Bedřich Smetana, often referred to as the 'founder of Czech music', settled in Prague in 1843 at the age of 19. In the late 1860s he was conductor of the Prague National Theatre orchestra, in which a young Antonin Dvořák played viola for ten years. In 1892 – 21 years after leaving the Theatre orchestra to compose full-time – Dvořák moved to New York to be Director of the National Conservatory – cementing his reputation worldwide with his 9th Symphony, 'From the New World', before returning to Prague in 1895. In 1897 the composer Josef Suk, a student of Dvořák and grandfather of today's violinist Josef Suk, married Dvořák's daughter Otilka. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was (and remains) popular in Prague, and premiered his operas Don Giovanni and La clemenza di Tito in the Estates Theatre. A big city, and a lot to see... / more |
Mozart in Prague
When Wolfgang and Constanze Mozart came to Prague in 1787 for the premiere of Mozart's opera Don Giovanni, they stayed with František and Josefina Dušek at their out-of-town house called Bertramka, to the south-west of the city in what was then a country area. The stone table at the top of the garden is allegedly where Mozart wrote the Don Giovanni overture, the day before the opera's outrageously successful first performance in the Estates Theatre – certainly he put the finishing touches to the opera at the house...
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Dvořák Museum
The pink Baroque building that now houses the Dvořák museum, in Ke Karlovu, was designed by Ignac Dienzenhofer and built in 1720 for Jan Václav Michna. The extravagant and nicely-restored frescoes on the ceiling and walls of the small upstairs concert hall are all that remain of the original decoration. The house was partly restored around 1900, and in the early 1930s was acquired by the Antonín Dvořák Society and opened as the Dvořák Museum. On show are his desk, favourite chair, piano and picture of Beethoven...
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Smetana Museum
The Bedřich Smetana Museum is on the first floor of an ornately decorated building which used to be the city waterworks, by the river just south of the eastern end of the Charles Bridge. The exhibition is nicely and quite extravagantly laid out, although is mainly documents and a few paintings – brilliant if you know Smetana well or you're a student, but somehow misses the folky enthusiasm of compositions such as The Bartered Bride. On display is an early score of the String Quartet No.1, 'From My Life', my favourite Smetana work...
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Musicians' Graves
I worked out that a No.7 tram would get me from Bertramka to the fortress of Vyšehrad, high over the Vlatava about 3km south of the centre of Prague. The main attraction for me was the Vyšehrad Cemetery, reserved for artists and intellectuals. I found Smetana in a clean, bold tomb, out in the open near the Slavín monument, the communal resting place for more than 50 Czech artists. Dvořák is under one of the arches that frame the cemetery, in a sort of black art nouveau affair designed by Ladislav Šaloun...
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The Theatres
The Estates Theatre is where Mozart decided to premiere Don Giovanni in 1787, after The Marriage of Figaro had been so much better received in Prague than in Vienna. His final opera, La clemenza di Tito, also had its first performance here, though not to such acclaim. The Rudolfinum was completed in 1884 as an art gallery, museum and concert hall, and is now the home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. I was able to buy a ticket for a performance of Mahler's 7th Symphony, conducted by Jiří Bělohlávek, 100 years after its premiere in Prague...
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Pražský hrad (Prague Castle)
Sunday. Staying in an apartment close to Prague Castle (generally known as the Hrad) I decided to go straight there to look at the courtyards, and maybe catch them before the worst of the crowds arrived. I wandered slowly through and took quite a few photos under the grey light. The restored mosaic over the south door of St Vitus cathedral had building works nearby, but I did what I could. I didn't go in anywhere, deciding that I'd need to spend a couple of days here to do it properly...
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Hradčany
The sun is shining on my first morning in Prague – glory be! I set off towards the Hrad, strolling up the short approach road that starts a few doors down the hill from my apartment. The tour groups are gathering already in Hradčanské náměstí, the square outside the castle, and a little quartet is playing jolly music; actually they're pretty good. I take some photos of the tour groups and the band, then wander west away from the castle for a few pics of the Toscánský Palace. It's quiet and peaceful, and the buildings look super in the morning sun...
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The South Gardens
The South Gardens, immediately below the Castle walls, were laid out originally in the 16th Century, but were beautifully remodelled by the architect Josip Plečnik in the 1920s. They are very well maintained, and also provide superb views over the city and the terraced gardens of the palaces below. I walked slowly through to the exit at the eastern end, by the Lobkowicz Palace; most people were coming up the other way, but I'm sure that west-to-east is easier and more pleasant...
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St Nicholas Church
St Nicholas (sv Mikuláš) church, in Malostranké Námestí, is described by the Rough Guide as "easily the most magnificent Baroque building in the city". Certainly it's very splendid inside, gold everywhere but a bright and airy feeling. An exhibition of paintings in the gallery, with an opportunity for some nice views looking down into the nave. Also a small, self-contained organ on which there are daily concerts. I think Mozart played the main organ, over the west door...
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Charles Bridge
Karlův most [the Charles Bridge] was busy with sightseers and had building works at the western end, but was very pleasant in the sun in that laid-back holiday sort of way. I didn't attempt to photograph any of the famous statues that line the bridge, which can really only be done early in the day when it's quiet, but I did spend some time with a trad jazz band. Then up the eastern, Staré Město, bridge tower to look down on the bridge, and for the postcard view of St Vitus cathedral in the distance...
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Old Town Square
The weather was cold and grey on my final day, but I thought I ought not to leave Prague without seeing the Old Town Square, Staromestské náměstí. I took a few photos and was about to leave when the sun came out, for about 20 minutes. There was some nice cross lighting on the famous astronomical clock, and part of the sky turned almost black to provide a dramatic background for the Hus monument; Jan Hus was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1415...
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Memorial to the Victims of Communism
From my apartment near the Hrad I walked down to the tram stop and took a No.12 tram to the Memorial to the Victims of Communism. It consists of six naked male figures, arranged on steps up the hill, each progressively more decayed than the last, and it captures well the corrosive and debilitating effect of the communist regime. Just as I was lining up my shot up the steps from the road, a huge tour group turned up and swarmed all over the steps and the monument itself...
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View from above
As I walked though the South Gardens, immediately below the Castle walls – on my only sunny morning in Prague – I enjoyed the views over the city and of the clean red roofs of the buildings below. Later in the day I walked over the Charles Bridge and climbed the eastern, Staré Město, bridge tower to look down on the buildings on the other side of the Vlatava, and for a view of the great bulk of the Hrad and the dominating spires of St Vitus Cathedral.
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Arrival: on my first morning I worked my way through to Můstek station and found a long slow queue at the ticket window – it seems to be a Czech thing. I noticed a man (probably Czech) see the length of the queue and walk away; a minute later he came past again and indicated to me that if I wanted a travel pass I should go to the Tabak next door. I thanked him and did so, and a nice young man there was happy to sell me my 500Kc 5-day ticket (about £15.50), and with a smile too.
Alfons Mucha: From the Muzeum metro I walked across the end of Wenceslas Square and north to the excellent Alfons Mucha museum on Panská. I didn't know that he was an accomplished painter as well as the designer of his popular 'art nouveau' work. A very good 20-minute film in English about his work. Mucha designed the banknotes, coins, etc. on Czech independence in 1918.
Departure: walking to Malostranká metro towing my suitcase, I gave my Mac PowerBook a good vibration test on the cobbled pavements and the even bigger cobbled roads (it survived). At Muzeum metro I took a lift signed 'Metro C' but found myself outside in the street; I then had to go down 120+ steps with the case! At Holesovice, my departure station for Dresden, the only exit to the mainline platforms (typically for people with cases, right?) is up 33 steps <sigh>. I spent my last 20Kc coin on a KitKat.
Thoughts on Prague as I moved on to Dresden: The Hrad and everything round it is fabulous; I wish I'd had time to go into St Vitus Cathedral and St George's Basilica, and to hear a 1:00pm concert in the Lobkowicz Palace. I should also have gone into the gardens south-east of the South Garden, especially if the weather had stayed sunny. The Rudolfinum, Bertramka, Dvořák Museum all excellent. My main problem has been getting around in a timely manner – the trams are fine, but there's often a long wait, and they seem tediously slow on corners as the track is worn out. The Metro is fast and modern, but the entrances are often in strange places and the trains seem infrequent. Strangely, I found it difficult to get a lunchtime roll or a decent coffee off the beaten track. But I knew this would be a scouting trip, and it might feel a whole lot better on another visit, especially if sunny! It felt expensive. |
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