KAPRÁLOVÁ

In 1937, Czech composer and conductor Vítězslava Kaprálová, on the recommendation of a family friend, composer Bohuslav Martinů, leaves for Paris to study at the École Normale de Musique. The years that she spent in France were filled with work, as well as sudden twists and turns in her personal and professional life. The approaching war turned Kaprálová’s study stay into an involuntary exile from which she never returned home. Kaprálová died on 16 June 1940 at the age of 25. On the same day, the collaborationist government of marshal Pétain takes power. A chapter from European history is over.

 What are the imprints of Kaprálová’s short life? Scores, sketches, unfinished compositions, notes, and above all letters. From these fragments, we piece together a plastic picture of a young and talented woman who tried to break into the male world of classical music. Her total devotion to the music is seen through the eyes of the current conducting students of the École Normale de Musique and several famous musicians including Timothy Cheek, Steven Isserlis or Adam Plachetka. How did the world of emerging musicians change in last decades? What is the situation for an alumna of conducting today? What is her professional future?

IN PRODUCTION

CZ/FR

Script and Director: Petr Záruba
Script and Music Consultant: Karla Hartl
Music Dramaturgy: Eliška Cílková
Sound Design: Vladimír Chrastil
Editor: Pavel Kolaja
Producer: Alice Tabery
Coproducer: Jasmina Sijercic, Bocalupo Films
Partner: The Kapralova Society

Supported by: Czech Film Fund