Sintonía Checa · Český dům

← Back to the Archive

Listen to the programmes

Poslouchejte

Sintonía Checa is no longer on the air, but the recorded programmes are still available.

Produced in partnership with

The programme

Pořad

A meeting point

Every Saturday at 8 p.m., Sintonía Checa was the meeting point of the Czech community in Argentina.

The programme was broadcast by Radio Cultura in Buenos Aires on FM 97.9 MHz, and could also be heard online.

It was an effort by Český dům to rescue the old melodies, songs and traditions we wanted to share again, but also to find out what was happening in the Czech community and, above all, to stay in touch with one another.

It was also a chance to wish a relative or friend a happy birthday, give them a musical gift or send messages to people we knew.

A link with the Czech Republic

Sintonía Checa was also a direct link with the Czech Republic. Through a special agreement with Český dům, Radio Prague allowed us to broadcast special programmes on many subjects of great interest.

Learning what was happening in the Czech Republic from its main newspapers, getting to know great Czech figures in depth, following the careers of important artists, musicians and composers, and touring villages, castles and palaces through Radio Prague's radio journeys were just some of the experiences each broadcast offered.

There were also authentic recipes for traditional Czech dishes, news and current-affairs reports, and a constant look back at the legacy of the past and at folklore.

So as not to lose something as precious as the language, we also rebroadcast Radio Prague's entertaining mini Czech lessons.

New pop music was there too, along with the bands and singers that keep emerging from a people as musical and sensitive as the Czechs.

The host

Moderátor

Karel Souchop

A short personal profile

It has been more than thirty years since my dream of working with my voice in the media was born.

In 1976 I qualified as a national announcer and set out on a path that has taken me through every radio station in the capital, and television too.

I have dubbed films for various TV and cable channels, such as Discovery Channel and Animal Planet, and I specialise in recording commercials.

Since 1979 I have worked at Radio Continental, and I am also an announcer and news writer for Radio La Red's news bulletin.

A letter to the readers of the website

Reconnecting with our Czech roots…

In one of the Sintonía Checa programmes, we recalled that on 31 August 2006 Radio Prague celebrated 70 years on the air.

Officially launched in 1936, the station had to overcome difficult times such as the Second World War and the later Soviet invasion, with all their crises, political conflicts and censorship, which brought it to the brink of disappearing.

Today, however, the voice of the Czech Republic abroad is still on the air in six languages and, since 1994, has also been available online.

The Czechoslovak community in Argentina also lived through the events of the twentieth century, and for various reasons it lacked direct contact with the Czechoslovakia of the time…

Preserving and passing on cultural traditions and the Czech language to the younger generations in Argentina was, and still is, a task left half done.

Today, happily, things have changed: there is a new opportunity, because the walls and iron curtains have fallen, and we hope they will never rise again.

So you are all invited to reconnect with your Czech roots, the roots that show us where we come from, to get to know more deeply this heritage from our parents and grandparents… and ourselves too…

Karel Souchop

Great Czech Creators

Velcí čeští tvůrci

A segment of Sintonía Checa devoted to Czech classical music, literature and poetry.

The Great Creators team in the studio — The “Great Creators” team

Mayenko Hlousek

Set and costume designer

Background: Born in Buenos Aires to Czech parents.
Training: She studied drawing and painting at the “Manuel Belgrano” Preparatory School of Fine Arts, the “Prilidiano Pueyrredón” Academy of Fine Arts and the Stage Design Workshop of the “Ernesto de la Cárcova” School of Fine Arts, graduating in 1953. Her teachers in the field were Rodolfo Franco, Mario Vanarelli and Saulo Benavente. Since then she has designed many sets and costumes, including for “Invitation to the Castle” by Anouilh, “Each in His Own Way” by Pirandello, “Tungasuka” by Canal Feijóo, “The Importance of Being Earnest” by O. Wilde, “The Fan” by Goldoni, “Elvira” by J. Mauricio, “The Italian Straw Hat” by Labiche, “Julius Caesar” by Handel, “Amores republicanos” by E. N. Alberti, “Misia, en busca de la musa perdida” by E. Cogorno, “Hoy ensayo hoy” by R. Graciano and “Así es la vida” by Malfatti and De las Llanderas.
Other disciplines: Alongside her theatre work she designs interiors, shop windows and exhibition stands, illustrates books, does freelance advertising work, tapestry, collage and landscape watercolour, and has held many solo and group exhibitions in these fields.
1991: Together with the Argentine Centre of the International Theatre Institute, the Argentine Foreign Ministry and the Czech Embassy in Argentina, she begins organising the first participation of Argentine stage designers in the Prague Quadrennial 1995, where she acts as curator and stand designer. The participation is repeated at the Prague Quadrennial 1999.
1994: She begins a long-term collaboration with the Czech Embassy in Buenos Aires, organising concerts of Czech music, cultural events, exhibitions and lectures.
1994–2002: Coordinator of the singing master classes for young singers of the Leonor Hirsch Scholarships, run by the Bunge y Born Foundation.
2003: The Ambassador of the Czech Republic, Edita Hrdá, presents her with the “Silver Lion” medal for “many years of merit and constant cooperation in organising cultural events representing the Czech Republic in Argentina”.
2004: She translates L. Janáček's “Nursery Rhymes” into Spanish for conductor Guillermo Opitz of the Fundación Música de Cámara. The work premieres at the Errázuriz Museum with her sets and costumes, and she herself coaches the opera singers in Czech.
2005: In Prague she receives the Gratias Agit Award, given to “those who promote the good name of the Czech Republic abroad”, from Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda at the Černín Palace. It was the first time it had been awarded to someone from Argentina.
On the radio: Together with Český dům, she contributed to Sintonía Checa with “Great Czech Creators”, a segment devoted to Czech classical music, literature and poetry.
2005–2008: Together with the Argentine Centre of the ITI (International Theatre Institute, UNESCO), she again organises the participation of Argentine stage designers in the Prague Quadrennial 2007. The exhibition is shown again from 27 March to 13 April 2008 in the main hall of the Teatro San Martín.
Plans at the time: An exhibition in Buenos Aires of the work of Czech stage designer Josef Svoboda, and the sets and costumes for the operas “Rusalka” by Antonín Dvořák (Argentine premiere) and “The Bartered Bride” by Bedřich Smetana, both directed by E. Casullo.