Wed 30/9 20:00
Vladimír Merta duo: 80

A cornerstone of Czech singer-songwriter music, Vladimír Merta celebrated his 80th birthday this January and returns to Divadlo 29!

He has released around forty albums and a dozen books across various genres. Music publicist Pavel Klusák once wrote about him: “Merta pushed the possibilities of the Czech song form to the borders of the essay. He can balance depth with playfulness and a firmly arched composition with improvisation in which he risks everything.” His current concert repertoire is built mainly around cult songs from the 1970s and 1980s. The evening will feature tracks such as Astrolog, Omamná květina, Chtít chytit vítr and Harmonie, accompanied alternately by piano and second guitar played by Ondřej Fencl.

Vladimír Merta’s first album, Ballades de Prague, was released in 1969 by the French label Vogue. However, further publishing opportunities were heavily restricted by the repressive regime. During the 1970s and 1980s, Merta became one of the defining icons of Czech singer-songwriter culture. Virtually everything he touched was met with enthusiasm by local critics. His powerful poetic lyrics and distinctive guitar playing earned him the status of an uncompromising and singular musician who refused to be constrained by anyone. Yet he had to wait until 1978 for his first official domestic release, followed ten years later by a raw live double album recorded at Malostranská beseda.

Only after 1989 was Merta finally able to devote himself fully to publishing, filmmaking and concert performance. Among his many activities, it is worth mentioning his collaboration with the Jewish music ensemble Mišpacha, performances of Baroque and Renaissance music with Jana Lewitová, and his cooperation with Vladimír Mišík’s Etc…, which resulted in the unusually melodic album Ponorná řeka. Other highlights include the albums Domilováno (2013) and Imagena (2014), recorded with David Landštof, Josef Štěpánek, Jan Štolba and other outstanding studio musicians. Most recently, he has been working on the solo album series Nejisté jistoty, released gradually between 2024 and 2027.

For this concert, Vladimír Merta will be joined by pianist, guitarist and singer Ondřej Fencl. For thirty years, Fencl has been the frontman of the folk-rock band Hromosvod and has collaborated with Luboš Pospíšil, Václav Koubek and the band Schodiště. The Merta / Fencl duo has been performing together for almost fifteen years and has already played well over three hundred concerts.

www.vladimirmerta.cz
www.ondrejfencl.cz

The concert is presented as part of the Etnoconnexion project with the financial support of the City of Pardubice.

admission: 360 CZK
early bird: 280 CZK (until June 30, 2026)
ISIC and disability card holders: 180 CZK (available at the venue only)

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