Recenzent nejprve nastiňuje odbornou produkci věnovanou hudbě (především vážné) a hudební kultuře ve vztahu k politice a jejím institucím v Československu v období komunistického režimu. V recenzované monografii si autorka podle něj jako jedna z prvních v českém prostředí klade otázku, jak a díky čemu je možné fungování špičkového hudebního tělesa v totalitním prostředí, a vlastně jemu navzdory. Jádro její práce tvoří líčení působení České filharmonie v ovzduší prvního desetiletí po únoru 1948, v konfrontaci s neustálou snahou komunistického režimu kontrolovat jeho činnost prostřednictvím stranických, a především bezpečnostních orgánů. Vypomáhá si exkurzy do reality šedesátých let až osmdesátých let a uvádí, že snahy o zneužití hudebníků České filharmonie k agenturní spolupráci se za celou dobu prakticky nezměnily. Autorka sleduje i program a dramaturgii filharmonie, v nichž museli hudebníci přistupovat na kompromisy s požadavky na uvádění ideologicky angažovaných děl. Přes dílčí kritické připomínky se práci dostává pozitivního hodnocení, zejména z faktografického hlediska., The reviewer first offers an overview of scholarly research on music (primarily serious music) and music culture in relation to politics and institutions in Czechoslovakia under the Communist régime. The author of the book under review, he claims, is one of the first Czechs to ask how and why a leading music ensemble could operate in totalitarianism and even in opposition to it. The core of book comprises the author´s discussion of the Czech Philharmonic durign the first decade after the Communist takeover in late February 1948, in the face of continuous efforts by the régime to keep an eye on the orchestra by means of Party institution and, particularly, the secret police. The author uses excursions into Czechoslovak life from the 1960s to the 1980s, and writers that the offorts to enlist Czech Philharmonic musicians to collaborate with the secret police were practically continuous throughout the period. She discusses the programme and production plans of the orchestra, in which the musicians had to accept comprises with the demands to perform ideologically engagé works. Despite some minor criticisms, the reviewer, on the whole, judges the book positively, particularly concerning the factual information it presents., [autor recenze] Václav Nájemník., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The article publishes an as yet unknown fundamental report on the history of the Cistercian Monastery in Sedlec near Kutná Hora and its Gothic Convent Church of the Assumption of Our Lady and Saint John the Baptist. According to annals dating back to the mid-fifteenth century, namely folio 169v in codex Mk 108 of the Moravian Library in Brno, the foundation stone for the new Convent Basilica was laid in 1304 by the Bohemian King Wenceslas II. This record thus gives a precise date for the commencement of work to build this exceptional example of Gothic architecture and presents further proof of the close ties between Wenceslas II and the Cistercian order and Heidenreich, the abbot of Sedlec. and Jiří Doležel.
Monografie se na vybraných tématech zabývá vztahem velmocí k Československu v dramatické dekádě 1938 až 1948. Recenzent komentuje zpracování těchto témat v jednotlivých kapitolách a oceňuje autorovu velkou erudici, bohaté využití pramenů i širokou kontextualizaci a přesvědčivost výkladu. Konstatuje, že jeho práce vybočuje z tradičních českých a slovenských přístupů k dané problematice přednostním zájmem o postoje a motivy zahraničních politických aktérů a zohledněním mezinárodních souvislostí v celé jejich spletitosti, jejichž analýza ho dovádí častěji k závěrům otevřeným další diskusi než ke kategorickým soudům. Osobnost prezidenta Edvarda Beneše (1884-1948) nestojí v takto rozvrženém podání tolik v popředí, jak bývá zvykem, a je autorem nahlížena v podstatných ohledech spíše kriticky. Podle recenzenta by se Smetanova monografie, kterou charakterizuje jako pestré plátno dějinných zápletek napnuté v pevném rámu, měla stát pro historiky období druhé světové a počátků studené války klasickým dílem., Using selected topics, the monograph Neither war, nor peace: The powers, Czechoslovakia and Central Europe in seven dramas at the threshold of the Second World and Cold Wars describes the relationship of the powers to Czechoslovakia during the dramatic decade between 1938 and 1948. The reviewer comments on how these topics are dealt with in each chapter, appreciating the author´s erudition. ample use of sources, as well as the broad contextualization and convincing power of interpretation. He concludes, that Smetana´s work deviates from traditonal Cezch and Slovak approaches to the themes in that it assigns priority to attitudes and motives of foreign political players and takes into account the international context in all its complexity the analysis of which leads the author to conclusions open ot further discussion rahter than to categorical judgments. The author´s approach does not make the personality of President Edvard Beneš (1884-1948) stand out as much as is usually the case; instead, the author views President Beneš rather critically. According to the reviewer, Smetana´s smonograph, which he characterizes as a colourful canvas of historical plots stretched in a solid frame, should become a classical work for historians studying the period of the Second World War and beginnings of the Cold War., [autor recenze] Pavol Jakubec., and Obsahuje bibliografii a bibliografické odkazy
The first Noble Colleges were founded in the 17th and 18th centuries by Jesuits and Piarists as an extension of existing secondary schools with the aim of providing education for the sons of impoverished gentlefolk. In the context of the Counter-Reformation these institutions placed especial emphasis on religious education and the formation of moral and ethical values in their pupils. They were intended chiefly for Catholics of noble birth and Catholic converts who would otherwise have received no education because their parents could not afford it or had died young. After the accession of Marie Theresa and the introduction of new legislation (Articles 74/1715 and 70/1723), the state took charge of these establishments, and with them their scholars, their welfare and their upbringing. Religious education and rote-learning of a narrow curriculum was now supplemented by foreign languages (German, Hungarian and French) and other subjects (calligraphy, arithmetic and geography). In the latter half of the 18th century the Viennese court set up a number of noble academies, including several in Hungary where young Hungarian noblemen could acquire an education commensurate with their social standing. Under Marie Theresa’s system of royal scholarships many poor students from the middle and lower nobility were able to receive an education. During her reign scholarship places in the academies and noble colleges became an instrument of social policy used by senior civil servants as rewards for services rendered, thus ensuring a new generation of public officials indebted and loyal to the Viennese Court., Ingrid Kušniráková., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
In the summer of 1096, Pegau Abbey not far from Leipzig was consecrated. The founder of the monastery Wiprecht of Groitzsch and his wife the Přemyslid Judita, daughter of King of Bohemia Vratislaus II (1061-1092) were not absent from the spectacular celebration. According to the Annals of Pegau, Judita approached then with a golden crown on her head and wearing a dress with golden thread with a cloak to the local altar on which she placed the items decorated with gold and precious stones and dedicated them to the monastery. The study sets the question of to what extent this report is trustworthy, whether these objects were royal insignia and whether the act itself belongs to the ritual of ´sacrificing crowns´. Regarding the sovereign acts of this type, the study attempts to map the various symbolic levels of these acts, which the literature does not reflect in its entirety. The work predominantly offers an answer concerning the character and origin of the donated gems and paces it in the practice then of using specific royal diadems. and Lukáš Reitinger.