Czech Republic

LOGO VLTAVA

Český rozhlas – Vltava  is a national radio station focused on broadcasting classical and jazz music, complemented with programs monitoring world music as well as contemporary alternative music. The station broadcasts radio plays, documentaries and literature. It brings information on anything relevant to present-day culture.

Český rozhlas – Vltava reports not only on “white tie” events in concert halls, but also happenings in rock clubs, exhibition halls, alternative theaters, professional and amateur scenes alike. It follows whatever is relevant in literature and film. Its hosts stay away from cheap clichés of commercial stations. Vltava is a vibrant yet respectable station.

The broadcasting of Český rozhlas – Vltava covers the entire territory of the Czech Republic, both by analog and digital signals. It is also accessible on the Internet anytime and anywhere – with a simple click on http://www.rozhlas.cz/vltava/portal/. The station actively uses Facebook and Twitter as well.
Vltava´s team also services two specialized music stations of the Czech Radio: Český rozhlas – D dur broadcasts only classical music, Český rozhlas – Jazz focuses on European jazz production while not avoiding American jazz classics.

Behind the scenes

Český rozhlas – Vltava often broadcasts live. It also transmits a number of live concerts and even organizes some of them. Together with people from the Czech Radio´s Production center the station also produces literary programs – radio plays featuring famous Czech actors, readings from world literature and documentaries ranging widely in topics. Maximum of the content, when copyright allows, is placed on the website for listening at a later time. Český rozhlas – Vltava publishes a magazine for members of the Vltava Club as well as books, CDs and DVDs.

From the station´s history

In 1964, Program III of Czechoslovak Radio was established, profiled as a station for the demanding listener. It was launched as “Vltava” when the station opened its broadcast at 8:55 on September 4, 1972 with a tune from the symphonic poem of the same name by composer Bedřich Smetana. Initially, the mission of the station was “to provide ultimate esthetic experience to listeners, to expand knowledge and education of the socialist man.” The pressure of the communist normalization shows only in the one word, yet Vltava´s focus on art of all kinds has remained stable. Vltava´s teams cooperated with those blacklisted by the communist regime, using the so-called “fronts”, people who provided their names to cover the original authors.
Immediately after the Velvet Revolution, in late 1989, Vltava broadcasted a cycle of creations by banned authors. In the free atmosphere of the Czechoslovak Radio (and the Czech Radio since 1993, following the break-up of the federation) the station has also pursued more of culture-related public affairs – for instance, in the morning and afternoon program Mozaika or in the program Čajovna (Tea-Room), subtitled „music and style of the new generation“ – as well as original radio production.

Presented Works 2016

Petr Cígler                  Daily Patterns

Vojtěch Dlask            Za bukem (Quite Near)