Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

The 2008/2009 season is the 113th concert season of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Czech Philharmonic’s very first concert took place on 4 January 1896 in the Rudolfinum and was conducted by Antonín Dvořák. Before the Chief Conductor’s baton was taken up by the first internationally known conductor, Václav Talich, in 1919, the orchestra was directed by Ludvík Čelanský and Vilém Zemánek, as well as, briefly, by Oskar Nedbal. Talich’s great personality was succeeded by other outstanding conductors such as Rafael Kubelík (1942-1948), Karel Ančerl (1950-1968) and Václav Neumann (1968-1990). During the 1990s, the position of Chief Conductor was passed in succession to Jiří Bělohlávek, Gerd Albrecht and Vladimir Ashkenazy, who directed the orchestra until the end of the 2002/2003 season. From the beginning of the 2003/2004 season until 8 September 2007 Zdeněk Mácal held a position as the tenth Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.

In the 113th season there is no Chief Conductor; some of his powers and duties are exercised by the Principal Guest Conductor Manfred Honeck. The post of the Chief Conductor from the concert season 2009/2010 has been accepted by Eliahu Inbal.

Ever since the time of Ančerl’s leadership, the Czech Philharmonic has typically been faced with an extensive travel itinerary that has taken in all the continents. This was also hold true during the 112th concert season, when in addition to concerts in Europe the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra traveled to the USA and Japan. In the 113th season the Czech Philharmonic will tour Spain, Germany and Switzerland under direction of Manfred Honeck as well as France, Switzerland and Belgium under Zdeněk Mácal. Traditionally the season will close with the Czech Philharmonic at the festival in Bad Kissingen, where it will perform under Juraj Valčuha and Lawrence Foster.

Of the latest CDs released by the orchestra, recordings made for the Japanese market have recently met with unprecedented acclaim. Zdeněk Mácal and the Czech Philharmonic have been working with Octavia Records to progressively record the complete symphonies of Antonín Dvořák, Gustav Mahler, P. I. Tchaikovsky and Johannes Brahms. The set of Dvořák symphonies conducted by Zdeněk Mácal is almost finished. With Manfred Honeck the Czech Philharmonic continuously records symphonies of Anton Bruckner also for Octavia Records. In the concert season 2007/2008, the Czech Philharmonic recorded symphonies of Robert Schumann under Lawrence Foster for the label Pentatone. Bělohlávek’s previous recording of Martinů’s Third and Fourth Symphonies for Supraphon was nominated for the prestigious Grammy Award in 2004. In 2005, the Czech Philharmonic’s live recording of Mahler’s Third Symphony conducted by Zdeněk Mácal won the Recording of the Year award in Japan. The orchestra makes most of its recordings in the perfect acoustical environment of the Rudolfinum’s Dvořák Hall.