Then I have to think about it, I think about an idea behind the music and think about the way we can work with it and perform it. Michael Pospisil 'I am the one that searches archives in order to find songs, compare it with other music from that time, notice all hand made changes, corrections of any mistakes. The core is made up of just two or three musicians who play more than two instruments from the period. Michael Pospisil has found his refuge in music, to be precise, Baroque music from the 17th and 18th centuries, which he performs together with the loose ensemble Ritornello. Says Michael Pospisil about his aversion to our age where as he says dirt has to be separated from dirt and dust from dust. There are so many media that fight for our attention - all different machines with buttons that we press as soon as we get up in the morning. We don't have enough time to pay attention to ourselves and the best things about ourselves. There are so many impulses that sidetrack us. These rather gloomy words were written by Michael Pospisil the front man of the chamber ensemble Ritornello. We may laugh but 300 years from now future archaeologists may well start researching the rubber surfaces of old chewing gums spat out at bus stops.' 'If each era has seen the World from the perspective of 'its' discoveries, and so today we give them such retrospective titles as 'The Stone Age', 'The Bronze Age', and 'The Iron Age', what will our grandchildren (if there are any) make of our present era? 'The Plastic Age' maybe. It was good then and it is still good now.' Baroque music that heals our plastic souls 'It is getting bigger but the way of thinking is the same. This year Andrea was back for the third time, and so he has been able to witness the festival expand. But he hopes to come back and meet many other good musicians.

I talked to Andrea before his last concert at this year's festival in Prague. It seems to me that in the countryside there are more people that pay attention to music and culture.' It is not popular music that we play, it comes from classical guitar but the people paid so much attention, they cared so much. They were so happy and listened for more than an hour. 'I had a chance to play not only in the downtown of Prague but also in little towns on the edge of the country. All four of his concerts at the festival were sold out and very well received.

Andrea started playing guitar at the age of fourteen in his native Italy and has since then performed all over the world. There are many good, very good guitarists in the world so there is lots of competition.'Д¬oncludes Stanislav Barek who teaches guitar himself.ДЄndrea Benzoni, who composed this song for his wife, but also wrote a special piece for Prague, inspired by a chilly autumn night and of course the city's beauty. I think that it is the way for young guitarists from conservatories to play something different, because the situation with a classic guitar as such is a bit complicated. Other styles do not have such a rich tradition. Because at most of conservatories students study classical guitar. I was curious whether there was any Czech guitar speciality. One way or the other the guitar is a very popular instrument although in Stanislav Barek's opinion it is still not usually perceived as a solo instrument. At the same time it gets more attention from Czechs who like to think of themselves as a very musical nation. With musicians of eleven different nationalities the festival has grown significantly in size. Therefore we organize a flamenco concert every year.' Guitar as an instrument is typical for Spain. We want people from jazz and from finger picking. The festival is well known today, not only in the Czech Republic but also around the world. It was not possible at the beginning because we didn't have so much money. 'Today we have the possibility to invite the best musicians in the world. The main idea of the festival today is to present various styles on the acoustic guitar. Stanislav Barek founded the festival himself in 1998 for a simple reason - the absence of a guitar festival in Prague. A few minutes into the piece one of the strings broke and Stanislav Barek had no other option than to use his friend's guitar - an experience he compared to making love to a new woman. I met him at one of many guitar concerts on offer here in the Czech capital until the end of November. Stanislav Barek is the director of the festival called Guitar Across Styles. Stanislav Barek, photo: Martina Schneibergova This is the sound of Stanislav Barek on the guitar.

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