Želary

Petr Ostrouchov's music from the film Želary (2003) is being released for the first time as a purely musical soundtrack without dialogues, in a newly mixed and arranged version. The film, directed by Ondřej Trojan, won two Czech Lions (Czech and Television Academy Award) and a number of nominations, including the most prestigious one – an Oscar nomination for the best foreign language film. Although almost 22 years have passed since its release and the composer had been considering the idea of releasing the score on vinyl for some time, the final impetus for the album's release was this year's departure of the legendary film conductor Mario Klemens, who had participated in number of film soundtracks and who also conducted the orchestra during the recording of the music for the film Želary; the album is dedicated to his memory. Petr Ostrouchov received his first (out of eight) nomination for the Czech Lion award and the award for best music from the festival in Karachi, Pakistan.
"Želary was only the second feature film with my music and a very important one for me.
As a beginner and amateur, I composed and arranged music for the orchestra and had the opportunity to work with conductor Mario Klemens. Moreover, the film resonated very well, it received an Oscar nomination, I received my first nomination for the Czech Lion Award and Viera Langerová brought me the award for best music from the festival in Karachi, Pakistan, where I "beat" Alexandre Desplat and John Williams in my category, both these facts seemed absurd to me. The soundtrack was released on CD 22 years ago, the music was interwoven with dialogues from the film, as was usual back then, and the CD has long since been unavailable. The idea of releasing the music from Želary in newly mixed versions and in a different way has matured for many years, the film has certainly not been forgotten, on the contrary, it still has its audiences and the "music from Želary" has opened many doors for me. I compiled the recordings into a more or less fluid flow of music, without dialogues, with only a few folk songs of great female ensemble from the Beskid Mountains called Grunik," says Petr Ostrouchov about the album's release.