Waldemar Matuška: Snům ostruhy dát – Bystrov Michal (2022)

The publication dedicated to the life and songs of Waldemar Matuška is released in the year marking the posthumous ninetieth anniversary of one of the best Czech singers. This insightful and revealing book traces Matuška's fate from early childhood and offers a new perspective on his somewhat mysterious beginnings. We will learn where he came from, where he spent his youth, and the convoluted path that led him to engagements at the Semafor and Rokoko theaters. We will follow him on his long journey from Košice, where he was born, through Prague, where he grew up, to the lesser-known period in Karlovy Vary, where Waldemar Matuška trained as a glassmaker. We will revive the long-forgotten years during which he honed his skills in the first dance bands. The golden era for the charismatic bearded man was the sixties and seventies when he, alongside Karel Gott, ruled Czechoslovak popular music. The new book also recalls his extraordinary successes abroad, which have somewhat been forgotten until now. Matuška gradually conquered the Olympia in Paris, the Royal Albert Hall in London, and Nashville in America – long before he emigrated to the USA in 1986. The text is accompanied by numerous photographs from sold-out venues, theatrical productions in which Matuška performed, and films in which he shone. The book is supplemented by period programs, reviews, and...