For over a century, the Czech Philharmonic has established itself as one of the great orchestras of Europe and has represented the pinnacle of Czech cultural achievement. In 1896, Antonín Dvořák conducted the orchestra’s debut performance at the Rudolfinum, still home to the orchestra’s Prague concerts. Led by renowned conductor Semyon Bychkov, they will perform Dvořák’s Violin Concerto and Mahler’s iconic Symphony No. 5 for their Koerner hall debuts. 

Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov’s 2023-24 season started in Prague with the official concert to mark the Czech Republic’s Presidency of the EU and continued at the Dvořák Prague International Music Festival with concert performances of Dvořák’s Rusalka. Now in his seventh season, Bychkov’s relationship with the Orchestra has become noticeably deeper with extraordinary performances of the great Czech masters running in parallel with a much-acclaimed Mahler cycle, and memorable performances of Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, Strauss, Schumann, and Beethoven.

“Semyon Bychkov is a Mahler conductor of the first rank, who unreservedly brings out the extremes of this music.” (Concerti)

Czech violinist Jan Mráček began studying violin at the age of five and has performed as a soloist with the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra and Romanian Radio Symphony, both under Sascha Goetzel, Lappeenranta City Orchestra (Finland), Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK), Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra, and almost all Czech regional orchestras. “Mráček, gifted with phenomenal musicality, is able to give the content of every single phrase, every motif.” (Harmony Magazine)

Program: Antonín Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A Minor, op. 53 (B. 96/B. 108)

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 5 in C sharp Minor

With these concerts by the Czech Philharmonic and the performance by the ARC Ensemble on November 10, 2024, The Royal Conservatory is proud to celebrate the Year of Czech Music on the 100^th anniversary of this tradition.