Sir Charles in love

Tomorrow is the 16th anniversary of the start of the Velvet Revolution and the 80th birthday of one of the world's great conductors, Sir Charles Mackerras. He's an Australian Czechophile who is credited with resurrecting interest in Leoš Janáček. He studied in Prague in 1947-8 and conducted the U.K. premiere of "Káťa Kabanová" three years later. He told Radio Prague that he had never heard anything like it. His time in Prague was cut short by the Communists, but his love for Czech music has transcended politics for 60 years. With every anniversary of the Velvet Revolution comes an assessment of what has followed. One can't help but think that if Czech leaders had shown as much love and respect for their country as Mackerras has for its music, the CR would be a much better place today. Perhaps tomorrow they should put on Mackerras's unrivaled version of Antonín Dvořák's great tragic symphony, the seventh, and think it over. [Czech Republic opera classical music]