Thu, 01 Jan 1970 01:00:00 +0100Tue, 28 Jul 2026 01:09:30 +0200https://english.radio.cz/deaf-empire-a-new-play-looks-smetanas-triumph-over-adversity-8199685© 2026 Radio Prague InternationalFew pieces of music could be said to capture the spirit of the Czech landscape more vividly than Bedřich Smetana’s symphonic cycle, Má vlast – My Homeland. The cycle is also a symbol of triumph over adversity. By the time he completed the work at the end of the 1870s, Smetana was almost totally deaf, living in isolation and far from the musical life of Prague. This and other aspects of the composer’s eventful life are captured in a new play by the American writer Stephan Delbos, which will be premiering in Prague at the beginning of March. David Vaughan went along to a rehearsal to find out more about the play from its author.encr@radio.cz (Cesky Rozhlas)webmaster@radio.cz (CRo Webmaster) https://english.radio.cz/sites/default/files/images/deaf_empire1.jpg?timestamp=1590539830 https://english.radio.cz/deaf-empire-a-new-play-looks-smetanas-triumph-over-adversity-8199685 Radio Prague International Radio Prague International radio.prague.int@gmail.com clean 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9