David Vaughan

It was 69 years ago this week, just after midnight on the night from 29th to 30th September 1938, that the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, his French…

In this edition of Encore we look at a rarely used musical form, shared by Bach and the 20th century Czech composer, Jan Novak. We also feature two highly promising young…

The Museum of Applied Arts in Prague's Old Town houses some impressive collections, including porcelain, jewelry, clocks, furniture and costume. It is one of the city's…

Carl Stamic was probably the very first virtuoso violist. He lived from 1745 until 1801. The viola is sometimes described as the alto voice of the violin family - if you…

In recent years Lenka Reinerova has acquired almost legendary status as Prague's last living writer in the German language. Her novels, stories and essays, many of which…

It is quite possible that you will have heard Hans Krasa's famous children's opera Brundibar, but it is less likely that you will have heard it performed in English. Naxos…

Dada was born in Zurich in February 1916, when Hugo Ball and Emmy Hennings launched the Cabaret Voltaire. The First World War had brought many artists to the city, and…

Zdenek Macal was born 71 years ago in the Czech Republic's second city of Brno. He achieved success rapidly, first conducting the Czech Philharmonic in 1966 at the age of…

Today we look at two very different recordings. The first is by a 20th century Czech composer whose name is almost forgotten, but whose music is familiar to every Czech…

The F. X. Salda Award is named after one the key figures in the history of Czech writing. Salda, who lived from 1867 to 1937, was the father of modern Czech literary…