Karol Duchoň - Karči – Nekvapil Václav (2025)

This lavish full-color publication summarizes and describes the life story of singer Karol Duchoň, based on verified facts, historical contexts, and authentic testimonies from friends, colleagues, and family members. It is a remarkable story of a young man from Slovak Galanta, who came into the world with a voice that is born once in a very long time. A voice that could drown out an orchestra, captivate listeners, and even compel hardened critics to acknowledge him without pretense.

The book follows his childhood, first encounters with music, rise among the singing elite, international successes, and the internal struggle with what fame demands and what a sensitive artistic soul requires. It captures the golden age of Czechoslovak popular music as well as its darker side.

Testimonies in the book confirm that Karol, simply known as Karči to his friends, was an exceptional person who could not deny himself the company of others, alcohol, hearty laughter, and nights that ended only with the dawn. It portrays him as someone who enchanted women and audiences with a single smile in his youth, but in later years faced loneliness and helplessness. And finally, it follows his story to a hospital room in Bratislava, where on November 5, 1985, his voice was silenced forever at the young age of thirty-five.