Pianist András Schiff starts each day with a rendition of Bach, and in his own words, it is different every time. Piano Concerto No. 1 in D Minor by Johann Sebastian Bach will be the first piece performed at the concert by this originally Hungarian virtuoso. As well as playing the piano, he will be conducting the Czech Philharmonic.

For quite some time now, Sir András Schiff has needed no introduction among the music-loving public. Two years ago, as the Dvořák Prague festival’s Artist-in-Residence, he enthralled audiences as a pianist and conductor of the first Czech orchestra. However, his performance this year, despite having the same line-up, will be different – just as Bach’s music is different each time it is played . Over the course of one evening, he will perform two piano concertos: Bach’s Piano Concerto No. 1 and Mozart’s Concerto No. 27 in B flat Major. To conclude the evening, he will be conducting Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E flat Major, as known as the Eroica.

Schiff argues that music and politics are inextricably linked, even though these pieces were written by composers who have long been dead. The heroic symphony begins with a military fanfare motif, reminiscent of a call to arms. However, the funeral march in the second movement serves to reminds us that an egoistic obsession with unlimited power can also lead to great downfalls.

“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

Sir András Schiff was born in Budapest in 1953. He received his first piano lessons at the age of five by Elisabeth Vadász. He later continued his studies at the Franz Liszt Academy in Budapest with Prof. Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág and Ferenc Rados and with George Malcolm in London.

Piano recitals are an important part of his activity, especially the cyclical performances of the piano works of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann and Bartók. Since 2004, Sir András Schiff has performed the complete cycle of Ludwig van Beethoven's piano sonatas in chronological order in more than 20 cities. Their live recordings from the Zurich Tonhalle on CD (ECM) received the highest awards.

For his recording “Ghost Variations” with works by Robert Schumann (ECM), Sir András Schiff received the International Classical Music Award 2012 in the category Solo Instrument. Recording of the year. A duo CD together with his wife Yuuko Shiokawa (violin) with works by J. S. Bach, F. Busoni and L. van Beethoven was released in autumn 2017 and a recording with piano works by F. Schubert in 2019.

His most recent recordings are from the last two years: A chamber music edition in collaboration with clarinettist and composer Jörg Widmann includes the two clarinet sonatas op. 120 by J. Brahms as well as the Intermezzi for piano composed by J. Widmann and dedicated to Sir András Schiff. The latest recording with a recording of the two piano concertos by J. Brahms on a Blüthner piano with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment was released in 2021.

In 2017 his book “Music Comes from Silence”, essays and conversations with Martin Meyer, was published by Bärenreiter and Henschel.

Sir András Schiff performs with most of the internationally important orchestras and conductors. One of his main focuses is on performances of the piano concertos of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven under his direction. In 1999 he founded his own chamber orchestra, the Cappella Andrea Barca, which he works with closely as conductor and soloist, as he does with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Sir András Schiff has been a passionate chamber musician since his early youth. From 1989 to 1998 he directed the Musiktage Mondsee, a chamber music festival that received high international recognition. Together with Heinz Holliger, he held the artistic direction of the Ittinger Pfingstkonzerte at Kartause Ittingen, Switzerland, from 1995 to 2013. Since 1998, the concert series Omaggio a Palladio has been held at the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza under the direction of Sir András Schiff.

In the spring of 2011 Mr Schiff attracted attention because of his opposition to the alarming political development in Hungary and in view of the ensuing attacks on him from some Hungarian Nationalists, decided not to perform again in his home country. Sir András Schiff has been awarded several international prizes. He was recognised for his exceptional standing as a Beethoven interpreter in June 2006 by being elected an honorary member of the Beethoven-Haus Bonn. In September 2008 Sir András Schiff received the Wigmore Hall Medal for his 30 years of musical activity. Sir András Schiff is also the recipient of the 2011 Robert Schumann Prize of the City of Zwickau. In January 2012, the artist was awarded the Golden Mozart Medal of the International Mozarteum Foundation. The following June, he received the “Order pour le mérite for Sciences and Arts”. In the same year he was appointed as an honorary member of the Wiener Konzerthaus and as a Special Supernumerary Fellow of Balliol College (Oxford, UK). Sir András Schiff was awarded the Grosse Verdienstkreuz mit Stern of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2012. In December 2013, he received the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society in London for his outstanding musical work, the highest award of this society. In July 2014, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Leeds and in March 2018 by His Royal Highness Prince Charles as President of the Royal College of Music.

In June 2014, he was appointed Knight Bachelor by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to music. Since December 2014, Sir András Schiff has been an honorary citizen of the city of Vicenza. In June 2022, Sir András Schiff was awarded the Bach Medal of the City of Leipzig as “one of the most important Bach interpreters of our time”.

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.