Felix Slováček in Café Karel
There was a very big festive party recently. Less than three years after the death of the multiple Golden and later Czech nightingale singer, painter and actor Karel Gott, near Prague’s Divadlo in Dlouhá, the first memorial cafe, Café Karel, was opened, the operation of which was started by the Master’s lifelong friend and collaborator, Felix Slováček.
And right at the beginning, it should be added that the environment is really great. No traditional restaurant for hundreds of guests, but a pleasant, somewhat intimate room with a few tables and, above all, a number of the Master’s photos, a display of published albums and also a menu that offers delicacies that Karel Gott liked and enjoyed with relish. The menu also includes his favorite egg yolk wreaths, pinwheels and other favors on which he “drove”.
The author of the Café Karel theme is producer Miroslav Kolodziej and journalist Luboš Procházka, who worked closely with the singer for fifteen years.
“The idea to open this cafe was born shortly after the Master’s departure. Our effort was to create a place where his fans would gather and create an environment where their favorite singer would be watching them from the walls. In addition, they will be able to listen to his songs with the local goodies and thus return together with him to the days when he sold out concert hall auditoriums,” Procházka told kafe.cz.
Quite surprisingly, Gotta’s widow, Ivana, was absent from the guests. Is it because she ignored the invitation or for some other reason?
“We didn’t invite Mrs. Gottová, we focused on Karl’s colleagues and friends,” says journalist Procházka.
As mentioned, the ceremonial opening ribbon was cut by Gott’s friend, musician Felix Slováček, who shared some memories and observations with us after the ceremony.
“I like it here very much and I must say that I am glad I came. Karel certainly deserves this commemorative cafe, and I will certainly like to go here to chat with friends and soak up such a memorable, beautiful atmosphere.”
That’s fine, but this environment will definitely bring back memories. If you search them, how long have you been friends and worked together with Karl?
“More than fifty years. To be precise, from 1968 until he left us. We were connected by such an umbilical cord. For the first twenty years, we were together almost every day, and then, when I took over the Czech Radio big band, our meeting places were sports halls, concert halls, and theaters, simply places where we performed together.”
So can it be said that you experienced, to put it in an exaggeration, such an artistic marriage?
“Well, you could say that. And if I had to recall one memory, I don’t know which one. There were an awful lot of them and I have them all in me and play them from time to time. We traveled the world together, appeared on TV, radio, recording studios were our home, we simply lived and enjoyed life together with our fans. When the concert was over, we went to blow our noses, had a glass of wine, played chess, for example. What came to my mind right now would be the memory of the time when my son Felix was born and we were with Karl and the band in Kassel and we celebrated this event in my life by one hundred and six. Karel was simply my friend, partner and closest colleague. He had and I simply like him, perhaps there is no need to add more.”
