(Ger. Budweis).
Czech town. A royal town in the 13th century, it is now the industrial and cultural centre of bohemia. In 1753 Adalbert Gyrowetz was born in the town, and Emmy Destinn died there in 1930; an annual singing competition is devoted to her memory.
The first theatre (1764–1817) stood in the oldest part of the town. The Town Theatre was erected in 1817–19 on the same site and has been rebuilt many times, notably after its destruction in World War II. The last general reconstruction was completed in 1990 (260 seats). There was originally a German theatre, but Czech companies, playing operas and operettas, had seasons here from the end of the 19th century onwards. On Czechoslovak independence, in 1918, a Czech professional company was established in the same house, which was renamed the Jihočeské Národní Divadlo (South Bohemian National Theatre). Operas and operettas were performed from 1919 to 1929, and numerous tours were made to neighouring areas and to North Bohemian towns. Between 1929 and 1940, only plays and operettas were staged, and under German occupation (1940–45) the theatre reverted to German plays. After 1945 productions of Czech plays and operettas were resumed, and after various organizational changes the theatre was renamed the Jihočeské Divadlo (South Bohemian Theatre). Regular opera performances started in 1959, and the company gained a particular reputation for chamber opera (Haydn, Paisiello, Rossini, Mozart, Otmar Mácha, Evžen Zámečník etc.). Performances have been given in the Baroque theatre and other rooms of the nearby castle Český Krumlov.
In 1957 the opera orchestra began giving concerts as the Regional SO; its leading musicians also play as the Jihočeské Smyčcové Kvarteto (South Bohemian String Quartet). An earlier quartet of that name (1929) became in 1932 the Suk Quartet. In 1981 the Jihočeská Kormorní Filharmonie (South Bohemian Chamber Philharmonic) was founded.
There is a great tradition of choirs, notably the Pěvecké Sdružení Jihočeských Učitelů (Singing Association of South Bohemian Teachers), founded in 1911, and the children’s choir Jitřenka (Morning Star). In 1959 a department of musical education was set up at the South Bohemian University, and in 1990 a conservatory. In 1945 a regional radio station was established with an independent musical section.
F. Vránek: ‘O hudebním ruchu v Českých Budějovicích’ [Musical activities in České Budějovice], Smetana, i (1906), 173–7; ii (1907), 171–2
‘Frekvence České hudební školy v Českých Budějovicích’ [Attendance of the Czech music school in České Budějovice], Hudební rozhledy, i (1913–14), 166
A. Kožíková: Boj o jihočeské divadlo, 1919–1946 [The struggle for the South Bohemian Theatre] (České Budějovice, 1970)
K. Padrta and others: Jihočeská vlastivěda [Southern Bohemian local history], iii: Hudba [Music] (České Budějovice, 1989)
Z. Kazilová and others: Jihočeské divadlo [South Bohemian Theatre] (České Budějovice, 1990)
EVA HERRMANNOVÁ