Sunday Music Show | All stories

Hana Hegerová, dubbed “the Slav Edith Piaf” turned 85 in October. In the course of a career spanning more than six decades she recorded over twenty albums, appeared in more than a dozen films and gave thousands of concerts. In this edition of Sunday Music we pay tribute to the queen of Czech chanson.

The Prague band Republic of Two comprises Jiří Burian and Mikoláš Růžička, both of whom perform the music, sing and write the songs. After releasing their well-received debut LP, the indie folk duo were named Best New Act at the Czech equivalent of the Grammys, the Anděl awards, five years ago. Since then they have brought out three regular albums, with the most recent, Back to the Trees, coming out in the summer.

This week’s edition of Sunday Music show is dedicated to the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, which recently entered its 90th season and we’ll be listening to the opening concert featuring Ludwig van Beethoven’s violin concerto performed by Jan Mráček, and the Heroic Symphony number 3.

In this week’s Sunday Music we present up-and-coming singer-songwriter Barbora Mochowa. Dubbed the Czech Lana Del Rey, Barbora recently released her debut album Waiting for the White Raven – a collection of melancholic, soul-searching songs with a distinct “cosmic” feel. The willowy redhead with Russian roots says she draws inspiration from her own mood and the world around her.

In today’s edition of Sunday Music Show, we’ll be listening to the songs by David Koller, the legendary singer, drummer and frontman for the rock group Lucie, interpreted by a new generation of Czech musicians. David Koller, who this year won three Anděl awards for his most recent album ČeskosLOVEnsko, addressed musicians close to his heart, asking them to take a fresh approach to his old songs.

In today’s Sunday Music we will be listening to early recordings by the Czech rock group Abraxas, founded in 1976. The band released a new two-CD “Best of…” compilation called Nekonečný Boogie covering nine separate albums. Over the years the group, developed in different musical directions, including New Wave in the 1980s.

During the summer season the country’s castles and chateaux resound with live music as a backdrop to the fencing, dancing, food tasting and hand-craft events that take place there. In addition to medieval music the atmosphere of these historic sites is perfectly complemented by early music, haunting English, Scottish and Irish ballads as performed by two Czech bands Ginevra and Asonance. This week’s Sunday Music show will bring you the best of the latter group which this year celebrates 40 years on stage.

Today’s edition of Sunday Music Show is dedicated to the rock and blues singer and guitarist Michal Prokop and his 1972 album Město ER, which has been reissued on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Prokop, who has been part of the Czech music scene for over 50 years, marked the anniversary last weekend with a special concert in Loket. For the first time ever, audiences had a chance to hear a live performance of the art-rock composition Město ER, featuring Michal Prokop with his band Framus Five, accompanied by the Karlovy Vary Symphonic

Anyone familiar with the Czech music scene, will probably at some point heard of the blues band Krausberry, led by frontman Martin Kraus.

Dalekko – comprising Gian Baban and Pavel Sajner – won a lot of praise for their self-released 2015 debut album Neběžel jsem tudy? The impressive Prague-based group have been described as “clever mainstream”, no doubt thanks to their thoughtful lyrics and cultured but catchy tunes.