2005

The story of a Swiss woman and a Czech who not only changed the lives of hundreds of people but also their outlook on life.

Přemysl Pitter (1895-1976) and Olga Fierz (1900-1990) rescued over 800 Jewish and German children from German concentration camps and Czech detention centres after the Second World War. For many of these children, their encounter with Přemysl and Olga was a decisive moment which predetermined their future life, choice of profession and also their spiritual orientation.

Someone has to stand in front of the viola, behind the viola, I want to start playing now. A peep under the skirt of classical music with Pavel Koutecký’s film crew.

 Sex, faith, children, the poetry of ordinary things and the voices of angels. Or, put another way: the orchestra as a big circus, conducting as provoking people to the very edge, the solo as communication with a partner. Or put yet another way: seeking a link with the past, the endeavour to achieve (elusive) perfection, the struggle with unforeseen obstacles.

What is a music festival: Ladies in front of their dressing-table mirror? The feeling that you were (together with others) actually there? The concentration of exceptional people and exceptional feats? An opportunity for discovery, for experiences, for encounters?

Something noble yet languishing on the fringes of society’s interest? The culmination of long-term, difficult work? 

'It’s spring in Prague every year' is a project which dismantles the stereotypes associated with the presentation of so-called serious music in the media. A certain rigidity, tedium and overwrought officialdom create a barrier between this sphere and the general public.

Opus No. 1 consists of two principal lines and two secondary themes. Encounter – two clarinetists. A Czech and Israeli clarinetist rehearse a double concerto. First, they sing it to each other down the telephone and email photos of the dresses ... Then they get together and discover that each has been practising a different version of the work.

Oratorio – Conductor, soloists and the others. Getting ready to perform Dvořák’s St Ludmila, from the soloists’ piano rehearsals through to the full rehearsal. We have the fulfilment of the conductor’s vision right before our eyes – and our ears.

BBC orchestra – moving the circus. What does it mean to shift a full orchestra from one place to the next, and what is it like to play every day in a different concert hall and sleep in a different bed.

Ebony Orchestra – civility, peculiarity, obscenity…? In a contrapuntal blend with the stately oratorio, we are given three chapters about a concert held in honour of E.F. Burian.

The devil does what he likes with us, but crystalline rock is eternal. A film about the quest for happiness in a hapless landscape.

From Easter 2003 to Easter 2004, the following people worked, lived, sang and spoke to us:

Ing. Vladimír Petrovský, mining engineer, Most

Jan Rajter, farmer, Moravěves

Ing. Ivan Váňa, vintner, Most

Radek Fridrich, poet, Děčín

Vladimír Buřt, civil engineer, Horní Jiřetín

Eva Mikšová, unemployed, Litvínov – Janov

Karel Dzurko, unemployed, Litvínov - Janov

Karel Žídek, Jiří Jindra, Pavel Urbáček – members of heavy-metal bands, Litvínov - Janov

Dekubit and Děti, heavy-metal bands, Litvínov – Janov

For someone, it’s Gott, for another, it’s Satan. I put sugar in my coffee. Each has his own truths, even the crystalline rock in the Krušné Hory mountains. The buzzard snatched the young hare and the spider lies in wait for the fly. Bulls will end up in the goulash. The sportsman wants to win, the horse wants to win, wine-growers want to win, and President Klaus wants to win. I’ll tell on the birds in the heavens, but the energy industry must always remain a serious issue. You let someone into your home, you don’t even know who they are, and they cause you harm. The devil manipulates people, but crystalline rock is everlasting. A film by Břetislav Rychlík about the quest for happiness among the slapheaps.

© AFiS, Czech television