SONGS ABOUT A HEART FILLED WITH MEMORIES

WHAT DOROTA BAROVÁ FOUND BEHIND THE MIRROR?

For so long we have associated the singer, cellist and composer with the melodious Polish language, that we could not imagine that she would replace it with Czech in the songs growing out of intimate chamber music. And if that did happen, we were interested in how they would sound in the new one; after so many years, perhaps even with minor concerns. Unnecessary, and actually inappropriate, after all, we are talking about Dorota, who is concerned with musical beauty in any language. She was inspired to sing in Czech on the album Píseň pro Mi by the passing of her close friend, artist and poet Michaela Vejnarová (1979–2023), to whom she wanted to pay her respects and who she felt was appropriate for us to understand her grief and perhaps learn “what is seen in the mirror and what awaits behind it”.
“When I got my hands on her notebooks full of sketches and texts, the idea for an album was born, which would include not only her poems set to music, but also her paintings. I chose seven poems that reflect her inner, dreamy world and her sweet tricks,” Dorota explained her decision, which she said was initially driven by an inner fear so as not to burden her personal memories too much with sadness. “Míša Vejnarová was a cheerful person and loved life. So I didn’t want to be too sad. When I listened to the album from a distance, I was pleasantly surprised that the plan worked,” Dorota said in an interview for UNI magazine, and she preferred to sing perhaps the saddest song for Mi in Polish: “I’m learning to live and dream without you. I find you in heaven and next to me and I fill my heart with memories.”
One thing goes without saying for Dorota: whoever accompanies her, she always gets us. This time with bassist Miloš Klápště, who contributed to the wonderful album.

Photos by Helena Kadlčíková