Vzhledem k posledním vládním opatřením a po zvážení výhledu na příští týdny a měsíce jsme se s těžkým srdcem rozhodli zrušit tento slavnostní koncert, na kterém měl při příležitosti předání Ceny Antonína Dvořáka významné operní pěvkyni Gabriele Beňačkové vystoupit tenorista Piotr Beczała a další umělci. Je nám neobyčejně líto, že ani naše pohotová reakce a přeložení koncertu z původního dubnového termínu na prosinec celou událost neuchránila. Držitelé platných vstupenek mohou požádat o vrácení vstupného, případně přispět na vzdělávání mladých umělců ponecháním vstupného pořadateli.

Vrácení vstupného: Do 31. 12. 2020 můžete požádat o vrácení vstupného prostřednictvím formuláře na webu společnosti Colosseum Ticket.

Podpora řady Pro budoucnost v roce 2021: V případě, že jste se rozhodli pro tuto variantu, stačí odeslat e-mail na adresu info@colosseumticket.cz. Ten by měl obsahovat jednoduché čestné prohlášení, že chcete uhrazené vstupné ponechat pořadateli. Dále je třeba uvést jméno a příjmení, termín a název představení a také číslo vstupenky (11místné číslo). Všechny takto získané finanční prostředky budou pořadatelem využity na podporu řady Pro budoucnost v rámci mezinárodního hudebného festivalu Dvořákova Praha v roce 2021.

Věříme, že naše rozhodnutí pochopíte. Předem Vám také děkujeme za pomoc a věříme, že se v roce 2021 opět setkáme v koncertních sálech za příznivějších okolností.

 Gabriela Beňačková: Stříbrný hlas pro celý svět číst.

The Polish tenor Piotr Beczała is one of the world’s top singers in his vocal category. His brilliant career began in 1996 at the Landestheater in Linz, and a year later he became a member of the opera ensemble in Zurich. In April 2004 he made his Covent Garden debut. Two years later he presented himself for the first time in Milan at La Scala as the Duke in Verdi’s Rigoletto, and thereafter he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the same role. Another important milestone of his artistic career came in 2009 when he stood in for Rolando Villazón at the last moment for a performance of Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor, which was broadcast live worldwide as part of the Metropolitan Opera’s “Live in HD” project. He is also a successful concert artist with a repertoire ranging from Mozart and Haydn to Schubert, Schumann, Dvořák, and Brahms. He has already appeared several times in the Czech Republic: in April 2014 in a recital at the Municipal House in Prague, in June 2016 in Ostrava, and twice in February 2017 as the Prince in Dvořák’s Rusalka at Prague’s National Theatre.

The outstanding Czech pianist and teacher Ivan Klánský is a graduate of Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts. Already at an early stage of his artistic career, he became a laureate of prestigious international competitions (Bolzano 1967, Naples 1968, Leipzig 1968, Warsaw 1970, Barcelona 1970, Fort Worth 1973, Santander 1976). He gives concerts regularly in Europe, Asia, Australia, the USA, and South America, and his total number of performances is approaching five thousand. He is also a sought-after chamber music partner, and his name has long been associated with the superb Guaneri Trio Prague. Along with his activities as a performer, he is exceptionally successful as a teacher. He has been a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague since 1983 and head of the Department of Keyboard Instruments since 1997. Since 1991 he has been a professor at the Lucerne School of Music, and he has led master classes in Dublin (1982–1986) and Bad Sulgau (since 1997). He was awarded the Antonín Dvořák Prize in 2017.

As a performer of unusual emotional power and depth, Ivo Kahánek has earned a reputation as one of the most impressive artists of his generation. He takes ample advantage of his talent to establish instant emotional ties with the public in works ranging from the Baroque to the modern eras, with the Romantic era representing the bulk of his repertoire. Abroad, he is also regarded as a specialist in the interpretation of Czech music.

In 2004, he was the overall winner of the Prague Spring International Music Competition, and before that he had already won many important competition prizes at both home and abroad (the Maria Canals Piano Competition in Barcelona, the Vendome Prize in Vienna, the Stiftung Tomassoni Wettbewerb in Cologne, the Fryderyk Chopin International Competition in Mariánské Lázně, Concertino Praga etc.).

Following successful debuts at the Beethovenfest in Bonn and at the Prague Spring Festival, he received an invitation from the BBC Symphony Orchestra to appear at London’s BBC Proms in Royal Albert Hall, where in August 2007 he played Bohuslav Martinů’s Fourth Piano Concerto (“Incantation”) under the baton of Jiří Bělohlávek, which was broadcast live by BBC television and radio and by Czech Radio Vltava. That critically acclaimed debut is available from the German label Deutsche Grammophon as a digital download. It is no wonder that Sir Simon Rattle chose Ivo Kahánek for two appearances with the Berlin Philharmonic in November 2014, which were enthusiastically received by music critics and the general public. The young pianist became just the second Czech pianist (after Rudolf Firkušný) to appear with that world-famous orchestra in its history. Ivo Kahánek also performs regularly with the Czech Philharmonic, and he has made successful appearances with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra in Glasgow, the Essener Philharmoniker, the WDR Orchestra in Cologne, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonia, the Brno Philharmonic, and many other orchestras. Just a few of the other artists with whom he has collaborated include conductors Semyon Bychkov, John Eliot Gardiner, Jakub Hrůša, Andrés Orozco-Estrada, Rafael Payare, Pinchas Steinberg, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Tomáš Netopil, Andrey Boreyko, Libor Pešek, and Zdeněk Mácal, violinist Daniel Hope, cellist Alissu Weilerstein, violist Paul Neubauer, the Pavel Haas Quartet, the Tetzlaff Quartet, soprano Martina Janková, and tenor Pavel Černoch. In 2018, he won the Classic Prague Award for solo performance of the year.

In 2007, Ivo Kahánek signed an exclusive contract with the label Supraphon Music, and since then he has recorded 15 CDs of music by such composers as Frédéric Chopin, Antonín Dvořák, Leoš Janáček, Bohuslav Martinů, Gideon Klein, Miloslav Kabeláč, Jean Francaix, and Jacques Ibert. For his recording of piano concertos by Antonín Dvořák and Bohuslav Martinů accompanied by the Bamberg Symphony under the baton of Jakub Hrůša, he earned the prestigious BBC Music Magazine Award. That CD also won other important honours: recording of the month of the BBC Music Magazine, Choix de Classique HD, recording of the week on BBC Radio 3, an Angel Award in the Classical category, and a nomination from the International Classical Music Awards. For his album of songs by Bohuslav Martinů with Martina Janková and Tomáš Král, Ivo Kahánek also won a coveted Diapason d’Or from the French music journal Diapason and was named the choice of the month by the journals Opernwelt and Opera News. His latest important recording is the complete piano works of Antonín Dvořák on 4 CDs, which also received an International Classical Music Awards nomination in late 2021, earned the highest rating in the journals Gramophone and Diapason, and like his previous CD, won an Angel Award in the Classical category. He also makes recordings for Czech Radio, Czech Television, and the television station Mezzo.

Ivo Kahánek is a graduate of the Janáček Conservatoire in Ostrava and of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He also made a study visit to London’s Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has taken part in masterclasses led by Karl-Heinze Kämmerling, Christian Zacharias, Alicia de Larrocha, Imogen Cooper, Peter Frankl, and other instructors. At present he is teaching at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and is leading piano masterclasses at the Summer Music Academy in Kroměříž and at the Prague Conservatoire Piano Courses.

The renowned Czech pianist Jan Simon graduated from Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts under the guidance of Ivan Moravec, and he further his studies in Zurich and Lübeck. He has won a number of prizes at prestigious international competitions, including the Prague Spring Competition and the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels. He collaborates regularly with top orchestras (including the Czech Philharmonic, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Israel Philharmonic), conductors (Gaetano Delogu, Jiří Bělohlávek, Vassily Sinaisky, Libor Pešek), and soloists (Josef Suk, Václav Hudeček, Jiří Bárta, Wolfgang Emanuel Schmidt). He has so far appeared in most European countries, Egypt, the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, and China. He has made numerous acclaimed recordings, and his recording of Schulhoff’s piano concertos won the ’95 Cannes Classical Award. From 2001 to 2015 he was the executive director of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, and at present he is the programming director of the Dvořák Prague Festival.

David Mareček graduated as a pianist and conductor from the Brno Conservatory under Ivana Stanovská and Evžen Holiš. He continued his piano studies at the Janáček Academy of Performing Arts with Inessa Janíčková and Jaroslav Smýkal. He participated in masterclasses given by important pianists and teachers such as Karl-Heinz Kämmerling, Dominique Weber, Peter Lang, Pierre Jasmin, and Walter Groppenberger. He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, Asia, and North America. Mareček has played as a soloist with the Brno Philharmonic, the Moravian Philharmonic Olomouc, and the North Bohemian Philharmonic in Teplice. From 2003 to 2015, he taught solo piano at the Brno Conservatory. In 2007, he became the director of the Brno Philharmonic, and since February 2011, he has been the general director of the Czech Philharmonic.

As a chamber musician, he works with Alisa Weilerstein, Michaela Fukačová, Jiří Vodička, Jan Martiník, Jan Mráček, Ivo Kahánek and the Zemlinsky, Dover, and Jerusalem quartets. In 2021, he recorded a recital with Alisa Weilerstein for Czech Television with Czech and French music. In August 2024, he and Jiří Vodička released the complete works by Antonín Dvořák for violin and piano with Supraphon.

Founded in 1934, the Prague Symphony Orchestra (FOK) is a leading Czech ensemble with an impressive tradition and international reputation, which enriches the concert life of the Czech metropolis and represents Prague and Czech culture abroad at the highest level. As the official orchestra of the City of Prague, it is based and performs in the attractive space of Smetana Hall of the Municipal House. The abbreviation FOK stands for Film - Opera – Koncert, which was the orchestra’s original focus.

Tomáš Brauner has been Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra since the 2020/2021 season. Prior to him, Rudolf Pekárek, Václav Smetáček, Jiří Bělohlávek, Petr Altrichter, Gaetano Delogu, Serge Baudo, Jiří Kout, and Pietari Inkinen held this post. Tomáš Netopil has been designated Chief Conductor from the 2025/2026 season. Rita Chepurchenko and Roman Patočka are the orchestra’s first violinists.

The orchestra has maintained its artistic reputation and respect throughout its existence by working with internationally renowned conductors (Václav Talich, Rafael Kubelík, Karel Ančerl, Sir Georg Solti, Seiji Ozawa, Walter Süsskind, Zubin Mehta, Kurt Masur, Carlos Kleiber, Sir Charles Mackerras, Charles Dutoit, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Leonard Slatkin, Michel Plasson, Neeme Järvi, Krzysztof Penderecki, Christoph Eschenbach, Eliahu Inbal, Yan Pascal Tortelier, Paavo Järvi, Richard Hickox, Andrey Boreyko, Helmuth Rilling, Jac van Steen, and others); instrumental soloists (David Oistrach, Isaac Stern, Josef Suk, Rudolf Firkušný, Sviatoslav Richter, Claudio Arrau, Ivan Moravec, Garrick Ohlsson, Maurice André, Mstislav Rostropovich, Mischa Maisky, Martha Argerich, Heinrich Schiff, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Sergei Nakariakov, Elisabeth Leonskaja, Vadim Repin, Pinchas Zukerman, Felix Klieser, Lukáš Vondráček, Maxim Vengerov, and others) and vocalists (Kim Borg, Katia Ricciarelli, Gabriela Beňačková, José Cura, Anne Sofie von Otter, Peter Dvorský, Edita Gruberová, Thomas Hampson, Ruggero Raimondi, Philip Langridge, Renée Fleming, Bernarda Fink, Linda Watson, Eva Urbanová, Simon O'Neill, and others).

Each season, the Prague Symphony Orchestra plays over fifty orchestral concerts in Prague. Before the season opens, the orchestra meets its audience at a traditional free open-air concert in the Wallenstein Garden.

The Prague Symphony Orchestra has performed in most European countries, as well as repeatedly in the United States, and has also visited South America, Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Turkey, Israel, Oman, China, and other countries. In August 2022, it made its debut at the Elbe Philharmonic in Hamburg. In 2023, the orchestra performed in Austria, Germany, and Hungary. Traditional tour destinations include Japan and South Korea, which the orchestra visited in January 2024.

The orchestra's long tradition is documented by its extensive catalogue of gramophone, radio and television recordings, and the most interesting archival recordings have been made available online. The orchestra recorded the music for most Czech films in the 1930s. Under the baton of its chief conductor, Tomáš Brauner, the Prague Symphony Orchestra has recently recorded Dvořák's Slavonic Dances, works by Karel Husa, including the legendary Music for Prague 1968, and piano concertos by Sergei Rachmaninov with Lukáš Vondráček.

The FOK brand is also associated with the organisation of chamber concerts. Prague audiences have become very fond of the Chamber Music and Early Music series at the Church of St. Simon and St. Jude. The FOK also traditionally organises a series of piano recitals in Dvořák Hall at the Rudolfinum, the chamber concert series Pictures and Music at Agnes Monastery, and music and literary programmes in the Word and Music series at the Viola Theatre.

source: FOK

Italský dirigent a klavírista Marco Boemi je znám jako specialista na operní repertoár s neobyčejně širokým záběrem počínaje jevištními díly Mozartovými přes autory italského belcanta Belliniho, Donizettiho a Rossiniho až po opery Wagnera, Verdiho, Bizeta, Pucciniho, Strausse, Gershwina a mnoha dalších. Vystupuje v celé řadě renomovaných operních domů evropských metropolí (Řím, Milán, Mnichov, Paříž, Budapešť, Lisabon, Helsinky, Varšava, Moskva) i na mnoha prestižních koncertních pódiích, mezi něž patří např. Queen Elizabeth Hall v Londýně, vídeňský Musikverein, amsterdamský Concertgebouw či Suntory Hall v Tokiu. Mezi mnoha operními sólisty, s nimiž dosud spolupracoval, patří taková jména jako Lucianno Pavarotti, Anna Netrebko, Piotr Beczała, Vittorio Grigolo, Renato Bruson, Katia Ricciarelli, Edita Gruberová či Neil Shicoff. Pořídil řadu nahrávek pro vydavatelství Decca, Universal a Philips.