29. 6. 2024 • Petr Kadlec
It was 30 years ago at the age of 76 that Rafael Kubelík returned to Czechoslovakia from the exile into which he had departed in the summer of 1948. Because of his health, he had not been conducting since the mid-1980s, but freedom in his native country had the effect of living water, and he decided to take up the conductor’s baton once again.
Read article
26. 4. 2024 • Philharmonious
In the podcast Philharmonious, Czech Philharmonic chief conductor Semyon Bychkov recalls the magical moment when he first heard Mahler’s music as a boy. Now, 60 years later, he is preparing to record Mahler’s complete symphonies with the Czech Philharmonic. He finds that the orchestra and Mahler are a good fit because of their shared roots and also because of the orchestra’s legendary sound. “When I hear the warmth of the orchestra’s sound, I feel and hear their enormous heart. It always brings me joy.”
Read article
30. 11. 2022 • Adéla Dražanová
Let me begin with a brief comment. It is very, very difficult to do an interview with Semyon Bychkov. Semyon is a truly fantastic storyteller. Whether you have an hour, two hours, or (just theoretically) a whole day, it is never enough. You want more. By the second or third question, you find that the world around you has vanished, and all that exists is Semyon’s world. And it does not matter whether the maestro is telling you about his childhood in Leningrad or about conducting in Vienna.
Read article
26. 4. 2021 • Adéla Dražanová
He says music is his life, and his life is music. And that is natural, because he is one of the world’s best conductors and a phenomenon that hardly bears comparison. Nonetheless, in the text that follows, there is not much to read about music as such. The life story of Semyon Bychkov, chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, is so fascinating, and he is so wonderful at telling it, that in the course of a two-and-a-half hour interview, we (almost) did not get around to talking about music.
Read article
21. 1. 2021 • Michaela Vostřelová
Semyon Bychkov is half way through his five-year term as the Artistic Director of the Czech Philharmonic. He says that he has never experienced such hard times with any of his previous orchestras. Besides cancelled concerts, postponed recording plans and cautious outlook for the future, there are still composers who write new music for the Czech Philharmonic. And this was the main focus of our interview.
Read article
18. 10. 2019 • Alena Sojková
The chief conductor and artistic director of the Czech Philharmonic Semyon Bychkov has thrown himself energetically into his second season in Prague. After the opening programme including Shostakovich’s Eighth Symphony, in October there will be three performances of Smetana’s Má vlast (My Homeland) as part of Subscription Series B. Performing this iconic work in the course of a season is unusual, but Semyon Bychkov has reasons for doing so. The interview that follows will cover this and other questions.
Read article
30. 9. 2019 • Ondřej Čížek
You enter the time machine and let it take you to the distant as well as recent past. You find yourself in the musical heart of Prague and meet the fabulous conductor Leonard Bernstein. You experience his excellent rise in the years 1946 and 1947 and his magnificent return in June 1990. This all in the presence of the Czech Philharmonic. It is a fascinating story full of healthy nostalgia, musical brilliance, diverse emotions, and details and moments which will (perhaps) never occur again. Enjoy it.
Read article
2. 3. 2018 • Jana Orlová
They play music all day, and when they want to relax in their spare time, they... play music. This is a common feature of chamber ensembles of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, which since the summer of 2017 have been presented to the general public in Suk Hall of the Rudolfinum.
Read article
27. 10. 2017 •
"But you know, ladies and gentlemen, after this kind of appeal, after this kind of introduction, after everything that I lived with these people on stage where there were moments of such indescribable beauty on that stage that you say to yourself how beautiful it is to be alive and to receive it. And when that appeal comes to you, there is no other choice but to accept gratefully and try to imagine how you can make sure that the world always recognises this Orchestra as a treasure."From the speech of Semyon Bychkov
Read article