Trutnov music festival doesn’t fall short of drama / Trutnovskemu hudebnimu festivalu nechybi drama

Summer in the Czech Republic is traditionally overflowing with various kinds of music festivals. One of the major ones just started last Thursday in Trutnov. This year’s round was accompanied by some drama, however. Among the invited stars was a singer Vaclav Neckar and a conductor of children’s singing choir Banbini di Praga, Vladimir Kulinsky. Both – let’s say – “couldn’t make it” for various reasons. Neckar was recently accused of working with the government secret police, the StB, during the communist times; Kulinsky, on the other hand, was accused of sexually harassing some of his pupils. Even without those two, by the end of the festival (which is tonight) the Trutnov stage will be visited by over a hundred bands. Among some of the favorite performers are Marta Kubisova (Neckar’s ex-wife, by the way), Velvet Underground Revival, Hever or Svatopluk Karasek. And do you know who else was part of the audience? Vaclav Havel came and hung out for about 4 ours. On his way out, however, he managed not only shake millions of hands but also signed the petition FOR the Missile Radar Facility, which is supposed to be built in the South of Czech Republic around 2010.

CZ: Leto v Cechach vetsinou prekypuje hudebnimi festivaly. Jednim z nich zacal zrovna tento ctvrtek, a to v Trutnove. Nevi se zda-li je to tim, ze je to kulate vyroci tohoto Trutnovskeho festivalu, ale drama tu tento rok urcite nechybelo. Dve hvezdy ceske sceny, zpevak Vaclav Neckar a dirigent detskeho zboru Banbini di Praga, museli pozvani taktne odmitnout a to z ruznych duvodu. Neckar byl nedavno obzalovan z kolaborace s StB. Kulinsky byl take obzalovan: ze sexualniho zneuzivani svych zaku. No, i bez techto dvou osobnosti bylo v Trutnove porad veselo; do konce festivalu (coz je dnes vecer) se na trutnovskem jevisti ukazalo pres 100 kapel! Mezi nejoblibenejsimi patri Marta Kubisova, Velvet Underground Revival, Hever nebo Svatopluk Karasek. A vite kdo se take ukazal v poslouchajicim davu? Samotny Vaclav Havel! Zdrzel se pres 4 hodiny a na sve ceste domu nejen ze potrasl stovky rukou jeho fanousku, ale take mel cas podepsat petici podporujici planovanou radarovou zakladnu, ktera se ma stavit kolem roku 2010.

http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/hudba/index_view.php?id=267296