Prague events

Are you an animal lover? Are you mad about all creatures walking or crawling on the planet Earth? Are you concerned about maltreatment of animals? Is zoo usually the first place you visit in a foreign country? Well, if you answer yes at least once, but even if don’t, there is a great exhibition in Prague right now you may want to visit. Or to be frank, an exhibition you should visit in any case.

This is really not an ordinary exhibition. It is truly an unique and touching one. The idea of this exhibition is quite inviting – let’s look right into the eyes of wild animals. So you will get the chance to fix your eyes with the octopus, rattlesnake, chameleon and others, without the fear that they will hurt you. Isn’t it great?

I was so amazed at the exhibition I couldn’t let my eyes go. The feeling that you stare into the eyes of an alligator, for example, was even deepened by the fact that many pictures are quite big. Everyone who sees this exhibition will probably come to the same conclusion. And that is that nature is fascinating indeed.

You fill find this exhibition in the shopping centre Atrium at Charles Square. Take a subway to station Karlovo namesti (yellow B line) or get off the tram 3, 4, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22, 23, 24. Open is daily from 9am to 9pm. But hurry up, the exhibition runs only till October 31.

Oh, and the best information at the end – it is for free.

Every year, Intenational Fair EXPOLINGUA offers to more than 5000 visitors the unique opportunity to gain information about programmes, services and products relating to foreign languages,education and culture.

The demand for language learning in the Czech Republic is growing in consequence of increasing number of students who are interested in studies abroad. In the past four years, the number of students who participated in European programmes has more than tripled. The increasing interest in language learning is connected with requirements of the Czech employment market. Knowledge of at least one foreign language is a necessity. More and more Czechs are also studying languages only for pleasure and tourism.

The Fair EXPOLINGUA Praha 2007 will present over 70 exhibitors from more than 13 countries of the world.

Rich programme of workshops and lectures will offer more than 60 presentations by national and international experts in the fields of languages and cultures. Speakers will focus on new aspects of language learning and present the latest innovations and technologies. The seminar programme is free for the Fair visitors.

Last year, more than 5000 mostly young people between 15 and 25 years of age visited EXPOLINGUA Praha 2006. During two days, they could see 72 exhibitors from 13 countries in Narodni dum, Prague 2 – Vinohrady. Among exhibitors there were international universities and language schools, learning software producers and organisations providing study exchange and study and work abroad programmes. The could also gain some information about the various options for foreign language study in the Czech Republic. Increasing interest in studying languages such as Japanese, Portuguese, Basque, Arabic and Chinese appeared. Except for studies abroad, visitors were interested in e-learning, educational CD-ROMs, textbooks and dictionaries.

The exhibition will take place in Narodni dum in Prague 2 – Vinohrady, Namesti Miru 9. By metro it is line A, station Namesti Miru. Opening hours are: daily from 10‑18 on November 9-10, 2007. Entrance fees are for adults 50 CZK (1,6 €) and for students 25 CZK (0,8 €).

For more information or visitor flyers look here.

Petr Kolar is one of the most popular singers in the Czech Republic. He is also a holder of a brilliant voice. If you would like to see and hear this charismatic man, you are lucky. On 24th September, he started a tour called “Petr Kolar 40” which is related to his jubilee. This tour will finish on 7th November in Prague.

Petr Kolar on tour to his 40th birthday
His new album called “Without wings” gained the award Gold Album in less than a week. It was released on 24th September, so you can look forward to new songs which they have never heard before, but also to older songs. The songs will be performed as blocks from each period of Petr’s production. And so everyone could hear what he/she likes the most.

Slovakian band I.M.T Smile is the guest on the tour. Petr Kolar says, “I feel myself like Czechoslovak, so that’s why I addressed these boys. I would like to perform in Slovakia but since the time we have split there have been less possibilities. So I would like to help boys to perform here in the Czech Republic and I hope they will help me in Slovakia.”

Petr Kolar was born in Ceske Budejovice. He studied percussion play and began his career after his arrival to Prague in 1993. He started to perform in musicals as Dracula, Hamlet, Ratcatcher, Three musketeers, Galileo, Excalibur and so on. He also performed with bands – Precedens, Arakain, than he cooperated with legendary Karel Svoboda and other famous persons like Lucie Bila, Karel Gott, Peter Dvorsky, Eva Urbanova, Daniel Landa, Daniel Hulka and so on. His best hits are: “Jeste, ze te, lasko mam” or “Den, kdy se vrati laska” (together with Leona Machalkova) it was song for the soap opera “Pojistovna stesti” of TV Nova. In 2005 he left the bands and released his own album called “Album”.

If you want to hear romantic rock balads, a lot of hits and a great show, come to Letna in Prague on 7th November. The concert will take place in AC Sparta’s basketball hall. Tickets are available at Petr Kolar official website

Joe Cocker comes to present his new album Hymn for my soul on 12th December to Prague. This charismatic British singer is called “the father of white soul”. He will play music from his new album and also songs which made him famous.

Joe Cocker was born in Sheffield, England on May 20, 1944. In 1966, by day he worked as an apprentice gas fitter and by night he became Vance Arnold, and sang with The Avengers in rough Sheffield pubs in a dark suit and a bow tie. In 1963 his big moment came. They forerunned The Rolling Stones in Sheffield City Hall and brought the house down. In 1967 Cocker released his first single, a cover-version of The Beatles “I’ll Cry Instead”. His band Joe Cocker Big Blue got a large following.

Then Joe met the man called the greatest musician in the world, Chris Stainton. With Chris The Grease Band was formed. Joe sang at rock festivals and concerts all over the world. In 1987 he married Pam, a suppoting wife, according to his words. On his official websites you can read that among many prestigious shows, he has played for British royalty at a “Princes Trust Gala,” “Nelson Mandela’s Birthday Concert,” the “Konzert for Berlin” that celebrated the breaching of the Wall and, in his adopted homeland of America, the inauguration ceremony for President George Bush.

So come and see this rock legend in Sazka Arena in Prague. Buy the tickets in Sazkaticket and Ticketrpo. Prices range from 790 CZK (26,3 €)to 1290 CZK (43 €).

On March 2007, Tiesto released his third author album called “Elements of life” and started his worldwide tour over totally 56 capitals and Prague is going to be one of the stops. The tour “Elements of life” is considered a professionally perfect and giant show, which is able to satisfy the most demanding fans. A concept of the tour is built on four basic elements of life: air, water, earth, and fire. Every of these elements appears in the show so you will have unforgettable experience.

Tiesto is the very first Dj in the world who twice sold off the stadium for 25.000 thousands of people. His remix Delerium in which Sarah McLachlan sings is the first house composition broad-casted by North America radios during the day. Above all it became the national anthem and was 8 weeks at the top of British Top 10. Tiesto performed in front of one milliard viewers.

Born in Holland, he became a Dj because he liked to share music with other people. At the beginning he traveled all over the Netherlands, later he performed at student parties and then regularly three days a week at a club. Tiesto was especially successful in the field of trance, but in his style there are also house and techno. Except for the usual club successes, his shelves are groaning under the weight of numerous awards – TMF-Awards, MTV, Dutch DJ – and gold discs…

And now the most important thing – when will this one of the best Djs of the world come? On 24th November, 2007. Tickets are available at ticketpro.cz and for more informations about Tiesto look at www.djtiesto.com.

An amazing spectacle – classical music, wonderful choreography, perfect technique of dance and unique artictic presentment. You can see the best ballet pieces from the notable Russian masters.

The ensemble was established by Victor Smirnov – Golovanov and it is one of the best ballet ensembles of the world. Victor Smirnov – Golovanov’s international career began in 1989 in Soul (South Korea), where he appeared for the first time in front of a foreign audience. Thanks to their great success, they are the most often performing ballet ensemble of the world. Since 1989, Moscow City Ballet has performed in Belgium, Egypt, Germany, Ireland, Japan, USA and other countries all over the world. In Great Britain they have performed even 1600 times; since 1991. And now we can see them in the Czech Republic.

Moscow City Ballet is going to introduce the best three performances of its repertoire. The first one is Romeo and Juliet, with ballet created according to William Shakespeare’s play. You will see the story full of passion, jealousy, hate and especially full of love. The atmosphere of the tragedy is underlined by Prokofjev’s music, which in one moment thunders and fades out in second. The perfect link between dance and music is almost unbelievable and you can get an unforgettable experience.

The second performance is Don Quixote, with music by Ludvig Minkus, the composer originaly from the Czech Republic. Choregraphy was created by a genius choreographer Marius Petipa. Ballet is created according to Cervantes’ novel. One of the most impressive part of the ballet is Don Quixot’s dreams. The scenes together with perfect ballet of Smirnov – Golovanov’s dancers accent beauty and uniqueness of the performance.

The third performance is Giselle – a romantic story about tragic love between a beautiful village maiden and a nobleman Albrecht who dissembles his identity and impersonates ordinary villager. When Giselle discovers the deceit, she is inconsolable and goes mad, then dies of a broken heart. Albrecht is condemned for his lies to live in solitude without the loved woman.

Moscow City Ballet performs during October in the Czech Republic. Don’t hesitate for a long time and go to buy the tickets at www.ticketpro.cz. Romeo and Juliet you can see on 23th October and Don Quixote on 22th October. These two performances will take place in Kongresove Centrum, Prague 4. Prices of the tickets are 770CZK – 1,490 CZK. Giselle will be performed only in Liberec.

“Music expresses that which can not be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” ~Victor Hugo

Czech National Symphony Orchestra was established in 1993 by a trumpet player Jan Hasenöhrl. The orchestra made its debut appearance on 10th November at the Dvorak Hall in Rudolfinum in Prague, with a conductor Vladimir Valek. The orchestra is made up of about eighty experienced musicians. The main founder of the orchestra is the legendary conductor Zdenek Kosler, who gave them his wide-ranging artistic knowledge. He also recorded CDs with them. The American Paul Freeman took over as a Chief Conductor in 1996 and currently he is the Music Director. Libor Pesek was appointed the conductor this year.

Orchestra’s recordings are on sale in the USA and Japan. They have had very successful tours in all over the world, for example in Great Britain, Ireland, France, Spain, Japan and Mexico. Orchestra has its own recording studio, which is located in Prague – Hostivar. Until nowadays they have obtained several Gold CDs for more than 30 000 copies sold and also have had several accolades. For instance Gustav Mahler Prize, the prestigious agreement with IMG Artists London and recording project with Tokyo media company Victor Entertainment. In recent years Czech National Symphony Orchestra has accompanied Andrea Bocelli on the tour of 30 European metropolises.

The 15th concert season starts on 18th October.

The first concert begins at 7:30pm and you can hear Marc-Antoine Charpentier – Te Deum, Preludium, Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto for violin and oboe in D minor, BWV 1060 and Anton Bruckner – Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, the Romantic Symphony.

The second concert begins on 22nd November at 7:30pm and you can look forward to George Gershwin – Girl Crazy, Overture, Christopher Brubeck – “From The Blues To Beyond” for trumpet, trombone and orchestra (world premiere), Samuel Barber – Adagio for Strings and Leonard Bernstein – West Side Story Symphonic Dances.

The third concert in this year begins on 22nd December at 7:30pm. You will hear Jiri Suchy & Jiri Slitr – A Walk Worthwhile, the concert performance of jazz opera.

All these concerts take place in Smetana’s Hall of The Municipal House. For more information about tickets look at the website www.cnso.cz.

Do you like cars? Do you like quick cars? Do you like tuned cars? Do you like new or historic cars? So do not hesitate and visit Autoshow Prague 2007 together with Transped / Comma 2007 in Prague exhibition area in Holesovice from 18th to 21st October.

Autoshow Prague 2007 is in its 13th year. It is the international fair of passenger-cars and light commercial motor vehicles and automobile styling. You can see Car & Audio Show, Tuning & Racing, Allroad Show and Veteran Car Show.

Transped / Comma 2007 is 14th international exhibition of trucks, water-rail and air-transport, logistics, warehousing and manipulation.

32 617 people visited the fair last year and they could see expositions from 115 firms. If you are interested in passenger and light utility vehicles participating in Autoshow Prague 2007 there will be: Alfa Romeo, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Citroen, Corvette, Dodge, Ferrari, Fiat, Gaz, Honda, Hyundai, Hummer, Chevrolet, Jaguar, Kaipan, Kia, Lamborghini, Land Rover, Mini, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Saab, Seat, Ssangyong, Subaru, Suzuki, Škoda, Toyota, Uaz, Volkswagen.

Opening Time is Thursday – Saturday from 9.30 to 18.00, Sunday from 9.30 to 17.00. Entrance fees are 120 CZK for adults, reduced fee is 60 CZK and for family it is 200 CZK.

During September 14 and 16 the tenth international Collector Fair will be held at Prague´s Vystaviste. This fair is well known among other collector actions in Europe. You can find here mainly stamps, postcards, coins, telephone cards and also minerals and gemstones. This year 220 exhibitors from 35 countries will be presented. Philately will be strongly represented at the fair. Somebody could say that stamp collecting is mainly for old timers, but surveys say something else! Even in this modern times philately has its charm for many young people. And after every collectors’ event the number of them goes up.

Together with important Czech collectors and sellers also firms from Germany, Swiss, Austria, Argentina, Great Britain and many other countries will introduce themselves. Post offices have prepared especially for the fair occasional stamps and you will have the chance to have your letter marked with special rubber stamp. The small exhibition lent by British post museum in London will be also amazing.

The numismatics, which can be also a profitable investment, will offer a wide range of coins from ancient Greece to current gold facing. The coins collecting is increasing mainly due to implementing of Euro, because the collectors like to complete their collections with new coins from European union countries. The Czech numismatic society has prepared an interesting exhibition of Czech coins from medieval times till now.

Minerals and gemstones will be also widely represented. An amethyst geode from Brazil or desert rose from China will surely attract every visitor. You can buy here also necklaces, bracelets or medicinal stones from all fields in the world. The interesting supplement of this section will be the exhibition called Giants with new discoveries of minerals weighing over 70 kg. This fair is intended for public visitors and you won´t regret going there. To get there take a tram from metro station Nadrazi Holesovice on line C and then just dive into the world of stamps, coins and minerals.

This festival has been since its second year a festival of orchestral music. More and more orchestras from abroad appears here. In 1997 there were 14 concerts and since 1999 to nowadays there have been twenty two concerts. In this festival we can see orchestras from BBC, German orchestras like Beethoven Orchestra Bonn, and Berlin ensembles as well as orchestras based in other German cities, Russian symphony orchestras and choirs and world radio orchestras with the first visit in history by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Cologne Radio symphony Orchestra with its principal conductor Seymon Bychkov.

The festival is now in its seventeenth year. You can look forward to Czech music presented by orchestras from abroad and also choric scenes from lesser-known Russian operas from composers like Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Glinka, Musorgskij and Rimskij-Korsakov. One of the biggest world star conductor Valerij Gergijev comes back to festival.

The festival will take place in Prague Rudolfinum, it begins on 12 September and finishes on 1 October. You can get to Rudolfinum by metro A, it is “Staromestska” station, by trams number 17 and 18 and by bus number 133. Since 1 August you can buy the tickets in main box office in Rudolfinum. More information about the festival you can find here.

“A painter paints pictures on canvas. But musicians paint their pictures on silence”.
~Leopold Stokowski