Czech Philharmonic • Variations

Concertos are always challenging for composers. If they are not themselves virtuosos on the instrument in question, they can seldom do without an instrumental advisor. The famed virtuoso Joseph Joachim was just such a partner for Brahms and Dvořák when they composed their violin concertos, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky also needed a consultant.

Tchaikovsky composed his Violin Concerto in D Major in March 1878 in the Swiss village Clarens, not far from Montereux, with a view of the summit of Mont Blanc hovering in the distance beyond Lake Geneva. Tchaikovsky was staying there thanks to his altruistic patroness, Nadezhda von Meck, who sent him there for convalescence. At the time, the composer was going through one of his most severe mental crises related to his sexual orientation, an absolute social taboo at the time. He had tried to deal with his clandestine homosexuality in June of 1877 by marrying his pupil Antonina Ivanovna Miliukova, but their union did not last long—the couple separated after just two months. Tchaikovsky viewed the debacle of his marriage as a personal failing, and he welcomed the opportunity to escape the harsh judgment of Russian society, finding temporary “asylum” in Switzerland. After a while, his pupil Josif Kotek, with whom the composer shared a bond of special affection, came to visit him there. Kotek was, of course, a violinist first and foremost (he was studying with Joachim in Berlin at the time), and he brought his violin with him to Clarens. Almost immediately, Tchaikovsky regained the peace of mind he had long been lacking, and his creative invention was restored—he finished his Violin Concerto within a month. He sent the work to Nadezhda von Meck, and she wrote to him on 29 May 1878: “The Canzonetta is truly marvellous. There is such poetry and desire in those veiled sounds, in those mysterious tones!“

Although Kotek had participated in the entire creative process and knew the solo part by heart, Tchaikovsky did not entrust the premiere to him because of the societal considerations mentioned above. In the first printed edition, the composer dedicated the work to Leopold Auer, the supreme authority on violin playing in Russia at the time. Auer, however, wanted to revise the solo part himself, and Tchaikovsky did not go along with the idea. Ultimately, the work had to wait three years for its premiere in Vienna, where Adolf Brodsky played it with the Vienna Philharmonic under the baton of Hans Richter. The Prague native Eduard Hanslick, a famed Viennese critic, panned the concerto, writing that, for example, the third movement had been written under the influence of vodka… This time, however, Hanslick was wrong—Tchaikovsky’s work has become one of the best known and most popular violin concertos in all of music history.

As is typical for a concerto, the work is laid out in a three-movement structure with a fast-slow-fast sequence. The first movement, Allegro moderato, is based on two beautifully melodic themes, and the soloist gets to demonstrate virtuosity in an amazing cadenza. The second movement, Andante, has a simple, lyrical melody full of nostalgia and tenderness. (Originally, the concerto was to have had a different second movement; Tchaikovsky later used that music in his Souvenir d’un lieu cher.) Its idyllic title Canzonetta (little song) cannot conceal that the music is a deeply personal utterance: the wistful theme with which the soloist answers a gentle orchestral introduction is an expression of deep depression. It is, in fact, the Canzonetta that places the concerto alongside the series of great works that mirror the composer’s inner life. The third movement, Allegro vivacissimo, is a supremely virtuosic piece. The music of the concerto is light and refreshing, and the composer employs transparent orchestration with a minimum of special effects. Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D Major is not ponderously complicated – it just captivates listeners with its lovely, poignant melodies, and that is also probably the reason for its enormous popularity.

The Czech violinist Jan Mráček was born in Pilsen and began studying violin at the age of five with Magdaléna Micková. From 2003 he studied with Jiří Fišer, graduating with honours from the Prague Conservatory in 2013, and then at the University of Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna under the guidance of the Vienna Symphony concertmaster Jan Pospíchal.

As a teenager he enjoyed his first major successes, winning numerous competitions, participating in the master classes of Maestro Václav Hudeček – the beginning of a long and fruitful association. He won the Czech National Conservatory Competition in 2008, the Beethoven’s Hradec International Competition with the Dvořák concerto and the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra in 2009, was the youngest Laureate of the Prague Spring International Festival competition in 2010 and in 2014, he was awarded first prize at Fritz Kreisler International Violin Competition. When the victory of Jan Mráček was confirmed, there was thunderous applause from the audience and the jury. The jury president announced, “Jan is a worthy winner. He has fascinated us from the first round. Not only with his technical skills, but also with his charisma on stage.”

In 2011, he became the youngest soloist in the history of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra. He has also performed as a soloist with world’s orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony, Symphony of Florida, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Romanian Radio Symphony, and others. In June 2026, he will also perform with the Belgrade Philharmonic Orchestra. He also performs with a wide range of Czech ensembles. Jiří Bělohlávek first brought him on as guest concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, where he has served as principal concertmaster since the 2018/2019 season. In this role, he has performed, for example, with the European Union Youth Orchestra on a summer tour in 2015 under the baton of conductors Gianandrea Noseda and Xian Zhang; he has also appeared as a guest concertmaster with the Berlin Philharmonic and the Cleveland Orchestra.

In 2008 he joined the Lobkowicz Piano Trio, which was awarded first prize and the audience prize at the International Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria in 2014. In early 2026, they performed at the Antonín Dvořák Memorial to mark the 130th anniversary of the Czech Philharmonic’s first concert. Together with violinist Jiří Vodička, who is also the concertmaster of the Czech Philharmonic, they created the project “Two Masters, One Stage,” in which they can be heard in musical dialogue in works for two violins at various venues across the Czech Republic.

His recording of the Dvořák’s Violin concerto and other works by this Czech composer under James Judd with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra was recently released on the Onyx label and has received excellent reviews. He is currently preparing a CD recording featuring works by Suk, Mendelssohn, and Schubert.

In 2021, he was awarded the Jiří Bělohlávek Prize at the Czech Philharmonic’s Open-Air concert. Jan Mráček plays a 1770 Nicolò Gagliano violin, which was loaned to him by the Dutch Fidula Foundation. 

Petr Altrichter is one of the most distinguished Czech conductors, and he has earned an illustrious reputation for the dynamism and depth of his interpretations of symphonic music. He was raised in a musical family and played musical instruments from a young age. Having graduated from the Conservatory in Ostrava as a French horn player and conductor, he continued his studies at the Janáček Academy of the Performing Arts in Brno in orchestral conducting under Otakar Trhlík and František Jílek and choral conducting with Josef Veselka and Lubomír Mátl. After completing his studies in Brno, he worked as a choirmaster and conductor with the Brno Academic Choir, and contributed to the winning of many prizes at foreign choral competitions and festivals (Middlesbrough, Debrecen…).

Altrichter attracted international attention in 1976, when he won second prize and a special prize of the jury at the renowned International Conducting Competition in Besançon, France. Based on this achievement he began to work with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra as an assistant of Václav Neumann, which started his artistic career. Not long after that, he began to receive invitations to conduct orchestras abroad. After working with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, in 1988 he became the principal guest conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and in 1991 he was appointed its chief conductor. With that orchestra, he made frequent foreign tours to Japan, the USA, Switzerland, Germany, France, and other countries. At the same time he also closely collaborated with the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, with which he often gave performances abroad introducing many gifted young soloists (such as Isabelle van Keulen and Radek Baborák).

From 1993 to 2004 he also worked as the Music Director of the Südwestdeutsche Philharmonie in Constance, Germany, with which he gave concerts regularly at the Tonhalle in Zurich and at the KKL in Lucerne, and also toured Switzerland and Italy. Having made his U.K. debut with the Prague Symphony Orchestra at the Edinburgh Festival in 1990, Petr Altrichter made his London debut with the English Chamber Orchestra 1993. He then conducted the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra in 1994 to a great critical acclaim. He was subsequently appointed its Principal Conductor, a post he held from 1997 until 2001. With this orchestra he appeared at the 2000 BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall and made several highly-praised recordings on the orchestra’s own label, RLPO live.

In 2001 Altrichter was invited to become the Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and he remained there for seven years, returning to the orchestra with which he had been associated since his student days and which he continues to guest conduct up to this day. He is also a regular guest of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he has maintained a steady artistic relationship since his beginnings there as an assistant conductor, and of the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, with which he recorded an award-winning CD with Antonín Dvořák’s music. Since the 2018/2019 season, he has been a permanent guest conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, with whom he has been working for many years.

In 2015 he toured Germany with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, and in late 2015 and early 2016, he toured China with the same orchestra. At the beginning of the 2017/2018 season, he conducted the Czech Philharmonic at the Dvořák Prague International Festival and later toured very successfully in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan with the same orchestra. In the spring of 2017 he toured Japan with the Prague Symphony Orchestra. In 2018 he toured the United Kingdom with the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In May 2019 he will be touring with the Czech Philharmonic in China.

Altrichter has appeared as a guest conductor with many leading international orchestras, including Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. In the United Kingdom he has collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The orchestras he has guest conducted also include the Bruckner Orchestra in Linz, the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra in Baden-Baden, the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra in Riga, the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Danish Orchestra in Copenhagen and the Odense Symphony Orchestra.

He is a frequent guest at festivals such as Prague Spring, Janáček May in Ostrava, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Moravian Autumn in Brno, and the Bratislava Music Festival. He has made guest appearances at major festivals in Salzburg, Edinburgh, Avignon, Athens, Cheltenham, Paris, Madrid, Chicago, Zurich, Lucerne, Seville, Palermo, and elsewhere.

The bulk of Petr Altrichter’s repertoire consists of Czech music (Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček, and Bohuslav Martinů), Russian music (especially Dmitri Shostakovich), and the works of Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner. Outstanding soloists and performers from around the world (Garrick Ohlsson, John Lill, Tabea Zimmermann and others) value his flexibility in leading orchestral accompaniments, and they seek out collaboration with him.