Marie Terezie - Symfonie života velké císařovny - CDmp3 (Čte Hana Maciuchová a Otakar Brousek ml.)

"Sometimes it is harder to accept something we did not strive for and did not desire at all than to reach our dream goals. Because perhaps we feel a greater tension and uncertainty about whether we will live up to the commitments that others place upon us." A colorful portrait of the only woman on the Habsburg and Czech throne focuses not only on the statesmanship of Maria Theresa in her role as Empress of the Holy Roman Empire from 1740 to 1768 but also depicts her private interests and whims, fears, and frustrations. The experienced popularizer follows her relationship with the Czechs, with whom she sought a complicated path with the help of advisors, diplomats, and military leaders, recalls the smallpox pandemic at the Viennese court, which claimed several of her dearest, and especially examines the influence of the key men in her life. Her father, Charles VI, ensured an absolutely unprecedented position for the spirited girl and forced her to mature quickly, while her passionate husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine, continually fled from both his wife and their numerous offspring outside the Hofburg palace. The eternal Prussian rival Frederick II waged war with Maria Theresa over Silesia, and her style of governance was later firmly rejected by her enlightened son and successor, Joseph II. The majesty of the influential lady of the eighteenth century still captivates us – and has already inspired Joseph Haydn, whose 48th symphony composed...