“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” In addition to being one of Jesus’s beatitudes, this verse is the opening line of Johannes Brahms’s German Requiem. This enthralling composition for soloists, choir, and orchestra immediately shows us that its focus is not on the dead, but rather on those who are alive and mourning the passing of their loved ones.

Brahms began composing Ein deutsches Requiem following the death of his mother, while also reflecting on the demise of his close friend, fellow composer Robert Schumann. Perhaps he wanted to come to terms not only with his personal loss, but also with the passing of the most eminent proponent of German Romanticism, a supremely gifted composer, journalist, and brilliant mind.

From the very beginning, Brahms kept Martin Luther’s German translation of the Bible close at hand, emphasising the motif of consolation throughout. He was also confident that his anguish would eventually wear off. The whole piece of music is suffused with humanism and has little in common with liturgy and praying for the dead.

This stunning work, which will leave audiences feeling spiritually uplifted, is part of the commemoration of the 190th anniversary of Brahms’s birth. This legacy will be presented by the resident orchestra of Dvořák Prague, conductor Sakari Oramo, soloists Anu Komsi and Christian Senn, as well as the Prague Philharmonic Choir.

“The Czech Philharmonic now played one of Dvořák’s finest symphonies with true passion, with a wide dynamic range and such dramatic effect that one might imagine that the composer himself sensed it. Semyon Bychkov deserves admiration for what he has uncovered in the score. With the precision and warmth that has always been this ensemble’s forte, he followed exquisitely on the interpretation of Dvořák's music presented by Václav Talich, one of the Czech Philharmonic's former chief conductors.”

aktualne.cz, 28 September, 2023

On 4 January, 1896, the 129-year-old Czech Philharmonic gave its first concert in the famed Rudolfinum Hall in the heart of Prague. Conducted by Antonín Dvořák, the programme featured the world premiere of his Biblical Songs Nos. 1 –5. Renowned for its definitive interpretations of the Czech repertoire, the orchestra also has a special relationship to the music of Brahms and Tchaikovsky – both friends of Dvořák – and to Mahler, who conducted the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 with the Czech Philharmonic in 1908.

As festivals, orchestras and presenters across the Czech Republic and Europe mark 2024 as the Year of Czech Music with performances of rarely played Czech repertoire together with popular favourites, Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic open the 129th season with two performances of Dvořák’s Piano Concerto paired with Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. The soloist, Daniil Trifinov, is one of three soloists who will join the orchestra in New York in December 2024 as part of Czech Week at Carnegie Hall. The orchestra will bring three programmes to New York which, in addition to the Piano Concerto, will feature Dvořák’s Cello Concerto with Yo-Yo Ma, and the Violin Concerto with Gil Shaham. The concertos will be paired with Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, three poem s from Smetana’s Má vlast and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass for which they will be joined by the Prague Philharmonic Choir.

During 2024’s Year of Czech Music, Jakub Hrůša, the Czech Philharmonic’s principal guest conductor, will lead the orchestra in less familiar works by Pavel Zemek Novák, Vladimír Sommer, Josef Suk, and Luboš Fišer. Hrůša will also join the Czech Philharmonic in a tour of summer festivals including the Elbphilharmonie Summer, Lucerne Festival, Rheingau Musik Festival, and the BBC Proms. Sir Simon Rattle, recently named principal guest conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, will conduct Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass as well as performances of Kurt Weill’s opera The Seven Deadly Sins. Returning to the orchestra during the 2024/2025 season are Tomáš Netopil, Giovanni Antonini, Ingo Metzmacher, Alain Altinoglu, and James Gaffigan, while Nathalie Stutz mann, Alan Gilbert, and Lukáš Vasilek will be making their debuts with the orchestra.

Over recent seasons, the focus of Semyon Bychkov’s work with the orchestra has turned to Mahler and a new complete symphonic cycle for Pentatone. The first two discs in the cycle, Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 and No. 5, were released in 2022, followed in 2023 by Symphonies No. 2 “Resurrection” and No. 1. Semyon Bychkov will follow up on his recent performance of Mahler’s Third Symphony with the Fifth and Eighth in our 2024/2025 season. Fifty years after the death of Dmitri Shostakovich, Bychkov will feature Shost akovich’s Cello Concerto and Symphony No. 5 on tour to Vienna, Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Bruges. Other major works conducted by Bychkov this season include Brahms’s Symphony No. 2, Schubert’s Symphony No. 2, Bach’s Mass in B minor, and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2. Mahler, who gave the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 with the Czech Philharmonic in 1908, was not the first composer of renown to conduct the Czech Philharmonic. Edward Grieg conducted the orchestra in 1906; Stravinsky performed his Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra under Václav Talich in 1930; Leonard Bernstein conducted the European premiere of Aaron Copland’s Symphony No. 3 at the Prague Spring Festival in 1947; Arthur Honegger conducted a concert of his own music in 1949; Darius Milhaud gave the premiere of his Music for Prague at the Prague Spring Festival in 1966; and, in 1996, Krzysztof Penderecki conducted the premiere of his Concerto for Clarinet and Chamber Orchestra.

Their names are joined by the many luminaries who have collaborated with the orchestra over the years: Martha Argerich, Claudio Arrau, Evgeny Kissin, Erich Kleiber, Leonid Kogan, Erich Leinsdorf, Lovro von Matačić, Ivan Moravec, Yevgeny Mravinsky, David Oistrakh, Antonio Pedrotti, Sviatoslav Richter, Mstislav Rostropovich, Gennady Rozhdestvensky, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, George Szell, Henryk Szeryng, Bruno Walter, and Alexander Zemlinsky. The Czech Philharmonic’s extraordinary and proud history reflects both its location in the very heart of Europe and Czech Republic’s turbulent political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast (My Country) is a potent symbol. The orchestra gave its first full rendition of Má vlast in 1901; in 1925 under chief conductor Václav Talich, Má vlast was the orchestra’s first live broadcast and, five years later, it was the first work that the orchestra committed to disc. During the Nazi occupation, when Goebbels demanded that the orchestra perform in Berlin and Dre sden, Talich programmed Má vlast as an act of defiance, while in 1945 Rafael Kubelík conducted the work as a concert of thanks for the newly liberated Czechoslovakia. In 1990, Má vlast was Kubelík’s choice to mark Czechoslovakia’s first free elections, a historic event which was recognised 30 years later when Bychkov chose the occasion of the first Velvet Revolution concert to perform the complete cycle at the Rudofinum. The orchestra marked the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth with the release of Má vlast conducted by Bychkov.

An early champion of Martinů’s music, the Czech Philharmonic premiered his Czech Rhapsody in 1919 and its detailed inventory of Czech music undertaken by Václav Talich included the world premieres of Martinů’s Half-Time (1924), Janáček’s Sinfonietta (1926) and the Prague premiere of Janáček’s Taras Bulba (1924). Rafael Kubelík was also an advocate of Martinů’s music and premiered his Field Mass (1946) and Symphony No. 5 (1947), while Karel Ančerl conducted the premiere of Martinů’s Symphony No. 6 Fantaisies symphoniques (1956). Martinů’s Rhapsody Concerto performed by Antoine Tamestit will be included in 2024’s Velvet Revolution Concert. Throughout the Czech Philharmonic’s history, two features have remained at its core: its championing of Czech composers and its belief in the power of music to change lives. Defined from its inauguration as an organisation for the enhancement of musical art in Prague, and a pension organisation for the members of the National Theatre Orchestra in Prague, its widows and orphans, the proceeds from the four concerts that it performed each year helped to support members of the orchestra who could no longer play and the immediate family of deceased musicians. As early as the 1920’s, Václav Talich (chief conductor 1919 – 1941) pioneered concerts for workers, young people and other voluntary organisations including the Red Cross, the Czechoslovak Sokol and the Union of Slavic Women, and in 1923 gave three benefit concerts for Russian, Austrian, and German players including members of the Vienna and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. The philosophy is equally vibrant today. Alongside the Czech Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Orchestral Academy, and Jiří Bělohlávek Prize for young musicians, a comprehensive education strategy engages with more than 400 schools. An inspirational music and song programme led by singer Ida Kelarová for the extensive Romany communities within the Czech Republic and Slovakia has helped many socially excluded families find a voice. As part of the Carnegie Hall residency in December 2024, four members of the Czech Philharmonic’s Orchestral Academy will travel to New York where they will join forces with four young musicians from the Carnegie Hall and four students from the Royal Academy of Music. The initiative is supported by the Semyon Bychkov Educational Enhancement Fund.

“The two orchestral works were truly the highlights of both concerts. The Czech Philharmonic lives this music with an infectious intensity. From the very first bar of the overture, it is palpable to what extent there is an inner tension, a special involvement and complicity. Everything adds to it. To begin with, the sound: full, round, with a timbre and a very special personality, a colour that is a seal of identity. It is one of the few orchestras whose sound has a different character.”

Scherzo, 15 October, 2023

source: Czech Philharmonic

Sakari Oramo is Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic after thirteen years of leading the orchestra as their Chief Conductor. A guest conductor at the highest international level and a prolific recording artist, his performances combine structural cohesion with authority, elegance and passionate delivery.

Guest engagements during the 2022/23 season include returns to the Berliner Philharmoniker, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, and Orchestra dell’Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia.

Engagements in the past season have included appearances with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Wiener Symphoniker, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Berliner Philharmoniker and NDR Elbhilharmonie Orchester.

In 2018, he conducted the European premiere of Brett Dean’s new Cello Concerto, performed by Alban Gerhardt with Berliner Philharmoniker. Oramo has most recently worked with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, Staatskapelle Dresden, Wiener Philharmoniker, Czech Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic and Helsinki Philharmonic orchestras.

2022/23 marks Oramo’s tenth season with the BBCSO. With this Orchestra, he continues to champion new and rarely performed works – including Dora Pejačević’s Symphony and Piano Concerto with Peter Donohoe, William Alwyn’s opera Miss Julie and Betsy Jolas’ Onze Lieder – presenting them alongside stalwarts such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah and Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto (with Håkan Hardenberger). The season also includes BBCSO’s Tour to Spain and performance at the Last Night of the Proms. Oramo is a regular conductor at the BBC Proms and during the summer of 2022 he conducted several with the BBCSO and Chorus – including the First Night of the Proms presenting Verdi’s Requiem.

Music Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra between 1998 and 2008, Oramo has served as Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Honorary Conductor since 2012, following a decade as their Chief Conductor. He was also the Principal Conductor of the West Coast Kokkola Opera from 2004 to 2018 and Principal Conductor of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra from 2013 to 2019. An accomplished violinist, Oramo was originally concertmaster of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. In 2014 he made his debut in the BBC Proms Chamber Music series, performing Prokofiev’s Sonata for Two Violins with Janine Jansen.

Recording successes include the BBC Music Magazine’s Orchestra award for Nielsen Symphonies Nos. 1 and 3 with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, which completes their highly acclaimed Nielsen cycle on the BIS label, and a Gramophone Award win in the 2019 Orchestral category for Rued Langgaard Symphonies Nos.2 and 6, and Jacob Gade’s Tango Jalousie with Wiener Philharmoniker and soprano Anu Komsi. Busoni’s Piano Concerto with Kirill Gerstein recorded with Boston Symphony Orchestra (Myrios) won the Audio and Video category at the 2020 ICMA awards. Other recent releases include the BBC Symphony Orchestra orchestral works by Sibelius (including the Lemminkäinen Suite), Rachmaninov Piano Concertos Nos.2 and 3 with Yevgeny Sudbin, and Florent Schmitt: Suites from 'Antoine et Cléopâtre' and Symphony No.2.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir was founded in 1935 by choirmaster and teacher Jan Kühn. Entering its 90th season, it is the oldest Czech professional choir. However, the choir has garnered international acclaim as a prominent ensemble as well. Recently, it has received particular recognition for its interpretation of its oratorio and cantata repertoire. Since 2007, the choir has been led by principal choirmaster and artistic director Lukáš Vasilek. Lukáš Kozubík serves as the second choirmaster.

Under the direction of Lukáš Vasilek, the choir has established itself as a highly respected partner of major orchestras. On the domestic scene, it has long collaborated primarily with the Czech Philharmonic and, in choral concerts, with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia. Internationally, its musical partners include the Berlin and Essen Philharmonics, the Vienna Symphony, the North German Radio Symphony Orchestra Hamburg, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir has gained valuable experience from its work with distinguished conductors, which recently has included Semyon Bychkov, Jakub Hrůša, Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Zubin Mehta, and Christoph Eschenbach. It also regularly participates in renowned music festivals such as Smetana’s Litomyšl, Prague Spring, Dvořák Prague and Prague Sounds. In recent years, the choir has played an active role on the international stage, serving as the resident choir for the Bregenzer Festspiele opera festival.

This season, the choir will be presenting three exclusive choral concerts. They were curated with a main focus on demanding and lesser-known choral pieces, such as a cappella or with instrumental accompaniment. Traditionally, it performs at concerts organised by Prague-based orchestras, but has been known to also visit other venues such as Ostrava. Internationally, the choir has performed in cities such as Dresden, Baden-Baden, Hamburg, and Bregenz.

In addition to its regular concert activities, the Prague Philharmonic Choir is engaged in educational projects. For young audiences, it has prepared a series of educational concerts specifically tailored for both schools and families with children. Their programme places strong emphasis on ensuring an enjoyable and actively engaging experience for children. Organised for voice students, the Prague Philharmonic Choir Academy offers a unique platform for young singers to engage in professional ensemble performances, participate in major musical projects, and gain experience working with leading artists.

The choir’s vocal qualities are evidenced, among other things, by its rich archive of recordings, which continues to grow with each season. The discography includes albums released by various record labels such as Pentatone, Decca Classics, Sony Classical, and Supraphon. The Prague Philharmonic Choir has also garnered recognition for its recording activities, receiving awards from the British Gramophone magazine and BBC Music Magazine, as well as the prestigious Diapason d’Or de l’Annèe award. The first gramophone recording, conducted by Václav Talich in 1952, featured Dvořák’s oratorio Stabat Mater; the most recent CDs, released in 2023, includes Mahler’s Symphony No.2 with the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov and the choir’s own album entitled Stravinsky, Janáček, Bartók: Village Stories.

The Prague Philharmonic Choir received the 2018 Classic Prague Award for Best Vocal Concert, the Czech Television Classics of the Year Award, and in 2022 the Antonín Dvořák Award for outstanding artistic merit, promotion, and popularisation of Czech music.

source: Prague Philharmonic Choir

Lukáš Vasilek is entering his 16th season as the principal choirmaster and artistic director of the Prague Philharmonic Choir. He applies his intricate talent for choral music in interpreting both a cappella repertoire and large cantata and oratorio works with instrumentation. In conducting the choir, he collaborates with renowned orchestras and conductors, both Czech and international.

With the Prague Philharmonic Choir, he has earned recognition especially for his excellent interpretations of extensive works by Mahler, Dvořák, and Janáček. The highlights of the choral concerts include Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem and Francis Poulenc’s Stabat Mater. His daring approach to concert dramaturgy is evident in the incorporation of unconventional choices, such as jazz spirituals in the programme.

He studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague and musicology at Charles University. He mainly returns to his original field of orchestral conducting in concerts of various choral series, where he has been working closely with the PKF – Prague Philharmonia for the past three years. He has conducted members of both the Czech Philharmonic and the Kiev Symphony Orchestra.

Lukáš Vasilek gained his first experience with choral singing as a member of the Boni pueri boys’ choir. His subsequent artistic journey led him to serve as the choirmaster of the Foerster Chamber Choir and later the National Theatre Choir. In 2022, he was a guest conductor of the French choir Accentus. In addition to the Prague Philharmonic Choir, he works with the vocal ensemble Martinů Voices, which he founded in 2010. With this ensemble, he primarily interprets chamber choral music spanning from the 19th to the 21st centuries. He is also a teacher at the Academy of Performing Arts, where he teaches choral conducting.

As a conductor and choirmaster, he has made a lasting impact through numerous recordings produced for major record labels such as Decca Classics and Supraphon. In recent years, his recordings of Bohuslav Martinů’s choral works have garnered international acclaim, earning awards from prestigious magazines such as Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine, and Diapason. His most recent CD with the Prague Philharmonic Choir was recorded in 2023. The album entitled Stravinsky, Janáček, Bartók: Village Stories encapsulates the rediscovered magic of folk songs and rituals in the compositions of these three 20th century masters.

source: Prague Philharmonic Choir

“The gleaming steel of Anu Komsi’s soprano cut through all of it, fearlessly communicative and utterly compelling, from whispered bottom of her voice to its stratospheric top.” (The Guardian, November 2020)

One of Finland’s foremost international singers, Anu Komsi’s versatility, technical skill and wide-ranging repertoire have earned her critical acclaim worldwide. Throughout her eminent career, she has worked with distinguished directors such as Pierre Audi, Barrie Kosky, Christoph Loy, Juho Kuosmanen and Lydia Steier, and leading conductors including Sir Roger Norrington, Sakari Oramo, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Alan Gilbert, Franz Welser-Möst, Peter Eötvös, Hannu Lintu, Andris Nelsons, Nicholas Collon, Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Dalia Stasevska.

2022/23 season highlights include Komsi’s return to Finnish National Opera as Queen of the Night Die Zauberflöte (which she also performs later in the season for Savonlinna Opera) and Mother-in-Law Innocence, Lindberg’s Accused with Gürzenich-Orchester Köln, the world premiere of Jukka Tiensuu’s Double Concerto for Violin and Soprano with Minna Pensola and Tapiola Sinfonietta, Strauss’ Four Last Songs with the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra and performances of Saariaho’s Saarikoski Songs with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo. She also appears in concert with Iceland Symphony Orchestra and the Helsinki Philharmonic.

Komsi has worked with many of the major opera companies and festivals around the world, including Opéra National de Paris, Lucerne and Salzburg Festivals and La Scala Milan, and important orchestras such as the Wiener Philharmoniker, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre de Paris, BBC Symphony Orchestra and the New York Philharmonic to name a few. Prominent engagements from the last seasons include Eva in Stockhausen’s Donnerstag aus Licht for Theater Basel (Komsi is still the only singer to have performed the role through its entire 6-hour duration); Catherine in Meyerbeer’s L'étoile du Nord for Kokkola Opera; Soprano in Sir George Benjamin’s Into The Little Hill, which she has sung on over fifty occasions across Europe and the US, most recently with Ensemble Modern at venues including Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and Wigmore Hall; Sibelius’ Luonnotar with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic; Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Wing on Wing with the NDR Elbphilharmonie under Alan Gilbert; her Boston Symphony Orchestra debut with the orchestral version of Saariaho’s Saarikoski Songs under Andris Nelsons; and Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments, which has been in Komsi’s repertoire for over thirty years, most recently performed at Kissinger Sommer Festival and CNDM Madrid. She has made many recordings, including Langaard’s Symphony No.2 (Wiener Philharmoniker/Sakari Oramo) and Saariaho’s Leino Songs (Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra/Sakari Oramo), which both garnered a Gramophone Award.

Founder, Artistic Director and later Managing Director of the West Coast Kokkola Opera Company for fourteen seasons, Komsi oversaw the Kokkola Opera summer festival which produced 25 full-scale opera productions, as well as over 100 concerts and events. A champion of new repertoire for the soprano voice, Komsi has commissioned and premiered a vast range of works, including Kaija Saariaho’s Saarikoski Songs; Christian Mason’s Man Made and Unsuk Chin’s Cantatrix Sopranica. She was awarded the Madetoja Prize by The Finnish Composers’ Society in 2020, and in 2021 was the recipient of the prestigious Erik Bergman Prize for her special achievements in performing and commissioning new vocal repertoire internationally.

Born in Chile, Christian Senn has been living in Italy since his youth. After taking a Master’s degree in Biology, he was admitted to the Academy for young singers at the Teatro alla Scala studying with Leyla Gencer, Luigi Alva and Vincenzo Manno.

He has collaborated with conductors such as Riccardo Muti, Riccardo Chailly, Antonio Pappano, Maurizio Benini, Maurizio Barbacini, Carlo Rizzi, Giovanni Antonini, Ottavio Dantone, Fabio Biondi, Roberto Rizzi Brignoli, David Parry, Rinaldo Alessandrini, Ton Koopman in many of the most renowned opera houses and venues around the word including La Scala, Theater an der Wien, Wiener Konzerthaus, Théâtre du Châtelet and Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Palau de la Música in Valencia, Teatro Regio Torino, Teatro del Maggio Musicale, La Fenice, Municipal Theatre of Santiago.

Christian is one of the most sought-after baritones for Bel Canto repertoire in Italy and abroad, performing numerous opera roles by Rossini, such as the title role in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Berlin, Tel Aviv, Milan, Venice, Turin, Florence, Palermo, Verona; Dandini (La Cenerentola) at the Israeli Opera Tel Aviv, Florence Opera, Teatro Petruzzelli Bari and Grange Festival; Taddeo (L’Italiana in Algeri) at Teatro Regio Torino, Versailles Royal Opera and Paris Théâtre des Champs-Elysées; Filiberto (Il Signor Bruschino), Germano (La Scala di seta) and Don Parmenione (L’Occasione fa il ladro) for the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. In the Donizetti repertoire he has been heard as Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) in Bergamo, Bari and Santiago de Chile; Belcore (L’Elisir d’amore) in Bologna; Biscroma Strappaviscere (Viva la Mamma) and Malatesta (Don Pasquale) both at La Scala. Christian debuted at the Opéra National de Paris with the role of Malatesta in a production conducted by Michele Mariotti and staged by Damiano Michieletto.

Mozart singer of the first order, Christian sang the title role in Don Giovanni in Florence and Santiago de Chile. He appeared as Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro) in Milan, Naples and Potsdam; Papageno (Die Zauberflöte) in Montpellier, Turin, Verona and Florence; Guglielmo (Così fan tutte) in Milan, Verona, Bergamo, Santiago de Chile. Among his Vivaldi roles are Astolfo in Orlando furioso with Jean-Christophe Spinosi at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées and the title role in Bajazet he has performed in major European capitals and in Japan with Europa Galante led by Fabio Biondi. Encounters with Handel embrace Pallante (Agrippina) under René Jacobs at the Berlin Staatsoper; for La Scala he took the stage as Leone (Tamerlano) alongside Placido Domingo and as Achilla (Giulio Cesare) in a Giovanni Antonini/Robert Carsen production. Christian also performed the title role in Porpora’s Polifemo at the Teater an der Wien.

Among his recent career highlights are Bach’s St Matthew Passion with Alessandro De Marchi at Theater Basel and at the Stresa Festival, and Beethoven’s 9th Symphony alongside Sakari Oramo/Wiener Symphoniker for the Vienna Konzerthaus.

For Naïve, Christian Senn has recorded a DVD with Rossini’s Pietra del paragone filmed at the Paris Théâtre du Châtelet, as well as two Vivaldi CDs, Tito Manlio and Dorilla in Tempe. His solo album “Bach - The Solo Cantatas for Bass” he recorded with La Barocca and Ruben Jais for the Glossa label, achieved great critical acclaim.

Recent and forthcoming engagements include Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette (Mercutio) at Teatro Petruzelli Bari, Cimarosa’s Matrimonio segreto (Count Robinson) under Attilio Cremonesi at the Potsdamer Winteroper and Mozart’s Così fan tutte (Alfonso) at The Grange Festival.

The Rudolfinum is one of the most important Neo-Renaissance edifices in the Czech Republic. In its conception as a multi-purpose cultural centre it was quite unique in Europe at the time of its construction. Based on a joint design by two outstanding Czech architects, Josef Zítek and Josef Schultz, a magnificent building was erected serving for concerts, as a gallery, and as a museum. The grand opening on 7 February 1885 was attended by Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria, in whose honour the structure was named. In 1896 the very first concert of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra took place in the Rudolfinum's main concert hall, under the baton of the composer Antonín Dvořák whose name was later bestowed on the hall.