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Orchestra/Ensemble

Kammerorchester der Tschechischen Philharmonie

Czech Philharmonic

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The eská filharmonie (Czech Philharmonic) is an internationally renowned Czech symphony orchestra based in Prague.[1] The orchestra's principal concert venue is the Rudolfinum.

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 Dvoák 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 elanský, 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 during the principal conductorship of Václav Talich, who held the post from 1919 to 1931, and again from 1933 to 1941. In 1941, Talich and the orchestra made a controversial journey to Germany, where they performed Bedich Smetana's My Country in a concert enforced by the German offices.[1]

Subsequent chief conductors included Rafael Kubelík (1942-1948), Karel Anerl (1950-1968), Václav Neumann (1968-1989), Jiri Belohlavek (1990-1992), Gerd Albrecht (1993-1996), Vladimir Ashkenazy (1996-2003), Zdenk Mácal (2003-2007),[2] and Eliahu Inbal (2009-2012). In the wake of the Velvet Revolution, the orchestra reorganised in 1991 and controversially voted to appoint Gerd Albrecht its new chief conductor and to dismiss Blohlávek. Instead of remaining until Albrecht's accession, Blohlávek resigned from the orchestra in 1992.[3] In December 2010, the orchestra announced the reappointment of Blohlávek as chief conductor, beginning in 2012,[4] with an initial contract of 4 years.[5]

Past principal guest conductors of the orchestra have included Sir Charles Mackerras. Manfred Honeck is the orchestra's current principal guest conductor.

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

Honours and awards

The Czech Philharmonic has won many 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 tpán, Zdenk Mácal and Václav Neumann (1971 and 1982)( Supraphonline ). It was voted 20th place of the top 20 best orchestras in the world in a 2008 survey by Gramophone magazine.[6]

Chief Conductors

  • 1901-1903 Ludvík elanský
  • 1903-1918 Vilém Zemánek
  • 1919-1931 Václav Talich
  • 1933-1941 Václav Talich
  • 1942-1948 Rafael Kubelík
  • 1950 Karel ejna
  • 1950-1968 Karel Anerl
  • 1968-1989 Václav Neumann
  • 1990-1992 Jií Blohlávek
  • 1993-1996 Gerd Albrecht

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 ernuák, Gracián (ed.); tdro, Bohumír; Nováek, Zdenko (ed.) (1963). eskoslovenský hudební slovník I. A-L, Prague: Státní hudební vydavatelství. (Czech)
  2. Matthew Westphal, Angry Over Bad Review, Conductor Zdenek Mácal Abruptly Quits Czech Philharmonic, Playbill Arts, 2007-09-11. URL accessed on 2007-09-13.
  3. John Rockwell, Czech Philharmonic Faces Perilous Times In Dividing Country, New York Times, 1992-12-30. URL accessed on 2012-03-24.
  4. {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}
  5. Blohlávek to become Czech Philharmonic's chief conductor in 2012, Prague Daily Monitor, 2010-12-23. URL accessed on 2012-03-24.
  6. Ben Hoyle, LSO is only British orchestra in list of worlds best, Times Online, 2008-11-21. URL accessed on 2009-01-23.

Sources

  • (Czech) Sláma, Frantiek (2001). 'Z Herálce do angrilá a zase nazpátek ("From Heralec to Shangrila and Back Again"), íany: Orego.
  • (Czech) Karel Mlejnek (1996). 'eská filharmonie', Prague: Paseka.
  • (Czech) Vladimír efl (1971). 'eská filharmonie', Prague: Czech Philharmonic.
  • (Czech) Václav Holzknecht. 'eská filharmonie. Píbh orchestru', Prague: SHN.

External links

This page was last modified 07.05.2014 14:29:20

This article uses material from the article Czech Philharmonic from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.