, it’s almost surprising that the Czech language brought us pistol and howitzer. The term pistol came from píšťala, which originates from the Czech word “to squeak.” A howitzer (haufný) was a 15th century catapult.

Did you know that our very own dollar comes from Czech (in a somewhat roundabout way)? The Czech word tolar comes from Joachimsthaler, the German name for the place where silver coins were minted in the 16th century.

The polka, often thought to be a Polish dance, actually originated in Bohemia. The name is generally agreed to come from the Czech word půlka—literally, little half—a reference to the short half-steps featuring in the dance.

Robots were named by the Czech writer Karel Čapek in his play R.U.R, after roboti, or “drudgery.”

The word nebbish, though it comes to American English via Yiddish, is thought to come from the Czech nebohý, or “poor."

Interestingly, there are a number of words in Czech that are spelled the same as English words – but mean something completely different. The Czech word pasta means “toothpaste,” lump means “villain,” police means “shelf,” and confusingly for American travelers, host means “guest.”

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Krazy for Kolache

2010-09-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

Growing up in Texas, which has a sizable Czech population, there have always been kolaches (koh-LA-cheez). I didn’t know where this delicious pastry was from, and barely understood that I myself was of Czech descent. I just knew that some mornings, there was a warm, yummy pastry waiting for me.

In researching Czech food, I could hardly avoid dedicating an entire post to what has become in the US a symbol of the Czech people. Cities across America have Kolache Festivals, including cities in Texas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

If you’ve never had a kolache, you can pick one up at the Kolache Factory in Lakewood. They’re a square pastry with an indentation on the top for some type of filling – usually fruit or cheese. There’s also a meat-based kolache, which is a sweet roll wrapped around meat and cheese.

In Czech, koláče is actually plural; the singular form is koláč (koh-LAHCH). And koláče typically refers to any type of sweet cake.

If you’re feeling ambitious, I found a recipe for “authentic” kolache – if you try it, let us know how it turned out!

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Tour Prague Castle

2010-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

The Czech people love their castles. The Czech Republic is one of the countries with the highest density of castles in the world, and one of the largest castles in the world is Prague Castle, which covers more than 18 acres and includes the original castle as well as museums, gardens, churches, art galleries and a monastery.

Historians estimate that it was built around 880 AD by Prince Bořivoj of the Premyslid Dynasty, but it wasn’t until the Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV made the Prague Castle his residence in the 14th century that the castle truly became a symbol of the Czech people.

The castle has survived multiple fires, invasions, occupations and World Wars, but like the Czech people, still stands tall despite adversity. In its long history, the castle has expanded by rulers of the region and boasts a variety of architectural styles, including Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque.

Many areas of the castle were recently made accessible to the public for the first time in history, including the Royal Garden, Ballgame Hall, the south gardens, or the Imperial Stables.

Today, the castle is the seat of the President of the Czech Republic and serves as the historical and political center for both city and state. A number of priceless art relics, historical documents, and the Czech Crown Jewels are stored here.

For pictures and more information, check out this website.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

A Dog Drank My Homework

2010-09-03T12:38:00.000-07:00

Here it is at the last minute—Thursday night—and I still have to write my beer blog for Friday. Nothing like waiting until the last minute.

It’s actually harder than it looks. It is a school night after all, yet here I am, dear readers, sacrificing on your behalf and tracking down a Czech beer that I can sample and write something about it. Czech beers can be somewhat difficult to find, especially when you’re in a hurry because you just remembered that you’d promised to write this and here it is 9:00 at night you haven’t even started. This seems like the same pattern I had as a young student, except in those days I could usually talk my mom into typing my assignment for me.

Happily, a suitable selection was located and I can announce that this week’s beer selection is Czechvar Premium Czech Lager. (Given that I’m working on this at the last minute, can I just tell you how grateful I am that this beer doesn’t have any diacritical marks in the name?)

First I have to say that the color of Czechvar is absolutely beautiful, a rich yellow that is perfectly clear. The beer has a very clean smell—not a strong smell of fermentation, but just a light smell of yeast. It sort of reminded me of fresh bread. (Okay, this writing assignment isn’t going to be so bad after all.)

The beer is also very smooth with just a slight hint of pleasant bitterness at the end. The beer has a very lightly spiced flavor to the finish—maybe just a slight hint of clove. This beer has a very full body that I like quite a bit. I’m also glad to report that this beer was only sold in a six pack so on Friday night when we’re grilling steaks to start the holiday weekend we will have a beer that I think will be a perfect match for the food. I taste a certain amount of butter-like richness in this beer and I think it will hold up well with the beef.

Czechvar definitely has a lot more heft to it than a typical American beer, such as, say…Budweiser. This is interesting because Czechvar might be considered the original Budweiser. In fact, the beer is sold under the brand name “Budweiser Budvar” in Germany and Austria.

Czechvar, as it’s known in the U.S. and Canada, or Budejovický Budvar, as it’s known in many other countries, is brewed in České Budéjovice, a city in south Bohemia that is famous for, along with its beer, its Baroque buildings and for having the largest public square in Europe. The region’s German name is Budweis. This is why in Europe the beer has been known for many years as Budweiser—from the region of the Budweis.

The company that brews the beer has been in a battle with the Anheuser Busch company over the rights to the name Budweiser for more than a century. However the battle recently came to a head when Anheuser Busch, the world’s largest brewer, applied for an EU license to market their beer in Europe under the Budweiser trademark. The Czech company challenged this request. The legal battle began in 1996 and lasted for 13 years until the European Union rejected Anheuser Busch’s claim. The American version of Budweiser can still be sold in select European markets under the name Budweiser, but it is not allowed to sell it in at least four EU member states under that brand name because the name is already owned by the Czech brewery. By the way, the EU Court didn’t allow the American beer to go simply by “Bud” either—no fooling those Europeans!

So there you have it, a perfect example of how a simple task can escalate into something larger than you had ever anticipated. I started out just wanting to write about a beer and ended up in a European legal battle over trademark rights. Next time I’ll try to get a little more ahead of the game and get my beer tasting in earlier. After all, I really can’t write this on Friday morning at work. Beer is not just for breakfast anymore.

P.S. Here’s an article that I think highlights more of the subtle differences between U.S. beer culture and how the Europeans view it: read this article about deep fried beer at the Texas State Fair and enjoy your Labor Day weekend!

It Came From the Czech Republic

2010-09-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

Pop quiz! Do you know where the term “robot” came from? (I’ll give you a hint – remember what blog you’re reading.)

The word “robot” – much like soft contact lenses – was invented in the Czech Republic. The word comes from the Czech robota or robotnik, which means drudgery or hard work. The word first appeared in Karel Capek’s 1921 play R.U.R. (short for Rossum’s Universal Robots).

When he originally conceived of the idea, Capek asked his painter brother Josef what he should call these lifelike automatons. Capek originally came up with calling them labori, his brother suggested using roboti instead.

The play features robots that are so lifelike they could be mistaken for humans and could think for themselves. (Capek was definitely ahead of his time.) Originally happy to be servants to humans, the robots eventually rise up and the human race becomes extinct.

This idea isn't too far from the legend of the Golem of Prague. A golem is a human-like creature created from clay, and it’s said that in the late 16th century, the chief rabbi of Prague created a golem to defend the Jewish ghetto. According to legend, the golem fell in love and was rejected, and then became violent, even turning on its own creator.

Who knew that this theme, echoed in so many literary works, including Frankenstein, can be traced back in part to that region of the world? And think how many times popular culture references robots. Instead of Robby the Robot from the TV show Lost in Space, he might very well have been called Labby the Labor.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Morning, Noon and Night

2010-09-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

One of the differences between cultures that I find most interesting is how they approach food and meals. While Czech cuisine has certainly been influenced by other cultures – you’ll certainly see pizza and Chinese restaurants – and healthier substitutes have recently become more popular in urban areas, the country’s traditional foods remain distinct.

Before beginning a meal with Czechs, you’ll often hear them say “Dobrou chut’!,” which means "Bon appetit" or "Hope it tastes good!"

A typical Czech breakfast consists of buttered bread or kolache (those delicious fruit-filled pastries) as well as cheese, eggs, and ham and sausage. A few generations ago, it was common to have a mid-morning snack, though that practice seems to have declined in recent times.

Lunch is the most important meal of the day in the Czech Republic. It is the heaviest meal of the day and often includes soup as a starter course. A traditional Czech lunch may include dumplings, goulash, fried cheese and mushrooms, and plenty of meat. A favorite meal found among the Czech people is pork with dumplings and cabbage. It’s common for beer to be had at lunch – not surprising from a country well-known for their spirits.

Dinner is a more casual affair than lunch. A much lighter meal, it often consists of open-faced sandwiches called chlebičky or a tray of meats, cheeses and vegetables. It is, however, common for Sunday dinners to be more similar to a heavy lunch and is a way for families to spend time together.

Czechs have quite the sweet tooth, and there are sweet shops found all over the country. These shops serve coffee and tea as well as creamy marzipan, luscious cakes, and palačinky (crepe-style pancakes.) As lunch is such a filling meal, desserts are often eaten in the late afternoon or after a light dinner.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Relax and Refresh in Karlovy Vary

2010-08-31T08:25:00.000-07:00

Do you need a vacation? Perhaps something relaxing and soothing? (Don’t we all!) Never fear – I have the answer! Karlovy Vary, the world-famous spa town in the Czech Republic. Located about 80 miles west of Prague, this is truly a “hot spot.” The town is built around thermal springs believed to have healing properties. (And you can impress your friends at your next get-together by knowing that the therapeutic use of baths is called balneology.)

The city is named for the King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV, who – in addition to having the longest royal title ever - founded the city in 1370. Legend says it was founded when the Emperor was hunting deer in the woods when one of his hounds fell into one of the hot springs. (Poor puppy!) The Emperor noticed the hound seemed…well…healthier, and jumped right into the spring himself. A short soak in the water convinced Charles that the waters had helped heal an old leg injury, and he decreed that a town should be built around the healing springs.

Since then, the city has seen a never-ending stream of well-known visitors, including Peter the Great, Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Fryderyk Chopin. Today, celebrities from all over the world visit Karlovy Vary not just for its springs, but for the charm and beauty of the historic town.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Moldau vs. Rusalka

2010-08-30T10:14:00.000-07:00

Music Monday gives us a comparison of two well-known Czech works: Smetana’s The Moldau and Dvořák's Rusalka.

Best known of all Czech-inspired compositions is Smetana’s The Moldau, an orchestral journey along the course of Bohemia’s national river. Interestingly, several of its scenes have parallels within Dvořák’s opera Rusalka, which is the heart of our Czech Point Denver project. With assertive French horns, Smetana imagines hunters along the river. Dvořák also crafts a hunting scene, when the prince finds Rusalka, and he, too, uses horns.

In another scene, Smetana imagines water nymphs bathing in the river, evoked by woodwinds and harp. Dvořák’s opera is packed with water nymphs – principally the title character – and often portrays them with those same instruments. Both compositions also have wedding scenes, though Smetana’s is a country wedding and Dvořák’s is royal. It seems both composers were drawing on central elements of Czech culture.

-Betsy Schwarm, long-time announcer/producer for KVOD and music professor

Photo credit: The Wood Sprites in Rusalka. Jeffrey Dunn, Boston Lyric Opera.

Friday Afternoon Club

2010-08-27T09:18:00.000-07:00

"To beer! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems"
-Homer Simpson

The other day, my distinguished colleague was excited because she got to write about fried cheese for this blog. Well, after a long week, I’m excited that I get to write about beer.

The Czech Republic has a long and distinguished history of beer making. It is believed that beer production began in the region as long ago as 859 BC. Part of this had to do with the fact that exceptionally fine hops thrived in the region. In the 13th century, King Wenceslas (the one of Christmas carol fame) convinced the Pope to revoke the ban on brewing beer in the region. The king also took action to protect the production of hops by banning the export of the hops plants so that the Slavs would retain their corner on the market.

One of the centers of hops production was the town of Žatec, a town approximately 100 miles northwest of the city of Prague. Hops have been grown there at least since the year 1004. Beer has been brewed there in some form or another since that time. Because of its hops production, Žatec was regarded as a wealthy, Royal town for many years. Hops are and were big business there. Official designations and regulations have continued there since the days of King Wenceslas and continue today. As recently as May 8, 2007, the European Union has protected hops from the region with the Protected Designation of Origin status of Žatecky Chmel.

According to Wikipedia: “Nearly all beer brewed in the Czech Republic is lager. This varies in color from pale (Světlé), through amber (Polotmavé) and dark (Tmavé) to black (Černé).” The four basic categories of beer spelled out by Czech law include lehké - a "light" beer brewed below 8°, výčepní - "tap" beer, though it can be bottled, brewed between 8° and 10°, ležák - "lager" beer, brewed between 11° and 12.99° and speciál - "special" beer, brewed above 13°.

The cornerstone of the current site of the Žatec brewery was laid in 1800 inside the town’s castle walls. For years the beer was regarded as one of the finest in Bohemia. During the years of Communist rule, the quality and availability of the beer declined greatly. By the late 1990s, the beer was barely available inside the Czech Republic, much less available abroad.

However in 2001, a Czech businessman bought the brewery and began revitalizing Žatec’s great traditions. Today, the beer is once again created in the old lagering tanks originally installed in 1835 - this takes place 80 feet underground, guaranteeing the ideal cold brewing conditions. The process takes 45 days. All carbonation comes from the natural fermentation process. The brewery does not use CO2 to create those bubbles. The beer uses home grown hops, Moravian malt and local water. The beer is now available throughout Europe and is being brewed for export. It can be found locally at many specialty retailers and bars specializing the imported beers.

There’s much more information available on this history and process of Žatec beer available at their website. Additional information about the city of Žatec and the surrounding region is available at this website.

So fine, what does it taste like?

I’m not an expert - I’m trying to drink a beer and frantically copy stuff off the internet after all - but based on what I’ve read, I would say that this beer would qualify as a Světlé or a light beer. It has a very light and refreshing taste - perfect for the warm summer evening when I’m enjoying it. There’s no bitterness. The company’s website describes the taste as “fruity” and I would agree with that. I could imagine this beer going well with a dessert made of baked apples or plums. I don’t mean to say that the beer is sweet - it’s not. But that warm comforting type of food would compliment the beer very well. I could also see it being a great match with a sweet, smoky barbecue sauce. The beer is very rich and well-rounded - but not heavy. The beer went very well with the pizza I had for dinner. Definitely worth the time to seek it out and give it a try, I would say.

There’s a lot more information about Czech beer at this helpful website.

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Cooler than a postage stamp...

2010-08-26T09:16:00.000-07:00

When I was a little girl, either my father or my grandfather showed me a stamp with the picture of a man on it. Underneath his picture was his name, Vančura, which just also happens to be my name. My father, or my grandfather, explained to me that this was a distant relation and that he happened to be a well-known Czech author. When I first heard about Czech Point, I realized that I had to do some research on this man.

His name, it turns out, is Vladislav Vančura, and he was born on June 23, 1891 in the small town of Háj, near Opava, Moravia to a middle-class family of Protestant noble descent. In 1905, he moved to Prague to attend school but struggled with the discipline and rigidity of the traditional schools. It would take the help of a private tutor before he could graduate and move on to University.

In 1915, Vladislav entered the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, but switched to studying medicine one year later. It would be at University that he would meet his future wife, Ludmila 'Lida' Tuhá, a student of medicine herself. In 1921, Vladislav and Lida graduated from the university and opened up a surgical practice in Zbraslav.

Since his late teens, Vladislav had been writing short stories, novels, and reviews, and in 1929, he would devote himself completely to writing. He favored characters that acted, and in a time when many books featured introspective characters and plots driven by thought, offered little direct insight into his characters’ motivations. What made Vladislav’s writing so unique, however, was his use of language. He combined an ancient style of Czech, found in a Czech translation of the Bible from the 16th century, with modern colloquialisms. His style is so unique, in fact, that it has actually made translations into other languages incredibly difficult.

Throughout his life, Vladislav was an on and off again member of the Communist Party, and in 1939, in response to Hitler’s invasion of Czechoslovakia, he joined the underground Communist resistance. In May 1942, Gestapo arrested Vladislav, and later that month, he was killed as part of Hitler’s response to the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich.

So there it is, and a heck of a lot cooler than a stamp. Vladislav has a fairly descent English Wikipedia article, but most of the information I was able to find on him came from English translations of Czech websites. Both Summer of Caprice and The End of the Old Times have been translated into English, and are currently available at Amazon. So check Vladislav out, and immerse yourself in some Czech culture.

-Liz Vancura, former Opera Colorado Education intern

In other cultural news, Czech Mix just saw that playwright and former Czech president Vaclav Havel just completed on-location filming on the movie adaptation of his stage drama Leaving - read the article here.

Those Cheesy Czechs

2010-08-25T14:40:00.000-07:00

It’s mid-afternoon, and I feel like having some cheese. That’s because in researching today’s entry on Czech cuisine, I was inspired by the love of cheese shared by the people of the region. Being quite the cheeseophile myself, I was curious what Czechs consider delicious when it came to cheese.

The Czechs do have specific cheeses native to their region and you haven’t lived until you’ve tried Olomouc cheese, a type of aged cheese from the Moravian region. Quite aromatic and flavorful, cheesemakers in the small town of Loštice have been making it since the 15th century. Known as the “Guttery Breath of the Knight of Lostice,” the cheese is so ingrained in the country’s history that when the European Union tried to outlaw it, The Czech government asked for special permission to keep it.

Much of the Czech people’s love of cheese comes in the form of specific recipes that center around cheese. Here are a few types I was particularly intrigued by…

Nakládaný hermelín
Hermelin is a soft cheese that comes from the same family as Camembert. You marinate the cheese with peppers, onions, garlic and oil. It’s commonly served in bars and can be deep fried.

Pivní sýr
Beer cheese! This is a soft cheese that’s soaked in beer until it’s soft. It’s usually mixed with onions and mustard. It’s often served spread on bread or toast.

Smažený Sýr

By far my favorite of the cheese recipes. You take a slice of cheese – perhaps Edam, Camembert or Hermelin – and coat it in bread crumbs, then fry in oil. It’s served with tartar sauce and potatoes. I even found a recipe for it! I haven’t tested it myself yet, so if you try it at home, you can’t call us and say it wasn’t tasty.

Smažený Sýr (Fried Cheese)

Serves 2

Ingredients

-2 slices Edam or other soft cheese, each 1/3 inch thick
-1/4 cup flour
-1 cup breadcrumbs
-1 egg, lightly beaten

-vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

1. Dip cheese slices into flour to form a light coating on all surfaces.

2. Dip each slice into lightly beaten egg and coat completely.
3. Dip each slice into breadcrumbs and coat completely, pat crumbs onto any areas that are not coated.
4. Pour oil into deep frying pan to a depth of 1/2 inch. Heat to 375 degrees F.
5. Carefully place slices in pan and fry on one side for about 20 - 30 seconds, or until golden-brown
6. Turn and fry on the other side for another 20 - 30 seconds until golden brown.
7. Serve with tarter sauce, boiled potatoes and salad.

Enjoy!

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Visit the Estates Theatre

2010-08-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

If you’re looking for a good place to take in some culture, you’ll want to check out one of Prague’s most well-known theaters, the Estates Theatre. The Theatre began its life in the late 18th century. At the time, theaters were cropping up all over Europe and people felt the arts should be accessible to everyone.

The Theatre was originally known as Count Nostitz’s Theatre and took less than two years to construct. It’s build in the Neoclassical style, which strives for symmetry, simplicity, and columns. (Like ancient Greek temples, but slightly more modern.)

Like the Czech Republic itself, the Theatre has undergone several name changes and owners, but has always retained its sense of self. It’s actually one of the few theaters in Europe that still looks the way it did when it was built.

It was home to a number of plays and operas and Czech works, including the first Czech modern opera (František Škroup’s The Tinker), and the premiere of the song “Where is my home?” (Kde domov můj), which later became the Czech national anthem.

Mozart certainly liked the Theatre – he conducted the world premiere of his opera Don Giovanni here and staged his La Clemenza di Tito in public here for the first time in celebration of the coronation of Emperor Leopold II. Fun fact: this is actually the only theatre left standing where Mozart performed.

True to its association with Mozart, the Estates Theatre was used in the Oscar-winning film Amadeus. The Czech director, Milos Forman, shot the scenes of Mozart in Prague at the Estates Theatre for authenticity.

So if you're planning a trip to Prague, make sure you set aside some time for this amazing building.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

A little background information about RUSALKA

2010-08-23T09:36:00.000-07:00

Opera Colorado is very excited to be producing the opera Rusalka. As far as we can tell, this will be the very first production of Rusalka in the Rocky Mountain region.

But truth be told, Rusalka is a rarely performed opera anywhere. It was first performed in Prague in 1901, but was rarely seen, even in its own country, for many years.

Gustav Mahler, then head of the Vienna Opera, was a fan of the work, but even with a champion like Mahler, the opera was not performed in Austria until 1924, twenty years after Dvořák’s death.

The first performance of Rusalka in England wasn’t until 1959. The first performance of the opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera wasn’t until 1993. Singers such as Renee Fleming have been major advocates for the opera. Opera Colorado’s leading lady Kelly Kaduce, who will sing the title role here in Denver, won the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions in 1999 by singing “The Song to the Moon” from this opera.

The sets and costumes for Rusalka were originally created by Minnesota Opera in cooperation with Boston Lyric Opera. It debuted in Minnesota in 2008. Minnesota Opera Artistic Director Dale Johnson created this short preview of the opera that gives a great sense of what the opera will look like.

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Friday Afternoon Club

2010-08-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

It’s Friday afternoon and I don’t know about you, but I could use a beer.

But what beer should I drink?

When considering this important question, a look towards the Czech Republic and its long history of beer making is probably a good option to consider.

Beer making in the Bohemian and Czech region goes back over a thousand years. The Czech Republic has the highest per-capita beer consumption rate in the world. While there are many major breweries in the region, two cities are very much associated with beer making: Plzeň and České Budĕjovice. You might recognize these cities better by their German names: Pilsen and Budweis.

If you would like to learn more about how to best judge a beer, spend some time at beeradvocate.com . When reviewing a beer, the beer advocates believe that it’s most important to take into consideration the appearance, smell, taste, mouth-feel and drinkability of your beer. But before you can really judge a beer by any of these criteria, you first need to understand the style of the beer and beer maker’s intent.

The classic Czech Pilsner is one major style of beer making. Here’s what beeradvocate.com has to say on the subject:

“The birth of Pilsner beer can be traced back to its namesake, the ancient city of Plzen (or Pilsen) which is situated in the western half of the Czech Republic in what was once Czechoslovakia and previously part of the of Bohemian Kingdom. Pilsner beer was first brewed back in the 1840's when the citizens, brewers and maltsters of Plzen formed a brewer's guild and called it the People's Brewery of Pilsen.

”The Czech Pilsner, or sometimes known as the Bohemian Pilsner, is light straw to golden color and crystal clear. Hops are very prevalent usually with a spicy bitterness and or a spicy floral flavor and aroma, notably one of the defining characteristics of the Saaz hop. Smooth and crisp with a clean malty palate, many are grassy. Some of the originals will show some archaic yeast characteristics similar to very mild buttery or fusel (rose-like alcohol) flavors and aromas.”

Earlier, the city of Budweis came up. To American beer lovers, that name may sound familiar. According to the Anheuser Busch website, Adolphus Busch first arrived in the U.S. in 1857 and with his father-in-law to spark an American revolution in beer making by introducing Bohemian style beer to a thirsty public. Eventually young Adolphus wanted to create a truly American beer. But the roots of that taste come from the Bohemian and Bavarian countryside.

So the next time you crack open a Budweiser, take a moment to consider the description of the Czech Pilsner outlined above. How does it compare?

On coming Fridays, I know I will be craving more beers. It should be fun seeking out authentic Czech beers and giving them all a taste.

But in the meantime, this Bud’s for you.

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

The Father of Art Nouveau

2010-08-19T13:26:00.000-07:00

You’ve seen pictures like this before: gorgeous artwork featuring beautiful women with flowing hair advertising beer, liquors and cigarettes. What you may not know is many of these were designed by the Czech Art Nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha.

Mucha, who has been called “the father of Art Nouveau,” spent most of his life painting and learning to paint until his big break came in his mid-thirties, when he happened to stumble into a print shop in Paris. The print shop desperately needed a poster for a play starring Sarah Bernhardt, who was the most well-known actress in Paris at the time. Mucha volunteered his services, and in two weeks, the advertisement premiered and was an overnight sensation. Bernhardt herself loved the poster so much she went on to do many other projects with Mucha.

Mucha became synonymous with the Art Nouveau style, really helping to pioneer it. (Ironically, Mucha often tried to distance himself from what he felt was his “commercial” work, opposed to the more “artistic” works he longed to create.) Mucha’s paintings featured strong, beautiful women in flowing robes with lush flowers encircling their heads. His paintings used pastel colors, a sharp contrast to the bold colors that were in style at the time. Mucha’s popularity was so great that when Czechoslovakia won its independence after World War I, Mucha designed the new postage stamps, banknotes, and other government documents. However, his paintings began considered “reactionary,” and when Germany invaded Czechoslovakia, Mucha was arrested by the Gestapo and fell ill with pneumonia during his interrogation. He died shortly after his release.

Despite being known for his advertisements, Mucha spent more than a decade working on The Slav Epic (Slovanská epopej), a series of 20 immense paintings depicting the history of the Czech and the Slavic people. (See them here.) Mucha considered them his life’s greatest achievement and they were on display for a number of years, until they were buried to hide them from Nazi art thieves during World War II. The pictures remained in hiding during Czechoslovakia's communist occupation, and has only recently been on display in a château in the small town of Ivanice. Prague is currently working on bringing the work to the capital. (Read more here...)

From other artists to architecture to jewelry to CD covers, the father of Art Nouveau’s contribution to the art world is immeasurable, and his style has influenced almost every area of the visual arts. His legacy continues to live on, and he was honored with a Google Doodle in memory of his 150th birthday in July of this year.

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Yummy in My Tummy

2010-08-18T10:56:00.000-07:00

As the clock creeps closer to noon, my thoughts naturally turn to food. Czech food, in particular. In researching Czech culture, I found out that the Czech people love sweets. They love fruit dumplings, made with plums and cheese and bread crumbs. They love koláče, small cakes filled with sweetened cheese or fruit preserves. There’s bábovka, a semisweet cake, and apple strudel.

I have found my people.

And I have found a recipe for Vanilla Crescents, a yummy Christmas traditional treat that some say was a favorite of former president Vaclav Havel.

Vanilla Crescents

The recipe makes about 36 cookies.

Ingredients
· 1 stick unsalted butter at room temperature
· ½ cup sugar
· 2 cups all-purpose white flour, sifted
· 1 1/14 cup ground almonds
· 1 tsp vanilla extract

· Powdered sugar

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Blend in the flour ½ cup at a time, then add the almonds and vanilla extract.
Beat until the mixture becomes slightly stiff.
Shape the dough into a ball, wrap in wax paper, and refrigerate for about an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil two cookie sheets or use nonstick cookie sheets.
Tear off tablespoon-sized chunks of the dough and place them on a floured working surface. Roll each one into a strip about 2 inches long and shape them into crescents.
Place the crescents about ½ inch apart on baking sheet.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool for five minutes, then dust with powdered sugar.

I may have to make these tonight…in the meantime, I wonder where you can get some good koláče around here…

-Heather Tinley, Opera Colorado Marketing Coordinator

Travel to Prague via YouTube

2010-08-17T08:45:00.000-07:00

There are very few travel writers who capture my imagination like Rick Steves. There’s just something about how he presents European travel that makes me want to pack up and go. International travel can seem intimidating at first, but Rick explores both Europe’s most popular destinations as well as hidden gems you would never know about on his popular television program “Rick Steves’ Europe,” seen statewide in Colorado on Rocky Mountain PBS.

Rick also publishes wonderful travel guides and has a great website, http://www.ricksteves.com/. I should say right here that I’ve never met Rick Steves, but that’s the kind of writer he is; he makes you feel at ease and as if you’re getting great advice from a trusted friend. I can personally testify that Rick’s guide books are terrific. I had the best time in France a couple of years back thanks to Rick’s books. His Podcast was an invaluable walking tour of Parisian highlights that started at Notre Dame and took me through the Latin Quarter and back and forth across the Seine.

Rick has many great videos online, including this one that gives a quick overview of Prague and some of its most popular landmarks, including the Charles Bridge - watch it now:

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing

Welcome to Czech Point Denver!

2010-08-16T08:38:00.000-07:00

I was having coffee with a friend this past weekend and talk turned to work. I mentioned that Opera Colorado would be performing our first Czech opera this coming season, Rusalka by Antonìn Dvořák.

My friend is very well-traveled and a musician with an above-average knowledge of classical music. Yet her immediate response to this news was: “Dvořák wrote an opera?”

Her reaction is really not all that surprising. While Rusalka is probably Dvořák’s most popular opera (he wrote ten in all), the opera is unfamiliar to many opera fans.

In fact, much of Czech culture is unfamiliar to many Americans. As I began to learn more about Rusalka and Dvořák, I began to explore other aspects of Czech culture. And as I learned more, I was constantly saying to myself, “I didn’t know that!”

Prague has been a world capital for nearly 1100 years. Czech and Bohemian culture is staggering in its richness and complexity. Throughout much of modern history, Czech artists have been making major contributions to literature, music, architecture, the visual arts, film and more. Many of the world’s great cultural movements had their beginnings in Prague.

As Opera Colorado prepares to present our first Czech opera, we decided we’d like to explore and celebrate this fertile cultural landscape. Czech Point Denver is the result.

Czech Point Denver will be a city-wide celebration of Czech arts and culture scheduled for January and February 2011. The festival is spearheaded by Opera Colorado and is a cooperative project of several Denver arts organizations, including the Denver Art Museum, The Colorado Symphony and Buntport Theater, among others. Events will include film screenings, lectures, concerts, performances and interactive arts activities. We’re also creating opportunities to engage students with each of the partner organizations. By the time the curtain comes down on Rusalka next February, we hope to have cooperatively helped create many “aha moments” as our audiences explore Czech culture and this remarkable opera with us.

Regular updates about the project will be available through this blog and our website, http://www.czechpointdenver.com/. If you’d like, you’re also welcome to sign up for e-mail updates. We’re also setting up a Facebook fan page and establishing a Twitter feed. We’re engaging some great writers who can help us explore many different Czech-related topics online.

In the meantime, here’s a taste of this beautiful opera. Opera Colorado’s production will star soprano Kelly Kaduce in the title role. Kelly has been featured on the cover of Opera News several times in the past few years. She also created the role in the production Opera Colorado will present. But perhaps you’ve never heard any music from Rusalka. Enjoy this link to Renee Fleming, one of the opera’s great champions, performing the most famous aria from Rusalka, “The Song to the Moon.”

-Rex Fuller, Opera Colorado Director of Marketing