Czech Philharmonic • London

“Highly esteemed, dear friend! I am constantly thinking about you and remembering you with gratitude”, wrote Josef Suk to the conductor Karel Kovařovic in January 1907. “It is truly brilliant how you bring everything to life; everything is filled with spirit, and none of the other conductors [...] have so much feeling for the beauty of sound and shading.” The letter was sent from Berlin, where the Bohemian Quartet was on tour. Meanwhile in Prague, the orchestra of the National Theatre was preparing for the premiere of Suk’s Asrael Symphony under Kovařovic’s baton. Suk also asked that the announcements in the press report that the symphony was dedicated to the memory of Antonín Dvořák, who had died on 1 May 1904, and of Dvořák’s daughter Otilie, who had become Suk’s wife and died soon after her father on 6 July 1905. The dedication “to the exalted memory of Dvořák and Otilie” was printed in the first edition of the score. 

The composer named the symphony after the angel of death Azrael, a figure who appears in Eastern religions. A few years earlier, Suk had composed incidental music to Julius Zeyer’s fairy tale Radúz and Mahulena (1898) and music for the same poet’s dramatic legend Under the Apple Tree (1901). The subjects of both works and Suk’s musical treatment of them can be seen to foreshadow Asrael. A recollection may have led to associations with the angel of death and the choice of the title. Between 1890 and 1900, the National Theatre was giving performances of the operatic legend Asrael by the Italian composer Alberto Franchetti (1860–1942), who was for a time a competitor of Giacomo Puccini. The action takes place between heaven, earth, and hell, and it is the story of the love of two angels, Nefta and Asrael. Their love is ruined by the fallen angel Lucifer, whom Asrael must serve. Nefta descends to earth, and in the form of a nun she overcomes evil and fights for Asrael’s return to heaven. The public was fascinated with Orientalism and poetic symbolism in those days, and that helped the production get 60 performances in Prague, an unusually high number. Although we have nothing to document that Suk ever saw it, he could hardly have failed to notice the frequent discussions of the work and its descriptions in the press and in public forums.

Suk’s five-movement composition is divided into two parts. The first three movements are a remembrance of Dvořák, and the main idea is a fate motif that is heard initially in the first movement and that permeates the symphony. The second theme is derived from it, and another idea is a remembrance of happy times. Death announces itself in the next movement, then it carries off its victim in the third movement, which draws melodic material directly from Dvořák’s Requiem, among other things. The second part of the symphony belongs to Otilie, and in it a fervent song of love is disturbed by another tragic loss. Like Gustav Mahler’s symphonies, this is a programmatic symphony with content that is not formulated in words—everything is said by the dedication to two beloved persons. The premiere of the Asrael Symphony took place on 3 February 1907 at an afternoon concert of the orchestra of the National Theatre led by Karel Kovařovic. The other work on the programme was Dvořák’s Te Deum (the concert was repeated on 24 February). In describing the effect the symphony had on him, the music critic Emanuel Chvála concluded: “As a confession from life, this intimate work is of great value overall as an artistic statement. [...] It is our country’s most modern composition, and let us hope that it will become one of our most enduring works”. The symphony was performed again on 7 January 1912 with Vilém Zemánek leading the Czech Philharmonic augmented by players from the orchestra of the National Theatre. This was the first concert of the Czech Philharmonic in the newly built Municipal House. Then on 17 October 1919 the Asrael Symphony was heard with the same orchestra for the first time under the baton of Václav Talich, in whom the work found a congenial interpreter. Over the years, Talich gave the symphony more than 20 performances including one in 1922 while guest conducting in Vienna and another while working in Stockholm. He recorded the symphony with the Czech Philharmonic in 1952.

“When I was about six or seven, my grandma wasn’t feeling well, and there was a tense atmosphere at home. I remember getting everybody out of her room, closing the door, and starting to play a piece I had just learned. That was the moment I realized that one can say more with music than with the words,” recalls cellist Anastasia Kobekina, who has gained international renown not only for her technique and distinctive musicality, but also for her charismatic presence both on and off the concert stage. She was born into a Russian musical family—her mother was a pianist and her father a composer—so the path to music was completely natural for her. She chose the cello herself after attending a concert by Natalia Gutman at the age of three and a half. “I want to play this instrument!” she declared at the time. She thus began learning the cello at just four years old and enjoyed giving home concerts for her parents. At eighteen, she left to study in Germany, first at the Kronberg Academy, where she studied under Frans Helmerson, and then at the Universität der Kunste in Berlin (Jens-Peter Maintz). She further developed her playing skills in France – at the Paris Conservatory with Jerome Pernoo and at the Frankfurter Hochschule with Kristin von der Goltz (baroque cello).

She made a name for herself among audiences and organizers primarily through awards from major performance competitions, such as the International Tchaikovsky Competition and the Enescu Competition; we certainly also took note of her among the semifinalists of perhaps the world’s most prestigious competition, the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. Between 2018 and 2021, she was invited to join the “BBC New Generation Artist” program, which helps young, talented emerging artists establish themselves. A recipient of the Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award and the Leonard Bernstein Award, she now performs in major concert halls (the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, Lincoln Center) and at festivals—in 2023, for example, she opened Dvořák Prague with the Zurich Tonhalle Orchestra and Paavo Järvi. She also collaborates with renowned conductors and orchestras. The Czech Philharmonic recently joined this list, with Kobekina becoming part of its tour in the summer of 2024. Under the baton of Jakub Hrůša, she made her debut at the BBC Proms. This significant year, which also saw the release of her debut album “Venice” (Kobekina records exclusively for Sony Classical), can now be relived by listeners through the documentary “Jetzt oder nie!”, filmed by the German broadcaster ARD.

Her latest album from 2025 features the complete set of Bach’s six cello suites; she subsequently performed this work in the spring of 2026 in Berlin as part of the multi-genre project Bach Cello Dance, where she shared the stage with the acclaimed choreographer and dancer Sasha Waltz.

She already has some experience with Bryce Dessner’s work—she recorded two of his compositions for solo cello, Tuusula and Song for Ainola, which became part of Dessner’s album Solos (released in 2024). His music speaks to her, and she enjoys not only its emotional depth but also a certain rock edge; Dessner, in turn, admires her playing skills and her character. “In such difficult times, both culturally and politically, it’s wonderful that there is such a positive person with a clear mind,” Dessner adds in her regard.

Born in the Czech Republic, Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony, Music Director Designate of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden (Music Director from 2025), and Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. He was also formerly Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra.

He is a frequent guest with the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Vienna, Berlin, Munich and New York Philharmonics; Bavarian Radio, NHK, Chicago and Boston Symphonies; Leipzig Gewandhaus, Lucerne Festival, Royal Concertgebouw, Mahler Chamber and The Cleveland Orchestras; Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, and Tonhalle Orchester Zürich. He has led opera productions for the Salzburg Festival (Káťa Kabanová with the Vienna Philharmonic in 2022), Vienna State Opera, Royal Opera House, and Opéra National de Paris. He has also been a regular guest with Glyndebourne Festival and served as Music Director of Glyndebourne On Tour for three years.

His relationships with leading vocal and instrumental soloists have included collaborations in recent seasons with Daniil Trifonov, Mitsuko Uchida, Hélène Grimaud, Behzod Abduraimov, Anne Sofie Mutter, Lisa Batiashvili, Joshua Bell, Yefim Bronfman, Rudolf Buchbinder, Gautier Capuçon, Julia Fischer, Sol Gabetta, Hilary Hahn, Janine Jansen, Karita Mattila, Leonidas Kavakos, Lang Lang, Josef Špaček, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Yuja Wang, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Alisa Weilerstein and others. 

As a recording artist, Jakub Hrůša has received numerous awards and nominations for his discography. Most recently, he received the Opus Klassik Conductor of the Year 2023 prize and the ICMA prize for Symphonic Music for his recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4, and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik for his recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 4, both with Bamberg Symphony. In 2021, his disc of Martinů and Bartók violin concertos with Bamberg Symphony and Frank Peter Zimmermann was nominated for BBC Music Magazine and Gramophone awards, and his recording of the Dvořák Violin Concerto with the Bavarian Radio Symphony and Augustin Hadelich was nominated for a Grammy Award. 
 
Jakub Hrůša studied at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where his teachers included Jiří Bělohlávek. He is President of the International Martinů Circle and The Dvořák Society. He was the inaugural recipient of the Sir Charles Mackerras Prize, and in 2020 was awarded both the Antonín Dvořák Prize by the Czech Republic’s Academy of Classical Music, and – together with Bamberg Symphony – the Bavarian State Prize for Music.