Vadim Petrov is a famous Czech pianist, composer and teacher, honored patriarch of Czech classical and popular music. The author of more than a thousand musical works. Winner of the Golden Nymph Award for the best soundtrack for movies and TV shows.
Biography
“Music is a story about helping people, ” says Vadim Petrov.
The future composer was born in May 1932 on the twenty-fourth in Prague, the capital of the Czech Republic. Vadim is a descendant of a whole galaxy of prominent figures of the Repninsky-Repninsky family, which has its history since 842. The boy’s father worked as a doctor, having his own practice in Zizkov, and his mother sang in the church choir.
Intelligent atmosphere in the family had a huge impact on little Vadim. Not only his parents, but also his grandfather were engaged in his training and education. Grandfather Vasily Petrov - a special figure in the fate of the great grandson.
Vadim’s grandfather lived in Prague and was a respected person in the city, especially among Russian-speaking citizens, and was a very important figure in the public and everyday life of the Russian community. He was an extremely religious person and was close friends with the local bishop Gorazd of Prague, as well as with chaplain Vladimir Petrek, who was subsequently shot by the Nazis. From childhood, Vadim took part in regular services with his grandfather. Education included a patriotic component, for which Vasily Petrov was also responsible.
After regular classes at school, the boy attended a church where his mother sang. At a very tender age, Vadim wrote “Bible Songs” for his mother, which the famous composer of the time Joseph Boguslav Fester admired.
Another grandfather, the father of mother Joseph Thoma, was obsessed with Czech history. He often took his grandson with him on trips to magical places: Polubny, Iron Brod, Turnov, telling about the history of these places. The grandson was overwhelmed with impressions after each trip and expressed his emotions in music.
In the summer, the Petrov family went to Staraya Boleslav, to their own estate. There in 1945, the young talent began to learn from the real masters, Troyan and Klazar, who taught him the theory of music and playing the organ.
In the mid-forties, Vadim entered the Russian gymnasium, where he studied until 1951. He still warmly recalls this island of the "Russian soul" brought into exile by Russian immigrants. After graduating, Vadim continued his education at the Academy of Music. In the year 1956 he graduated with honors, and as an examination paper presented one of his most outstanding works, The Vitkov Symphonic Poem.
Career
Two years after graduating from the Academy, Petrov founded the Folk Conservatory on the basis of the Prague Municipal House. The meaning of his project was to provide all kinds of support to young musicians who are beginning and planning to enter higher education institutions. Soon, the enterprising composer gathered real professionals around him, and his unique project could well compete with the already existing traditional academies and gymnasiums with a solid history.
After the events of "Prague Spring" in 1968, Petrov was imposed many restrictions, because of which he was forced to leave the chair of the head of his own conservatory with a ban on television and radio. My wife was also fired from work. Nevertheless, he was able to return to his previous post in 1976, he worked there until 1991.
From the very beginning, Petrov wanted to devote his brainchild, a magnificent educational institution with a terrific teaching staff to Jaroslav Ežek, a Czech playwright and an outstanding pianist. But it was only possible to give the name of Jezek the Conservatory in 1990, when Vadim Petrov was finally able to obtain the consent of the heirs of the legendary musician.
During restrictions, he rethought many of his early works, creating several symphonies, famous throughout the world. The documentary film “Prague Castle”, filled with Petrov’s music, was banned, and later he transformed the melodies of the picture into a large-scale symphonic poem, which was included in the 2016 album “Prague Ornaments”.
The album "Tarantella", which saw the light in 2014, included the works Lyric Waltz, Russian Gospel, and others that were clearly saturated with Russian traditions. All Petrov’s melodies are the clearest example of how music can express the most kind, sincere and secret, and he himself embodies the best features of the ancient Russian aristocracy.
Among the most famous works of the famous composer around the world, it is worth highlighting the musical accompaniment for children's animation. He wrote music for the series about the mole and cricket, as well as for the animated films "Cause Rabbit", "Jane Eyre" and "Blue Planet".
In 2018, the musician visited Russia and performed in Moscow. The final song of the concert was the famous song "Varyag" written by one of the ancestors of Vadim Petrov.
