I love this clip from a television series, F.L. Vek. It has everything I would want. I wish I could have watched it.
From IMDb reviewer www.imdb.com/title/tt0267176/
“F. L. Vek is a legendary TV serial based on the novel by Alois Jirásek, famous Czech author of historical novels. Its central character is Frantisek Ladislav Vek, literary projection of an interesting historical person living in years 1769 and 1847. The serial catches his childhood in the village, teenage years in one Prague cloister where he was educated, young years in Prague where he was studying philosophy, and adult age after his comeback to the village. He was a big lover of art and music.
“His life was an encounter between longing and need, art and the conventional life of a village merchant, obligation and love, Catholicism and protestantism. He was a big patriot, and he consorts with many Czech artists of the time (so the serial is full of historical men and women). He also met W. A. Mozart and sang in the premiere of his opera Don Giovanni. The important theme of the time was the Czech language (in relationship with the German language) which was viewed as one main element of nationality. And the fight for it was the leitmotiv of all Vek’s life.
“This serial, which reflects the epoch of the birth of the independent Czech nation, was pictured in the similar time of 1971 when the idea of the so-called Prague Spring (1968) was suppressed by starting Normalization. The serial represents national trust in social and political changes reflected in the Czech National Revival. There were many analogies between those and these days (e.g., censorship, religion submission, totalitarianism, domiciliary search and revolt against it, braveness of revivalists...).”
Complete review on IMDb. I shortened the review, edited it slightly to fix the English, and highlighted the portion that makes the series relevant to today. Note period continuity: Missa Tridentina is the Latin Mass, and the money collector is audaciously in the choir loft!