ABOUT THE BRNO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
AN INTRODUCTION
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the oldest and finest orchestras in Europe. Conveniently situated near Prague, Vienna, Bratislava and Budapest it has long enjoyed a reputation for attracting some of the best musicians from these regions. The orchestra is a full-size symphony orchestra with over 100 full-time members and has its own concert space, rehearsal room and recording studio in its beautiful home at the heart of Brno's old town.
HISTORY
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra in the Czech Republic has an illustrious history of music making, its beginnings dating back to the 1870s when its first predecessor, the Czech Symphony Orchestra, was established under the auspices of Leos Janaček and housed in the purpose-built Besedni dům, the present orchestra's magnificent home. Formed in 1956 after the merger of the Radio Orchestra and the Brno Region Symphony Orchestra, the Brno Philharmonic has long been regarded as one of the finest orchestras in Europe.
THE BRNO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA IN ITS HOMETOWN
The orchestra gives around 40 concerts annually in pleasant ambience and excellent acoustics of Besedni dum, as well as presenting a regular concert series in the Janaček Theatre (around 25 concerts a year). The orchestra performs frequently in towns and cities throughout the country, making regular appearences at prestigious Czech festivals such as the Prague Spring, the Ema Desting Festival in Česke Budejovice, the Česky Krumlov International Music Festival, the Janaček May in Ostrova, the Moravian Autumn in Brno, the Prague Autumn and the Smetana festival in Litomysl.
TOURING
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra went on its first foreign tour in 1956 and has since given well over 700 concerts throughout Europe, as well as in the USA and the Far East. These have included appearances on some very prestigious occasions. In 2000, for example, the orchestra went to the Vatican and performed at a concert for the Pope to celebrate his eightieth birthday. In 2004, Toyota, the giant Japanese car manufacturer, selected the BPO from among orchestras all over the world to perform its annual "Toyota Classics" concert series, the Philharmonic playing in Singapore, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea, Hong Kong and the Philippines. More recently, it had the honour of performing at the prestigious Rheingau Festival in German in 2005, and, in the same year, at the well-known Klubhaus Konzerte in Switzerland, the latter engagement including concerts at the Kultur Casino in Bern, the Victoria Hall in Geneva, the Tonhalle in Zurich, the Stadtcasino in Basel and the Tonhalle in St. Gallen. Future plans include an appearance at Vienna's prestigious Musikverein and a tour of Japan.
CONDUCTORS
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has collaborated with a number of distinguished conductors. These include Aleksandar Marković (the orchestra's current principal conductor), Petr Altrichter, Karel Ancerl, Jiri Belohlavek, Sir Charles Mackerras, Kurt Masur, Yehudi Menuhin, Vaclav Neumann, Libor Pesek, Arild Remmereit and Michel Swierczewski.
SOLOISTS
The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has also thrived on musical parterships with a number of exceptional soloists: Radek Baborak, Yefim Bronfman, Bernarda Fink, Gidon Kremer, Wilhelm Kempff, John Lill, Dagmar Peckova, Julian Rachlin, Shizuka Ishikawa, Sviatoslav Richter and Eva Urbanova, to name but a few.
RECORDINGS AND THE CZECH RADIO PARTNERSHIP
The orchestra has recorded extensively with Supraphon, a record company boasting a long and distinguished history, and which is the largest and most prestigious in the Czech Republic. It has also made a number of high-quality recordings with Sony Music, IMG Records and BMG, as well as with a number of other well-known record labels, including Bayer Records, Boosey and Hawkes, Conifer Records (now BMG), Reference Recordings and Music Sales Ltd.The Brno Philharmonic Orchestra and Czech Radio began to collaborate in 1956, when the orchestra was formed and this relationship has continued up until the present day.
THE BRNO PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA AND LEOS JANACEK
There can be little doubt that the Brno Philharmonic has changed considerably since its establishment in 1956. What gives it its highly individual character, however, is its relationship to Leos Janacek. It frequently performed his compositions as early as the 1950s, at a time when the composer was thought of as inaccessible. Since then, the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has given well over three hundred performances of his works, at concerts both in the Czech Republic and abroad. It has also recorded Janacek's complete symphonic and cantata works. This is why the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra has so often been labelled as "Janacek's orchestra".
THE CZECH PHILHARMONIC CHOIR PARTNERSHIP
A number of recordings by the BPO feature the Czech Philharmonic Choir, one of the finest professional choirs in the country. Indeed, the BPO also partners the same choir in live concerts at home and abroad.
THE KANTILENA CHILDREN'S CHOIR
This exclusive choir is the winner of a number of international choir competitions. It was formed in 1956 and has collaborated with the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra since 1984. Some of the more recent collaborations include a performance of Carl Orff's Carmina Burana at the International Music Festival Spilberk 2001, and performances of Antonin Dvorak's Biblical Songs and Bohuslav Martinu's Bouquet of Flowers.