Compact archive August 24, 2007

Moscow City Ballet, one of the best ballet ensembles in the world, will perform in Prague in October. Visitors can look forward to Romeo and Juliet and Don Quijote shows.

Moscow City Ballet performs outside Russia since 1989 and it has toured many countries since then. It has achieved such success, that nowadays it is the most frequently performing ballet ensemble in the world. It will perform in the Czech Republic for the first time.

The two performances will take place in the Congress Centre (Kongresove centrum, tr. 5. kvetna 65, Prague 4) on 22 ^nd (Don Quijote) and 23 ^rd October (Romeo and Juliet). They start at 8 pm and a ticket costs 770 – 1490,- CZK. To buy tickets online, click here.

The most important young Czech violinist Pavel Sporcl will release a new album and then tour various towns across the Czech Republic. He is regarded as an exceptional talent and he is even included in Henry Roth´s book Violin Virtuosos: From Paganini to the 21 ^st century.

The new album by Pavel Sporcl will include Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi and it will be released in the beginning of November.

Pavel Sporcl will also tour a number of Czech towns with Antonin Dvorak´s music. You can hear him for example in Kutna Hora, Vimperk, Sychrov or Trebon. The tour is called “Sporcl hraje Dvoraka” (Sporcl plays Dvorak) and it will last from 2 ^nd September to 4 ^th November.

UNESCO warns Prague: if the new skyscrapers, which are planned to be built in Pankrac and Holesovice quarters, affect negatively Prague´s panorama, the city might be deleted from the UNESCO´s World Heritage List.

Commissioners of UNESCO are heading to Prague to consider, how will the view over historical houses be changed by the skyscrapers. They will especially examine, if they won´t be taller than, for example, the St. Vitus Cathedral. They will arrive to Prague in February 2008.

Prague is on the UNESCO´s World Heritage List since 1992 and one of the main reasons is the panorama over the historical part of the city. Prague city council now prepares a document, which will state, how tall buildings can be built in particular quarters of Prague.

Many statues of important personalities, that used to stand in the streets of Prague, have disappeared during the eventful history: some of them were destroyed after the break up of the Habsburg monarchy, some of them were removed by Nazis and some by the Communists. However, since 1989, the statues return slowly to their previous places. One of them is the statue of American president Woodrow Wilson, that will stand in front of Prague Main Railway Station again.

The Main Railway Station in Prague is also called Wilson Station. The statue, that used to stand there, was destroyed by the Nazis in 1939. It is planned to place it there again in 2009, when the current reconstruction of the railway station will be finished.

Rebuilding of some other statues is considered at the present: for example the Marian Column at the Old Town Square, which was destroyed in 1918, or the statue of General Radetzky at the Lesser Town Square, also removed in 1918.

The long-awaited new play Leaving (Odchazeni) by Vaclav Havel, the ex-president of the Czech Republic, might be staged in Divadlo Na Zabradli (Theater on the Balustrade). It was planned to stage it in the National Theater in Prague, but reportedly there are disagreements about the cast of the play: according to Pravo newspaper, the National Theater was unwilling to cast Dagmar Havlova (Havel´s wife) in the play.

Another reason might be Havel´s fondness for Divadlo Na Zabradli, which has staged most of his plays in the past. Also Vinohrady Theater may be chosen for the new play, there are still negotiations about that.

The new play of Vaclav Havel, world-wide appreciated playwright, will be directed by David Radok and its premiere is expected in May 2008.