Czech Philharmonic, T. Netopil, B. Giltburg • Dvořák Prague Festival

The Moscow-born, Israeli pianist is lauded across the globe as a deeply sensitive, insightful and compelling musician.

He made his debut at the Dvořák’s Prague festival in 2019 and returned to the festival in 2021 as the curator of the chamber music series. He has performed with leading orchestras such as the Czech Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, Santa Cecilia di Roma and WDR Symphony. He regularly gives recitals in the world’s most prestigious halls and has a long-standing collaboration with the Pavel Haas Quartet.

Giltburg has been exclusive to Naxos Records since 2015, releasing award-winning discs of a wide range of repertoire. In 2020 Giltburg recorded and filmed all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas across the year, blogging about the process as it unfolded. The cycle was released on Naxos on all the major digital platforms and subsequently as a boxed set, with the complete Beethoven piano concerti to come (Royal Liverpool Philharmonic/Vasily Petrenko).

Giltburg engages audiences well beyond the concert hall. His blog “Classical music for all” is aimed at a non-specialist audience, and he complements it with articles in major publications and with regular streamings which attract a substantial audience.

An inspirational force, particularly in Czech music, Tomáš Netopil was Principal Guest Conductor with Czech Philharmonic from 2018-2024 performing regularly on tour and at concerts in the Rudolfinum Hall in Prague where he continues to conduct the orchestra’s New Year concerts which are live televised. In 2023/2024 season, Tomáš Netopil conducted opera productions including Janáček’s Jenůfa at the Hamburg Staatsoper and Dvořák’s Rusalka at the Prague National Theatre as well as symphonies with Frankfurt Opera Orchestra, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, Naples Philharmonic and Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra.

Opera productions in the 2024/2025 season include Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito at the Grand Théâtre de Genève, Die Zauberflote with the New National Theatre Foundation, Tokyo and Don Giovanni with Oper Köln. Netopil explores a wide range of symphonic repertoire in engagements with Oslo Philharmonic, Antwerp, Kuopio and Sydney Symphony Orchestras, Hong Kong Sinfonietta and Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia. This season sees a welcome return to L'Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo as well as a debut with Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire. Another return is to Concentus Musicus Wien which builds on his work with period ensembles. As part of the Prague Spring Festival, Netopil will delight audiences with an authentic production of Mozart’s Requiem.

Seven years ago, Tomáš Netopil created the International Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž offering students both exceptional artistic tuition and the opportunity to meet and work with major international musicians. In summer 2021, in association with the Dvořák Prague Festival, the Academy established the Dvořákova Praha Youth Philharmonic with musicians from conservatories and music academies, coached by principal players of the Czech Philharmonic. Tomáš Netopil has held a close relationship with the Dvořák Prague Festival for some time and was Artist-in-Residence in 2017, opening the Festival with Essen Philharmoniker and closing the Festival with Wiener Symphoniker in Dvořák’s Te Deum. 

Tomáš Netopil’s discography for Supraphon includes Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass (the first ever recording of the original 1927 version), Dvořák’s complete cello works, Martinů’s Ariane and Double Concerto, and Smetana’s Má vlast with the Prague Symphony Orchestra with whom he’ll become Chief Conductor and Music Director from 2025/2026 season. During his tenure in Essen, his releases included recordings of Suk Asrael and Mahler Symphony Nos. 2, 3 6 and 9. 

From 2008-2012 Tomáš Netopil held the position of Music Director of the Prague National Theatre. He studied violin and conducting in his native Czech Republic, as well as at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm under the guidance of Professor Jorma Panula. In 2002 he won the 1st Sir Georg Solti Conductors Competition at the Alte Oper Frankfurt.