6th May 2010 in the Embassy of Slovakia, London. £15 including a glass of wine.
Antonín Dvořák
Dumka Furiant, Op. 21 Bedřich
Smetana
On the Seashore, Op. 17 Josef Suk
Spring, Op. 22a Leoš
Janáček In the Mist Bohuslav
Martinů
Spring,
unpublished Pavel
Haas Suite, Op. 13
Lada Valešová, an
outstanding concert pianist, graduated from the Prague Conservatoire and Prague
Music Academy. Awarded a full scholarship, she continued her studies in London
at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama where she is now a professor. Winner
of several prizes, including two awards at the International Smetana Piano
Competition, she has played recitals around Europe. Her debut
CD, Intimate Studies, was released in 2009. www.ladavalesova.com
'Mesmerising
pensiveness, Valesova plays with heart-warming sensibility and tonal
refinement' Daily Telegraph 'Extraordinary
stuff, magically played' Evening Standard 'Played with an
instinctive intelligence that only a Czech can bring to this repertoire' Observer
Sir Charles Mackerras recently wrote of Lada Valešová's CD release: ‘I
had the opportunity of listening to your excellent new recording and
admired it tremendously. You are to be congratulated on a magnificent
CD which gives such a splendid overview of the 20th-century Czech
music.'
To book tickets for this recital: Telephone 023 8044 5261 E-mail: events@ukczechfriends.org To download a flyer and order form (PDF download 144KB), click here.
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ALL-DAY VISIT FROM LONDON TO BOUGHTON HOUSE Wednesday 19th May 2010
Boughton House in Northamptonshire is sometimes referred to as the 'English Versailles'. Most of the present building is the work of Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu, a former ambassador to France, and the house shows strong French architectural influences. The 2nd Duke made sweeping changes to the landscape and gardens. Boughton House was little used or altered from the mid-eighteenth century, but was well cared for. Because of this it has some of the best preserved baroque state rooms in the British Isles. The image, below right, shows the remarkable new gardens created at Boughton by Kim Wilkie.
The programme is for the visit to commence at Boughton House at 10.30 am with coffee/tea, tour of the house at 11am, own picnic lunch at 1pm, tour of gardens, 2pm, tea at 3.30pm, 4 to 4.30pm departure. There will be a good deal of walking (any second group may have a different order programme - to be confirmed). You can either drive direct to Boughton www.boughtonhouse.org.ukor, if based in or near London, catch the 9am train from St Pancras to Kettering, from where taxis will be waiting for us at circa 10am (cost approx. £10 per taxi ride, divided between passengers) to take us to Boughton and then at circa 4.30pm in reverse to catch the 4.56pm or 5.15pm train back to St Pancras (actual train times to be confirmed when summer timetable known).
This event was held on Wednesday January 27 2010 in the Embassy of the Czech Republic, London.
Eva Jiřičná formed her own practice in 1985, having lived and worked in London since 1968. She has achieved an international reputation for a broad scope of work including prestigious retail and commercial projects, product and exhibition design. Once the ‘Velvet Revolution’ came about, she was able to return to her native Prague and work on a variety of projects.
LECTURE IN OCTOBER 2009: MUSIC AND MINSTRELS
Lecture and music recital by Mary Remnant, with particular reference to Bohemia, held in London on Wednesday, 14th October, 2009. This event included music from his coronation, together with other sacred and secular compositions dating from the time of St Wenceslas to the Reformation. Mary Remnant showed slides of medieval minstrels, accompanying them on reconstructed instruments of the period.
VISIT TO STOWE HOUSE IN JUNE 2009
Visitors were greeted by Anna McEvoy, Visitor Services Manager for the Stowe House Preservation Trust, which since 1999 has leased the House from the School. Richard Wheeler, the National Trust’s Parks and Gardens Curator for the south of England, gave an ad lib talk about the architects of the landscape gardens,Vanburgh, Bridgeman, Kent, Gibbs and Brown. Anna then took us round the State Rooms. After lunch Richard led us round the landscape gardens, which the National Trust has owned since 1989.
LECTURE IN LONDON IN APRIL 2009
Professor Crossley of the Courtauld Insitute gave a lecture in the Swedenborg Society, London, about the medieval heyday of Prague during the reign of the Bohemian King and German Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg.
CONCERT ON 6TH OCTOBER 2008 RAISES £1500
The sympathetic and beautiful setting of St Cyprian’s Church, Baker Street, was the scene for a wonderful and most memorable recital on 6 October 2008, donated most generously by Martin Škampa, cello, and Michal Rezek, piano, in support of the UK Friends of Czech Historic Buildings, Gardens and Parks Restoration Fund.
News of our first lecturer
Her Majesty The Queen has appointed Mr Jonathan Marsden, our first lecturer in 2007, to the position of Director Designate of the Royal Collection.The Director of the Royal Collection is the most senior position in the Royal Collection, one of the five departments of the Royal Household.
Recital by Lada Valešová 
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© Image reproduced with permission of the Boughton Estates Ltd
The programme is for the visit to commence at Boughton House at 10.30 am with coffee/tea, tour of the house at 11am, own picnic lunch at 1pm, tour of gardens, 2pm, tea at 3.30pm, 4 to 4.30pm departure. There will be a good deal of walking (any second group may have a different order programme - to be confirmed). You can either drive direct to Boughton 
