Nominated for Gramophone’s 2022 ‘Orchestra of the Year’, the 127-year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert – an all Dvořák programme conducted by the composer himself - in the famed Rudolfinum Hall on 4 January 1896. The Orchestra is acknowledged for its definitive interpretations of Czech composers and recognised for its special relationship to the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler, who conducted the world première of his Symphony No. 7 with the Orchestra in 1908. It is currently recording the complete cycle of Mahler symphonies with Chief Conductor and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov for Pentatone.

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The Czech Philharmonic’s extraordinary and proud history reflects both its location at the very heart of Europe and the Czech Republic’s turbulent political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast (My Homeland) has become a potent symbol. 2024 is the Year of Czech Music, a major celebration of Czech music launched on the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth and celebrated across the Czech Republic every 10 years. The Czech Philharmonic will mark Smetana’s bicentenary with a series of concerts at the Smetana Litomyšl Festival including a rare concert performance of his opera, Libuše, conducted by Principal Guest Conductor, Jakub Hrůša.. Also in recognition of the Year of Czech Music, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov will take Dvořák’s final three symphonies, and the concertos for piano, cello and violin on tour to South Korea, Japan, Spain, Austria, Germany, Belgium and France.

Throughout the Orchestra’s history, two features have remained at its core: its championing of Czech composers and its belief in music’s power to change lives. From as early as the 1920’s Václav Talich (Chief Conductor 1919-1941) pioneered concerts for workers, young people and voluntary organisations, a philosophy which is equally vibrant today. 

Alongside the Czech Philharmonic’s Youth Orchestra, Orchestral Academy and Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, a comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools bringing all ages to the Rudolfinum – some travelling as long as four hours - to hear concerts and participate in workshops. An inspirational music and song programme led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families to find a voice. In addition to an annual education exchange with the Royal Academy of Music in London, over lockdown the Orchestra gave seven benefit concerts which were live streamed in 4K to international audiences, raising funds for hospitals, charities, and healthcare professionals.

An early champion of the music of Martinů and Janáček, the works of Czech composers - both established and new - remain the lifeblood of the Orchestra. Instigated by Semyon Bychkov at the start of his tenure, nine Czech composers and five international composers - Detlev Glanert, Julian Anderson, Thomas Larcher, Bryce Dessner and Thierry Escaich – were commissioned to write for the Orchestra.

This season’s Artist in Residence is Sir András Schiff who will have the dual roles of pianist and conductor of the Orchestra at the Dvořák Prague Festival; will perform with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra as part of the Czech Chamber Music Society’s season; and will join Semyon Bychkov for subscription concerts in Prague and on tour in Vienna, Hamburg and Munich. 

source: Czech Philharmonic

Whether as an opera conductor, orchestra leader, festival director or book author: Ingo Metzmacher is consistently committed to music, especially of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Making the new sound familiar and the familiar sound new has been his focus since the beginning of his career.

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Ingo Metzmacher was General Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera from 1997 to 2005 and subsequently Chief Conductor at the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, as well as Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin from 2007 to 2010. Since 2016 he has been the Artistic Director of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, whose next festival edition will take place from 16 May to 2 June 2024.

Ingo Metzmacher is a frequent guest with leading orchestras such as the Vienna Philharmonic, the Cleveland Orchestra, the Gewandhausorchester, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Modern, as well as at opera houses and festivals such as the Vienna State Opera, the Opéra national de Paris, Milan's Teatro alla Scala, the Salzburg Festival and the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

His 2023/24 season includes performances with the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Hamburg Philharmonic State Orchestra, the SWR Symphonieorchester, the WDR Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlinm, and Klangforum Wien, among others. He is conducting a new production of lbéric Magnard's Guercœur at the Opéra national du Rhin, Leonard Bernstein's Mass - A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players and Dancers with the NDR Radiophilharmonie and nine choirs from Hanover as part of the KunstFestSpielen Herrenhausen, as well as the closing concert of the Donaueschinger Musiktage.

Metzmacher’s wide-ranging discography includes live recordings of his legendary New Year’s Eve concerts in Hamburg from 1999 to 2004 entitled Who’s Afraid of 20th Century Music?, a complete recording of Hartmann’s symphonies with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere of Henze’s Ninth Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic and Messiaen’s Eclairs sur l'Au-delà… with the Vienna Philharmonic. Most recently, he released two recordings with Ensemble Modern: Andre’s cycle riss and Beschenkt – 40 miniatures celebrating the ensembles 40th anniversary.

He is the author of two books: Keine Angst vor neuen Tönen [Don’t Be Afraid of New Sounds] and Vorhang auf! Oper entdecken und erleben [Curtain Up! Discovering and Experiencing Opera].

source: OPUS 3 ARTIST

Václav Petr is one of the most important Czech cellists of his generation. He was a semi-finalist at the Grand Prix Emanuel Feuermann international cello competition and the winner of the prestigious 70th-annual Prague Spring Competition. Already in his childhood years, he began attracting attention by winning competitions, for example earning prizes at the Heran International Cello Competition, the International Cello Competition in Lietzen, Austria, and first prize at Prague Junior Note, then he was the overall winner of the Talents for Europe competition. He is a laureate of many other competitions: Concertino Praga, the David Popper International Cello Competition in Hungary, the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Croatia, the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation International Music Competition in Prague, the Dotzauer International Competition for Young Cellists in Germany, and the Rudolf Matz International Competition for Strings in Dubrovnik.

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Václav Petr learned the fundamentals of cello playing from Mirko Škampa at the Jan Neruda Grammar School in Prague. At the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, he studied in the studio of Professor Daniel Veis, then he graduated from the studio of Michal Kaňka. He also perfected his playing under the guidance of Wolfgang Boettcher at the Universität der Künste in Berlin. In addition, Václav Petr took part in international masterclasses in Kronberg, Hamburg, and Vaduz, and he participated at the European Academy in Bonn as part of the International Holland Music Sessions, where he was chosen for the studio of Maria Kliegel. In 2015 he took part in masterclasses of the Carl Flesch Academy in Baden-Baden, making a solo appearance with the Baden-Baden Philharmonic. 

He began giving solo performances at age 12, and he has appeared as a soloist with such orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the Prague Chamber Orchestra, the Pilsen Philharmonic, the Janáček Philharmonic in Ostrava, the Baden-Baden Philharmonic, and Bohdan Warchal’s Slovak Chamber Orchestra. 

Last but not least, Václav Petr devotes himself tirelessly to chamber music. From 2009 to 2020 he was a member of the Josef Suk Piano Quartet, with which he won first prize at a competition of chamber music ensembles in Val Tidone, Italy, at the Salieri - Zinetti Chamber Music Competition, and at one of the most prestigious competitions for chamber ensembles with piano, the “Premio Trio di Trieste”.

In October 2013, Václav Petr won the post of concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic cello section. At age 24, he became one of the youngest concertmasters in the orchestra’s history.

Václav Petr plays a master instrument from the workshop of Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, the “Teschenmacher” cello (1757), which is on loan from a private collection.