IVA BITTOVA - is one of the most remarkable personalities in Czech music. Permanently oscillating between folk and contemporary music Bittova has created an original and totally individual way of playing music. She herself describes her style as "my own personal folk music".
Iva Bittova was born in northern Moravia near Bruntal on July 22, 1958. She attended violin and ballet classes in Opava and appeared in the Silesian Theatre of Zdenek Nejedly in children roles. In 1971 she began to study music and drama at Brno conservatory. She found herself in an avant-garde "Theatre On A String", first as a first-year student and immediately after her school leaving exam as a permanent member. In spite of her youth she had good opportunities both in the theatre and cinema and in TV and radio. Since that time Bittova has created several successful roles and has co-operated with well-known Czech directors as J.Jires (Island of Silver Herons, The Diary of One Who Disappeared), D.Hanak (Rosy Dreams) and E.Sokolovsky (The Apple and Its Tree). Wide popularity she gained thanks her role in the film of V.Sis A Ballad for a Bandit.
The Czech music audience first became aware of Bittova's purely musical talent in 1987 after she and percussionist Pavel Fajt released a joint recording titled simply "Bittova and Fajt" - very original minimalist fusion of alternative rock music with Slavic and Gypsy motifs. Also Bittova's co-operation with the group "Dunaj" ranked among her activities in the sphere of rock music.
Iva Bittova's first solo record ("Iva Bittova" - 1991) fully outlined her extraordinary complexity as an artist. She composed all of the 14 tracks on the album, except for Czech folk song "One Sister". "Her colourful voice scaled the octaves, intertwining with alternately warm, frantic and brutal tones emerging from her violin and viola, creating interesting musical landscapes with poetic lyrics that drifted quietly over them like clouds..." wrote The Prague Post about her first solo CD. Bittova is one of those rare artists who know how to put all possible extremes of the emotional scale into one song: she laughs and cries, cackles as a hen, chirps as a bird, slaps her tongue, makes strange throat noises and even lets all these vocal tricks coincided with a mime imitating madness next to childish surprise. As impressive as is her vocal acrobatics, is Bittova violin playing, distillated from different techniques, constantly mixed. Once she plucked her instrument as a ukulele or a banjo, than again she plays with a bow or used a wooden stick to get a rhythmical pattern from the string. Bittova uses everything she has, plays with her entire body, beats a rhythm with her feet. Every now and then, she introduces performance-elements, thus provoking simple but beautiful images, making her concert more accessible.
Since 1991 Bittova has created six solo CD's including "44 Duets for Two Violins by Bela Bartok". The last one is "The White Inferno" from the year 1997. In addition of her solo concerts, cooperation with her husband Pavel Fajt Bittova performed many concerts together with other famous musicians (Jiri Stivin, Emil Viklicky, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Chris Cutler, David Moss) and ensembles (S.E.M. Ensemble) both in the Czech Republic and in a majority of European countries and U.S.A.
Critics from all over the world try to classify Iva Bittova. Some say she is like Meredith Monk, others call up Laurie Anderson, or even Diamanda Galas. But Bittova - drawing from a well of pure natural talent and Gypsy-Jewish blood - is now very individual outstanding performer (permanently improving her violin play with Rudolf Stastny, professor of Janacek Academy in Brno), composer of her songs and actress always searching for new and untraditional shape.
Iva Bittova was born in northern Moravia near Bruntal on July 22, 1958. She attended violin and ballet classes in Opava and appeared in the Silesian Theatre of Zdenek Nejedly in children roles. In 1971 she began to study music and drama at Brno conservatory. She found herself in an avant-garde "Theatre On A String", first as a first-year student and immediately after her school leaving exam as a permanent member. In spite of her youth she had good opportunities both in the theatre and cinema and in TV and radio. Since that time Bittova has created several successful roles and has co-operated with well-known Czech directors as J.Jires (Island of Silver Herons, The Diary of One Who Disappeared), D.Hanak (Rosy Dreams) and E.Sokolovsky (The Apple and Its Tree). Wide popularity she gained thanks her role in the film of V.Sis A Ballad for a Bandit.
The Czech music audience first became aware of Bittova's purely musical talent in 1987 after she and percussionist Pavel Fajt released a joint recording titled simply "Bittova and Fajt" - very original minimalist fusion of alternative rock music with Slavic and Gypsy motifs. Also Bittova's co-operation with the group "Dunaj" ranked among her activities in the sphere of rock music.
Iva Bittova's first solo record ("Iva Bittova" - 1991) fully outlined her extraordinary complexity as an artist. She composed all of the 14 tracks on the album, except for Czech folk song "One Sister". "Her colourful voice scaled the octaves, intertwining with alternately warm, frantic and brutal tones emerging from her violin and viola, creating interesting musical landscapes with poetic lyrics that drifted quietly over them like clouds..." wrote The Prague Post about her first solo CD. Bittova is one of those rare artists who know how to put all possible extremes of the emotional scale into one song: she laughs and cries, cackles as a hen, chirps as a bird, slaps her tongue, makes strange throat noises and even lets all these vocal tricks coincided with a mime imitating madness next to childish surprise. As impressive as is her vocal acrobatics, is Bittova violin playing, distillated from different techniques, constantly mixed. Once she plucked her instrument as a ukulele or a banjo, than again she plays with a bow or used a wooden stick to get a rhythmical pattern from the string. Bittova uses everything she has, plays with her entire body, beats a rhythm with her feet. Every now and then, she introduces performance-elements, thus provoking simple but beautiful images, making her concert more accessible.
Since 1991 Bittova has created six solo CD's including "44 Duets for Two Violins by Bela Bartok". The last one is "The White Inferno" from the year 1997. In addition of her solo concerts, cooperation with her husband Pavel Fajt Bittova performed many concerts together with other famous musicians (Jiri Stivin, Emil Viklicky, Fred Frith, Tom Cora, Chris Cutler, David Moss) and ensembles (S.E.M. Ensemble) both in the Czech Republic and in a majority of European countries and U.S.A.
Critics from all over the world try to classify Iva Bittova. Some say she is like Meredith Monk, others call up Laurie Anderson, or even Diamanda Galas. But Bittova - drawing from a well of pure natural talent and Gypsy-Jewish blood - is now very individual outstanding performer (permanently improving her violin play with Rudolf Stastny, professor of Janacek Academy in Brno), composer of her songs and actress always searching for new and untraditional shape.
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