we saw iva bittova, the avant-garde czech musician (now living in upstate new york), perform in the Tiskárna Na Vzduchu, a lovely intimate outdoor space in stromovka park, the so-called "central park" of prague, a beautiful, naturalistic 250 acre park in the prague 7 holešovice district. the space is adjacent to the Výstaviště Praha ("prague exhibition grounds"), built for the jubilee exhibition of 1891. here's the main structure from where we sat.
a virtuoso violinist and microtonal singer, she plays violin and sings at the same time, and sings alone as well. maria and i saw here at zankel hall in carnegie hall in nyc about 10 years ago, was great to see her again here. here she is in younger days performing one of my favorite pieces of hers, titled "Proudem mleka" ("river of milk"):
here she is last night, had an excellent jazzy/folky/whatever band of musicians with her. she ended the concert with an encore by coming out into the crowd, singing along with her to "Ej, lásko, lásko," a traditional moravian folk song, which maria and i know from a recording by marta toperová. the link above gives a different version.
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