Hudba přítelkyně – Petr Zdeněk (2019)

"The yellow flowers of saffron smell just like your hair, Kristýnko..." It was May 10, 1953, and the musical comedy One Hundred Ducats for Juan by composer Zdeněk Petr and lyricist Vladimír Dvořák was heard for the first time on Czechoslovak Radio. The next day, the improvised "serenade," Song for Kristýnka, echoed in all the cafes and music clubs. A hit was born that influenced entire generations of listeners and forever left an indelible mark on the history of Czech popular music. "Vladimír Dvořák and I could never understand how a sixteen-bar song, which was essentially created in forty-five minutes, could cause such a stir and have such far-reaching consequences," recalls Zdeněk Petr in his book Music, My Friend. However, this is not the only production whose birth the book reveals to us. As a musical arranger, editor, director, and composer, he encountered many personalities from the musical and theatrical scene of his time and contributed – whether as an author or co-author – to many outstanding musical, theatrical, and television productions that are still performed today. In his book, he reminisces not only about his beginnings in the music publishing house of R. A. Dvorský but also about his collaboration with the famous V+W, for whom he arranged music for...