Czech Philharmonic

Česká filharmonie
Origin	Prague, Czech Republic
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Symphony orchestra
Years active	1896-present
Website	www.ceskafilharmonie.cz
Members
Chief conductor Eliahu Inbal
Past members
Founder Antonín Dvořák

Czech Philharmonic logo

The Česká filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is a symphony orchestra based in Prague and is the best-known and most respected orchestra in the Czech Republic.^[1]

History

The name "Czech Philharmonic Orchestra" appeared for the first time in 1894, as the title of the orchestra of the Prague National Theatre.^[1] It played its first concert under its current name on January 4, 1896 when Antonín Dvořák conducted his own compositions, but it did not become fully independent from the opera until 1901. The first representative concert took place on October 15, 1901 conducted by Ludvík Čelanský, the first artistic director of the orchestra.^[1] In 1908, Gustav Mahler led the orchestra in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7. The orchestra first became internationally known under the baton of Václav Talich, who was principal conductor from 1919 to 1931, and again from 1933 to 1941. In 1941 Talich together with Czech Philharmonic made a controversial journey to Germany, where they performed the cycle of symphonic poems My Country by Bedřich Smetana. The concert was enforced by the German offices.^[1]

Subsequent chief conductors included Rafael Kubelík (1942–1948), Karel Ančerl (1950–1968), Václav Neumann (1968–1989), Jiri Belohlavek (1990–1992), Gerd Albrecht (1993–1996), Vladimir Ashkenazy (1996–2003), and Zdeněk Mácal (2003–2007).^[2] In February 2008, the orchestra announced the appointment of Eliahu Inbal as its next chief conductor, effective with the 2009-2010 season.^[3] In December 2010 it was announced that Jiří Bělohlávek would take up the post again in 2012.^[4] Principal guest conductors of the orchestra have included Sir Charles Mackerras, a noted Czech music specialist, and currently Manfred Honeck.

The Czech Philharmonic's first phonograph recording dates from 1929, when Václav Talich recorded the Smetana´s My Country for His Master's Voice.

Wiener Flötenuhr 1971

Honours and awards

The Czech Philharmonic has won many prestige awards, ten Grand Prix du Disque de l'Académie Charles Cros, five Grand Prix du disgue de l'Académie française and several Cannes Classical Awards. The Czech Philharmonic was nominated for Grammy Awards in 2005, and also two Wiener Flötenuhr awards, with Pavel Štěpán, Zdeněk Mácal and Václav Neumann (1971 and 1982). It was voted 20th place of the top 20 best orchestras in the world in a 2008 survey by Gramophone magazine.^[5]

Premiere of Antonín Dvořák's Piano Concerto in G minor op.33, Czech Philharmonic conducted by Václav Talich

Chief Conductors

1901-1903 Ludvík Čelanský 1903-1918 Vilém Zemánek 1919-1931 Václav Talich 1933-1941 Václav Talich 1942-1948 Rafael Kubelík

1950 Karel Šejna 1950-1968 Karel Ančerl 1968-1989 Václav Neumann 1990-1992 Jiří Bělohlávek 1993-1996 Gerd Albrecht

1996-2003 Vladimir Ashkenazy 2003-2007 Zdeněk Mácal 2009–present Eliahu Inbal

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Černušák, Gracián (ed.); Štědroň, Bohumír; Nováček, Zdenko (ed.) (1963). Československý hudební slovník I. A-L. Prague: Státní hudební vydavatelství. pp. 203.  (Czech)
2. ^ Matthew Westphal (2007-09-11). "Angry Over Bad Review, Conductor Zdenek Mácal Abruptly Quits Czech Philharmonic". Playbill Arts. http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/7047.html. Retrieved 2007-09-13. 
3. ^ Rosie Johnston (2008-02-22). "Eliahu Inbal - the new chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic". Radio Praha. http://www.radio.cz/en/issue/101182. Retrieved 2008-02-26. 
4. ^ "Šéfdirigentem České filharmonie bude Jiří Bělohlávek" (in Czech). ČTK. ČeskéNoviny.cz. http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/zpravy/sefdirigentem-ceske-filharmonie-bude-jiri-belohlavek/573071. Retrieved 26 January 2011. 
5. ^ Ben Hoyle (2008-11-21). "LSO is only British orchestra in list of world’s best". Times Online (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article5201584.ece. Retrieved 2009-01-23. 

References

• (Czech) Sláma, František (2001). Z Herálce do Šangrilá a zase nazpátek ("From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again"). Říčany: Orego. ISBN 80-86117-61-8. 

• (Czech) Karel Mlejnek (1996). Česká filharmonie. Prague: Paseka. 

• (Czech) Vladimír Šefl (1971). Česká filharmonie. Prague: Czech Philharmonic. 

• (Czech) Václav Holzknecht. Česká filharmonie. Příběh orchestru. Prague: SHN. 

External links

• Česká filharmonie official site
• František Sláma (musician) Archive: More on the History of the Czech Philharmonic between the 1940s and the 1980s. Reminiscences - Photographs - Sound Archive. Sections Czech Philharmonic Conductors, Part 1-3, Czech Philharmonic Instrumentalists. Václav Talich's players and the younger CPO generations, Czech Philharmonic in Documents
• Film of Czech Philharmonic in rehearsal
• Václav Talich recording Dvorak Slavonic Dances with the Czech Philharmonic in 1955 More about this recording