The Fantastic Czech Philharmonic

Chosen as Gramophone’s 2024 ‘Orchestra of the Year’, this season the Czech Philharmonic will be a guest in the most prestigious halls across East Asia – Taiwan, Japan and South Korea – as well as major cities in Germany, Italy, Austria, Luxembourg and Belgium. In the Czech Republic, the orchestra appears at its home, the Rudolfinum in Prague, at festivals including Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague and Smetana Litomyšl, as well as at international festivals such as Grafenegg, George Enescu and Bad Kissingen.

The Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov, launch the 130th season in Prague with two programmes that feature composers who have been particularly significant throughout Bychkov’s career: Tchaikovsky, with whom he initiated his tenure with the Czech Philharmonic; and Shostakovich, whose 50th anniversary is being commemorated across the world. Both programmes also feature works for piano: Ravel’s Piano Concerto and Strauss’ Burleske.

The Czech Philharmonic’s programmes with Bychkov this season feature Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4, Stravinsky’s Pulcinella and The Rite of Spring, Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder and concertos by Elgar, Brahms and Bryce Dessner, the 130th season’s Composer-in-Residence. In November, Bychkov will conduct Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with the 130th season Artist-in-Residence, Evgeny Kissin. Kissin will also give a solo recital as part of his residency.

2024 was the Year of Czech Music and the bicentenary of Bedřich Smetana, commemorated by the Czech Philharmonic and Bychkov with a new recording of Má vlast on PENTATONE. This recording, recently nominated for a 2025 BBC Music Magazine Award, was followed by the release of Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 7, 8 and 9, and the culmination of the Year of Czech Music in New York with a three-day residency at Carnegie Hall. In its review of the concerts, The New York Times described the Czech Philharmonic as “a timeless treasure… and an excellent steward for its country’s musical heritage.” In 2025, the orchestra celebrates the 150th anniversary of Vltava – the iconic second poem of Má vlast – with performances in Prague and East Asia.

The two Principal Guest Conductors of the Czech Philharmonic, Sir Simon Rattle and Jakub Hrůša, both conduct the orchestra this season. In December, Rattle leads the Czech Philharmonic and the women of the Prague Philharmonic Choir in music by Debussy, Messiaen and Mahler, as well as a programme of works by Berlioz, Lutosławski and Beethoven with the Czech Philharmonic Youth Orchestra (CPYO). In September, PENTATONE release Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances conducted by Rattle, and with Jakub Hrůša continue their exploration of music by Josef Suk. Hrůša will also conduct music by Sibelius, Britten and the Czech premiere of Dessner’s St. Carolyn by the Sea for two electric guitars.

Each year the CPYO collaborates with a conductor appearing with the Czech Philharmonic and this season, in addition to Rattle, they will also work on Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 with Giovanni Antonini. Antonini is of course just one of the many guest conductors invited by the Czech Philharmonic during its 130th season. Audiences can also look forward to the return of Dalia Stasevska, Sir Antonio Pappano, Cristian Măcelaru, David Robertson, Petr Popelka, and Thomas Adès, who conducts a programme in honour of Pierre Boulez’s 100th birthday. The 2025 Velvet Revolution concerts, Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’ with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, will be conducted by Zubin Mehta.

In addition to Artist-in-Residence Evgeny Kissin, soloists featured this season include Mao Fujita, Barbara Hannigan, Amihai Grosz, Fleur Barron and Anastasia Kobekina, who are appearing with the Czech Philharmonic for the first time in Prague, and home-grown and international artists Magdalena Kožená, Josef Špaček, Seong-Jin Cho, Víkingur Ólafsson, Augustin Hadelich, Sol Gabetta and Nicola Benedetti, who return to the orchestra.

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. 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 1920s, Václav Talich pioneered concerts for workers, young people and voluntary organisations, a philosophy which remains equally vibrant today. Alongside the CPYO, Orchestral Academy and the Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, a comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools and an inspirational music and song programme led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities has helped many socially excluded families to find a voice.

An early champion of the music of Martinů and Janáček, the Czech Philharmonic’s first concert in 1896 was an all-Dvořák programme conducted by the composer himself. Works by Czech composers – both established and new – remain the orchestra’s lifeblood. At the start of his tenure in 2018, Semyon Bychkov initiated the commissioning of works from fourteen Czech and international composers including Detlev Glanert, Julian Anderson, Thomas Larcher, Bryce Dessner and Thierry Escaich. Equally recognised for its special relationship with the music of Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler – who conducted the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 with the orchestra in 1908 – the Czech Philharmonic and Bychkov are currently mid-way through a Mahler cycle. The cycle – the orchestra’s first complete new recording of the symphonies since Václav Neumann’s more than 40 years ago – will be released by PENTATONE as a box set in spring 2026.

source: Česká filharmonie

Robin Ticciati OBE has been music director of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2017 and music director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera since 2014. He was principal conductor of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from 2009-18.

He is a regular guest with the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Budapest Festival Orchestra and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. In recent years, he has also appeared with the Wiener Philharmoniker, London Symphony Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Staatskapelle Dresden and the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. In the US, he has appeared with the Cleveland Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.  

Since becoming music director at Glyndebourne, he has led critically acclaimed new productions of La damnation de Faust, Pelléas et Mélisande, Der Rosenkavalier, Die Entführung aus dem Serail, La Clemenza di Tito, Carmelites, Katya Kabanova, Smyth’s The Wreckers, and a double bill of Poulenc’s La voix humaine & Les Mamelles de Tirésias.  

He has conducted Peter Grimes at Teatro alla Scala, Milan, The Marriage of Figaro at the Salzburg Festival, and Eugene Onegin at both the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Metropolitan Opera, New York.

His highly acclaimed discography includes Berlioz with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Haydn, Schumann, Berlioz and Brahms with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Dvořák, Bruckner and Brahms with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra; and Bruckner, Debussy, Duruflé, Duparc, Fauré, Ravel, Rachmaninov and Strauss with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin.    

In season 2023/24, Robin Ticciati made his debuts with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Oslo Philharmonic, and at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, where he conducted its new production of Rusalka. He returned to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Wiener Symphoniker, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. At Glyndebourne Festival Opera, he conducted a new production of Carmen and a revival of Tristan und Isolde.

Born in London, Robin Ticciati is a violinist, pianist and percussionist by training. He was a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain when, aged fifteen, he turned to conducting under the guidance of Sir Colin Davis and Sir Simon Rattle. He holds the position of ‘Sir Colin Davis Fellow of Conducting’ at the Royal Academy of Music. Robin Ticciati was awarded an OBE for services to music in the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2019).

source: Askonas Holt

In 2012, Vilde Frang was unanimously awarded the Credit Suisse Young Artist Award, which led to her debut with the Wiener Philharmoniker under Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Festival.

Her profound musicianship and exceptional lyricism have elevated her to one of the foremost violinists of her generation. She continues to appear regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, including the Berliner Philharmoniker, Concertgebouw Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Budapest Festival Orchestra, and Cleveland Orchestra. She has enjoyed collaborations with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Bernard Haitink, Herbert Blomstedt, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mariss Jansons, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Iván Fischer, Maxim Emelyanychev, Jakub Hrůša, Vladimir Jurowski, Manfred Honeck, Teodor Currentzis, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano, Lahav Shani, Paavo Järvi, and Yuri Temirkanov.

Highlights of the current season include her return to the Berliner Philharmoniker with Kirill Petrenko, as well as her much-anticipated debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Vilde is also embarking on international tours with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Klaus Mäkelä, London Symphony Orchestra with Antonio Pappano, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin with Robin Ticciati, Münchner Philharmoniker with Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra with Vladimir Jurowski. She is also embarking on a Bach cycle with the Kammerorchester Basel.

A keen and prominent chamber musician, Vilde regularly appears at the Lucerne Festival, BBC Proms, Verbier Festival, Lockenhaus Festival, George Enescu Festival, Salzburg Festival, and the Prague Spring International Music Festival. She also frequently performs in recitals at Carnegie Hall, Concertgebouw, Vienna Musikverein, Philharmonie Berlin, Tonhalle Zurich, and BOZAR Brussels, as well as in North America as part of the Vancouver Recital Series, Boston Celebrity Series, and San Francisco Performances. Vilde returns to the Wigmore Hall as artist-in-residence, where she will join forces with the early music ensemble Arcangelo. Later in the season, she will take part in chamber music performances with her close collaborators Lawrence Power, Valeriy Sokolov, Denis Kozhukhin, and Maximilian Hornung.

Vilde Frang is an exclusive Warner Classics artist, and her recordings have received numerous awards, including the Edison Klassiek Award, Diapason d’Or (Diapason Magazine), Deutsche Schallplattenpreis, Grand Prix du Disque, and two Gramophone Awards.

Born in Norway, Vilde was engaged by Mariss Jansons at the age of twelve to debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. She studied at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, with Kolja Blacher at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg and Ana Chumachenco at the Kronberg Academy.

Vilde performs on a 1734 Guarneri del Gesù, generously loaned to her by a European benefactor.

source: Askonas Holt