Bambini di Praga
{{Short description|Former Czech children's choir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
{{Infobox choir
| name = Bambini di Praga
| image = Bambini di Praga Trutnov.JPG
| image_size =
| alt = Bambini di Praga choir performing onstage with audience in front, conductor Blanka Kulínská facing the choir
| caption = Bambini di Praga at Trutnov Open Air Music Festival in 2007
| alias = Kulínčata
Bambini
| former_name = Hrabůvští singers
Dětský pěvecký sbor Československého rozhlasu
| origin = Czechoslovakia
| founding = 1973
| founder = {{ill|Bohumil Kulínský Sr.|cs|Bohumil Kulínský (1910)}}
| disbanding = 2011
| genre = Vocal music
| members =
| notable_members =
| president =
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| choirmaster = {{ill|Blanka Kulínská|cs}}
{{ill|Bohumil Kulínský Jr.|cs|Bohumil Kulínský}}
| organist =
| chief conductor =
| orchestra manager =
| choir admission =
| orchestra admission =
| headquarters =
| concert_hall =
| affiliation =
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Bambini di Praga ("Children of Prague" in Italian) was a Czech children's choir based in Prague and active from 1973 to 2011. The collective was composed mainly of girls.
History
=Early days and predecessors=
In 1939, Bohumil Kulínský Sr. (born 1910) established a children's choir in Hrabůvka, a district of Ostrava, at the time a part of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. The choir was called Hrabůvští singers and they won their first singing competition in 1940. Thanks to this success, Kulínský was invited to Prague where in 1945, he founded Dětský pěvecký sbor Československého rozhlasu (Children's Choir of Czechoslovak Radio), also known as Kulínčata. During this period, the choir's popularity grew.{{cite web|title=Bambini di Praga |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/BDP.htm |website=bach-cantatas.com |date= |access-date=21 March 2021}}
=Bambini and Bimbi=
File:Bambini.jpg concert hall in Prague, 2006]]
In 1973, cooperation with Czechoslovak Radio was interrupted. Kulínský, together with his wife Blanka, continued at the helm of the choir, however, and they rehearsed in a primary school instead, where they remained until the 2002 Prague floods. On 1 May 1973, the choir was renamed Bambini di Praga.
Around 1975, at the age of 16 or 17, Bohumil Kulínský Jr. created a second choir, Bimbi di Praga, composed of the smallest and most talented singers.{{cite web|title=Blanka Kulínská: Nevadí mi být druhá |url=http://www.radioservis-as.cz/archiv03/1903/19titul.htm |website=radioservis-as.cz |date=28 April 2003 |access-date=21 March 2021 |language=cs |trans-title=Blanka Kulínská: I Don't Mind Being Second}} Several well-known musicians have passed through the ranks of the younger choir, including Lenka Dusilová, Martina Čechová, and Jana Boušková. In 1977, Kulínský Jr. became the choirmaster of Bambini di Praga. His father died in 1988.
During this time, Blanka Kulínská led Chlapecký sbor Pražského mužského sboru FOK (Boys' Choir of the Prague Men's Choir FOK). Some famous names who have performed in the choir include David Koller, Petr Malásek, Jan Čenský, Tomáš Trapl, Martin Kumžák, and Radek Krejčí.
In 1990, six months after the Velvet Revolution in Czechoslovakia, Blanka Kulínská and Bohumil Kulínský Jr. established a private music school in Prague, Škola sborového zpěvu při Bambini di Praga (Bambini di Praga School of Choral Singing).
=Bohumil Kulínský's conviction and last days of Bambini=
In 2004, Bohumil Kulínský was arrested and charged with numerous acts of sexual abuse of minors, with a final tally of 49 victims between 1984 and 2004. On 23 April 2008, he was sentenced to 3 years imprisonment with parole for the sexual abuse of 23 girls, some of whom were as young 15 when the acts took place.{{cite web|title=Kulínský dostal za zneužívání sboristek podmínku |url=https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/cerna-kronika/kulinsky-dostal-za-zneuzivani-sboristek-podminku.A080423_093644_krimi_cen |website=idnes.cz |date=23 April 2008 |access-date=21 March 2021 |language=cs |trans-title=Kulínský Was Given a Condition for Abusing Choir Members}}
Kulínský began his sentence, by that point extended to 5.5 years, in January 2009.{{cite web|title=Soud zpřísnil trest pro Kulínského, místo podmínky 5,5 roku vězení |url=https://www.idnes.cz/zpravy/cerna-kronika/soud-zprisnil-trest-pro-kulinskeho-misto-podminky-5-5-roku-vezeni.A090115_121758_krimi_cen |website=idnes.cz |date=15 January 2009 |access-date=21 March 2021 |language=cs |trans-title=Court Tightens Sentence for Kulínský to 5.5 Years in Prison}}
On 28 June 2011, shortly after Bohumil Kulínský's conditional release from prison, Bambini di Praga announced that they would end their activities.{{cite web|title=Dětský sbor Bambini di Praga po 38 letech definitivně končí |url=https://www.idnes.cz/kultura/hudba/detsky-sbor-bambini-di-praga-po-38-letech-definitivne-konci.A110628_180232_domaci_hro |website=idnes.cz |date=28 June 2011 |access-date=21 March 2021 |language=cs |trans-title=Bambini di Praga Children's Choir Is Definitely Coming to an End After 38 Years}}
In September 2018, Kulínský died of kidney failure at the age of 59.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}} His mother, Blanka, died in 2022.{{Citation needed|date=July 2022}}
Partial discography
{{Incomplete list|date=March 2021}}
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- Veselé Vánoce - Merry Christmas (1982)
- Czech Contemporary Choral Works: Concerto piccolo (1983)
- Cvičíme S Hudbou, Vol. 3 (1983)
- Moravské Koledy (1988)
- World Famous Christmas Carols (1990)
- Carolling (1991)
- Ovčáci a Čtveráci (1991)
- Moravian Duets - Ten Songs (1991)
- Ave Maria (Famous Sacred Choral Works) (1992)
- České koledy 1 (1994)
- České koledy 2 (1994)
- Já Písnička 1. (1994)
- Skákal Pes (1994)
- Já Písnička 2. (1995)
- Já Písnička 3. (1996)
- Já Písnička 4. (1997)
- Merry Christmas (1998)
- Já Písnička 5. (1999)
- Zpívání O Lásce/Singing of Love (2001)
- Když Polka Zavolá... (2007)
- Dvorak: Svata Ludmila (2012)
{{div col end}}
References
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External links
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Category:1973 establishments in Czechoslovakia