As per tradition, in 2024, the Czech Philharmonic will perform at Dvořák’s Prague, Prague Spring and Smetana’s Litomyšl Festivals. The highlight of the Czech Philharmonic’s participation in the Year of Czech Music will be five concerts at New York’s famed Carnegie Hall featuring all Czech music. In spring 2025, the orchestra will embark on its now regular tour of the most famous concert halls in Europe.
Following the 129th season opening concerts, the Czech Philharmonic head to Bratislava’s Reduta Hall to perform its festive programme with Chief Conductor Semyon Bychkov. Opening with Dvořák’s Piano Concerto performed by this season’s Artist-in-Residence Daniil Trifonov, the second half features Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique.
Concerts by the Czech Philharmonic at the Dvořák Prague Festival are already a tradition. On this occasion, the first Czech orchestra tries to bring original dramaturgy and unusual artists to its home Rudolfinum. This year's three concerts will include works that pay tribute to the past and the classics, as well as to the present and technology.
As the summer comes to an end, the Czech Philharmonic heads on a festivals tour. This year’s highlights are two performances at the BBC Proms in London. The Orchestra will also be heard in Hamburg, Lucerne and Wiesbaden. Principal Guest Conductor Jakub Hrůša takes to the podium and is joined by Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Anastasia Kobekina and Mao Fujita.
In June, the Czech Philharmonic will bring to Dresden a programme consisting entirely of works by Bedřich Smetana. At the traditional Dresdner Musikfestspiele, the orchestra will play under the direction of its guest conductor Jakub Hrůša.
The national Smetana Litomyšl Festival is a partner festival of the Czech Philharmonic, and the leading Czech orchestra brings major concert programmes here each year. This time, the three evening concerts will be divided between the orchestra’s principal guest conductors Jakub Hrůša and Tomáš Netopil.
The year was 1946, and the very first Prague Spring international festival of classical music was taking place in Prague. The world-famous conductor Rafael Kubelík took the initiative in establishing the festival, and Dr. Edvard Beneš served as the festival patron, establishing a tradition that continues to this day.
In the spring, the orchestra will go on a tour of Spain, Austria, Germany, Belgium, and France. A total of 14 concerts will be performed in the most famous European halls: the Auditorio Nacional in Madrid, Vienna’s Konzerthaus, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, the Isarphilharmonie in Munich, and Paris’s Philharmonie.
After a 25-year absence, the Czech Philharmonic returns to the German spa town Baden–Baden, where it last appeared at the local Festspielhaus under the baton of Vladimir Ashkenazy in 1999. This time, they are bringing Gustav Mahler’s monumental Third Symphony. Looking forward to working with Semyon Bychkov is the outstanding Fleur Barron.
In past seasons, the participation of the Czech Philharmonic in a joint project with the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival has taken several forms. This year they are coming to the spa city with a programme from the Classical period that they will play under the baton of principal guest conductor Tomáš Netopil.
After a longish break caused by the Covid–19 pandemic, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov are heading back to Asia. Some of the concerts on this year’s tour have been rescheduled from their planned dates in 2021. The orchestra begins its tour with two concerts in South Korea, then it will appear in Japan eight times.
Czech Philharmonic concerts at the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival have become a tradition. On this occasion, the leading Czech orchestra attempts to bring original programming to its home venue the Rudolfinum and to attract special guest artists. Its three appearances this year will offer a major work for voices and orchestra.
At Romania’s biggest classical music festival, where the orchestra last appeared with the Romanian conductor Cristian Măcelaru in 2017, the Czech Philharmonic will now appear for a residency of two concerts. The conductor Manfred Honeck has prepared varied programmes for the concert hall known as the Athenaeum.
In recent years, Bad Kissingen has been a regular tour destination of the Czech Philharmonic. With its chief conductor Semyon Bychkov, the orchestra returns in July 2023 to give two concerts.
The Smetana Litomyšl Festival is the second oldest music festival in the Czech Republic and one of the largest regular classical music festivals in the country. The Czech Philharmonic will open the 65th anniversary year with a gala concert under the baton of conductor Tomáš Netopil.
Stabat mater by Antonín Dvořák, cantata for solos, mixed choir, and orchestra, is one of the most beautiful and powerful works among world musical compositions. The ambience of the Cathedral of the Divine Saviour in Ostrava and the rendering of conductor Tomáš Netopil will intensify the experience for sure.
Mahler’s symphonies appear not only in the recording schedule of the Czech Philharmonic or in its Prague season, but also on tour. At the Leipzig Gewandhaus Mahler Festival, the orchestra will play the Sixth Symphony, in which the composer attempted to depict his wife Alma. Leading the top Czech orchestra will be its chief conductor Semyon Bychkov.
The year was 1946, and the very first Prague Spring international festival of classical music was taking place in Prague. The former Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, Rafael Kubelík, took the initiative in establishing the festival, and Dr. Edvard Beneš served as the festival patron, starting a tradition that continues to this day.
In spring 2023 the Czech Philharmonic is going on tour to Graz, Vienna, Budapest, Zagreb, Aix-en-Provence, and Milan, where the orchestra last played at the Teatro alla Scala in 1962 under the baton of Karel Ančerl. This time, Semyon Bychkov will conduct, and the soloist for selected concerts is the pianist Seong-Jin Cho.
In 2021, the festival tradition Variations began as a joint project of the Czech Philharmonic and the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. This year the orchestra comes to the Karlovy Vary Municipal Theatre with the young chief conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Domingo Hindoyan.
A highpoint of the season will be the big tour in October to some of Europe’s most famous concert halls in conjunction with the Czech presidency of the Council of the EU. The orchestra will travel to Hamburg, Munich, Essen, Cologne, Luxembourg, Paris, and Brussels. Gautier Capuçon and Víkingur Ólafsson will be appearing as soloists.
Right after the opening concerts at the Rudolfinum, the Czech Philharmonic will present the same programme in Bratislava. The Georgian violinist Lisa Batiashvili will play Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, and the orchestra’s chief conductor Semyon Bychkov has chosen Strauss’s Alpine Symphony for the second half of the programme.
The Dvořák Prague festival has joined forces with the Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor Semyon Bychkov in order to jointly follow on from the previous activities of the festival’s Opera in Concert series with a performance of Dvořák’s operatic gem.
The Czech Philharmonic will perform on a unique floating stage on the Vltava River on the occasion of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union. In addition to Smetana's Vltava and Dvořák's Carnival, Janáček's monumental Glagolitic Mass, one of the most powerful sacred compositions ever, will be performed.
Summer festivals will open and conclude the tours of the Czech Philharmonic in its 127th season. In August 2022 the orchestra is headed for the Scottish city Edinburgh, where it will perform two different programmes, one with Czech music and the other with Mahler. Both concerts will be under the baton of the chief conductor Semyon Bychkov.
After a long break caused by the covid pandemic, the Czech Philharmonic will return to the Bad Kissingen. The orchestra will perform at the Kissinger Sommer music festival together with the holder of many international awards, violinist Isabelle Faust. Under the baton of conductor Petr Popelka, compositions by Czech composers will be performed.
In accordance with tradition, the Czech Philharmonic will conclude its 126th season with two appearances at the Smetana Litomyšl Festival. Leading it this time will be its principal guest conductor Jakub Hrůša. Joining them on the first evening will be the pianist Lukáš Vondráček.
