Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
etpro (
ticketpro.cz
)
, which has branches all over Prague, with outlets in the Staroměstská
radnice (Old Town Hall), Staroměstské náměstí, Staré Město (daily 9am-7pm), as well as at
Rytířská31,StaréMěsto(Mon-Fri10am-6pm),andintheRokoko
pasáž
,Václavskénaměstí
38, Nové Město (daily 9am-2pm & 2.30-8pm). Prices, with a few notable exceptions, are
reasonably good value, ranging between 200Kč and 600Kč.
Listings
The English-language listings in
Prague Post
(
praguepost.com
) are selective, but
they do at least pick out the events that may be of particular interest to non-Czech speakers,
andlistallthemajorvenuesandtheiraddresses.AlsoinEnglishisthemonthlyhandout
Cul-
ture in Prague
(
ceskakultura.cz
) - published in Czech as
Česká kultura
- available from
any
PIS office
.
CLASSICAL MUSIC, OPERA AND BALLET
Folk songs, which lie at the heart of Czech music, have found their way into much of the
country's traditional repertoire of
classical music
. The Czechs are justifiably proud of their
classical music heritage, having produced four composers of international stature - Dvořák,
Janáček, Smetana and Martinů - and a fifth, Mahler, who, though German-speaking, was
born in Bohemia. If the music of
Mozart
appears rather too often in the city's monthly con-
cert programme, it's not only because the tourists love him, but also because of his special
relationship with the city. The country continues to produce top-class conductors, a host of
singers and virtuoso violinists, and the city's musical heritage ensures a regular supply of in-
ternational stars. The main
venues
are listed here, but keep an eye out too for concerts in
the city's churches and palaces, gardens and courtyards, where evening performances tend to
start fairly early (5pm or 7pm). By far the biggest annual event is
Prague Spring
,
the coun-
try's most prestigious
international music
festival.
THE MAJOR VENUES
Pragueboaststhreelarge-scaletheatreswhereoperaisregularlystaged,andhasseveralresid-
entorchestras,themostillustriousofwhicharetheCzechPhilharmonic(Českáfilharmonie),
based at the Rudolfinum, and the Prague Symphony Orchestra (Symfonický orchestr hl. m.
Prahy), whose home is the Smetanova síň in the Obecní dům. Note that all the major venues
close down for most of July and August.
Národnídivadlo(NationalTheatre)
Národní 2, Nové Město 224 901 448,
narodni-di-
bodiment of the Czech national revival movement, and continues to put on a wide variety of
mostly, though by no means exclusively, Czech plays, plus opera and ballet. Worth visiting
for the decor alone, though at the time of writing the entire building was undergpoing renov-
ation. The Nová scéna is the theatre's modern second stage. Some productions have English
surtitles.
Box office daily 10am-6pm.