KARACHI: To commemorate the National Day of the Czech Republic, a cello recital was held at the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) on Monday evening. Renowned cellist Jiri Barta and his 14-year-old son Josef entertained the audience for an hour or so. It was a special musical treat.

Introducing the artists and the event to a discerning audience, Ambassador of the Czech Republic Tomas Smetanka said Jiri Barta is the most prominent contemporary cellist of the republic, and his country’s national day falls on Oct 28, marking the creation of the state which to date many call Czechoslovakia.

“We call it and Google maps call it Czechia. My wife and I have been in Pakistan for the last three years. I’m slightly ashamed that we do not come to Karachi more often. On the other hand, we have a good Consul-General Ahmed Ansari [so] we don’t need to be in the city more often because he is taking care of things,” he said.

Mr Smetanka said although he could talk about Pak-Czech relations and the Russian aggression in Ukraine, he’d put that aside and concentrate on music.

After the speech, Jiri Barta began the show by playing on the cello anthems of the Czech Republic, Pakistan and the European Union. It immediately gave the audience a fair sense of how good a musician he is. He then played the first piece as per printed on the programme list, which was J S Bach’s ‘Prelude from Cello Suite No 1’. The musician claimed that it was a kind of the ‘anthem of cellists’, which has been used in many movies — good and ‘junk’ movies, both.

He followed it up by playing something that he had earlier on come up with while talking to Napa’s students, calling it ‘A Moment in Karachi’. It was a nice little work of art, relying heavily on low notes, suffused with a solemn but relatable mood.

It didn’t take Barta long to invite his teenage son Josef to join him on stage. Together, the first composition that they played was the French master Gabriel Faure’s ‘Elegy’ (for two cellos). As can be guessed from the title of the piece, it was a melancholic melody that tugged at one’s heartstrings. The father-son duo gave a remarkable performance.

Some of the other composers whose works were on the list were Marek Kopelent, Jean-Louis Duport and William H Squire.

Talking to Dawn before the gig, Jiri Barta was pleasantly surprised to know that a considerable number of Pakistani writers and readers are admirers of the celebrated Czech novelist Milan Kundera. He himself is an admirer and was all praise for Kundera’s essay on the composer Leos Janacek.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2022