T6. FILARMÓNICA CHECA/BYCHKOV/FUJITA “La Danza”

Gramophone Orchestras of the Year 2024, is one of the main orchestras in the world. In its 131st season, it combines its musical tradition and expands its projection through tours, residencies and recordings.

During the Czech Music Year 2024, the orchestra and its Chief and Musical Director, Semyon Bychkov, offered a three-day residency at Carnegie Hall. That same year Má vlast by Smetana, won the 2025 Orchestral Award of BBC Music Magazine. Alongside the Czech repertoire, the orchestra has a long relationship with composers such as Brahms, Chaikovski and Mahler that has resulted in a series of reference recordings, including The Tchaikovsky Project (2019) and a cycle of Mahler symphonies (2026). An upcoming release includes Symphonies No. 5 and 7 by Shostakóvich.

In Prague they inaugurate their 131st season with Violin Concerto No. 1 by Shostakóvich, with their Resident Artist Janine Jansen, alongside the Seventh Symphony by Dvořák. They have a tour to Stockholm, Helsinki and Lucerne, and residencies in London, Vienna and Hamburg. In Prague, the orchestra performs at the Rudolfinum and at important festivals, including Dvořák Prague, Prague Spring, Smetana Litomyšl and, for the first time, Janáček Brno.

With Bychkov, the repertoire includes Má vlast and works by Mussorgski, Ravel, Adams, Strauss, Glanert and Britten, as well as a special focus on Rachmaninoff. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, performed with the Prague Philharmonic Choir, will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the composer's death in 2027.

The appointed Chief and Musical Director Jakub Hrůša and Principal Guest Conductor Sir Simon Rattle return along with guest conductors such as Vasily Petrenko, David Robertson, Elim Chan, Maxim Emelyanchev and Daniel Harding. Among the guest soloists are Yuja Wang, Behzod Abduraimov, Mao Fujita, Yunchan Lim, Seong-Jin Cho, Radek Baborák and Kirill Gerstein. The resident composer of the 131st season of the Czech Philharmonic is Thomas Adès, and the resident artist, Janine Jansen.

Its history reflects its location and the complex political past of the country. Pioneering in the dissemination of the music of Martinů and Janáček, it offered its first concert in 1896 with a programme dedicated to Dvořák and conducted by the composer himself. Alongside its commitment to Czech creators, its educational programmes involve more than 400 schools throughout the country, supporting young musicians and promoting social inclusion.

Semyon Bychkov commemorated the 130th anniversary of the Czech Philharmonic in 2026 with extensive tours across Asia and Europe and with the publication, by PENTATONE, of the nine symphonies by Mahler.

In the 2026/2027 season it returns to the repertoire of its formative years and, alongside Czech masters, will conduct works by Shostakóvich, Rachmaninoff and Mussorgski.

Born in Leningrad (the current St. Petersburg) in 1952, he emigrated to the United States in 1975 and, since the mid-1980s, lives in Europe.

He enjoyed successes as musical director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic and, after a series of high-profile cancellations that led to commitments with the New York Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic and with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he returned as Principal Guest Conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in 1989.

He was appointed musical director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989); chief conductor of the WDR of Cologne (1997); and chief conductor of the Semperoper of Dresden (1998).

From August 2026, Bychkov will be appointed Chief Conductor of the Paris Opera, assuming the post of musical director in 2028.

Bychkov conducts in all major opera theatres, including La Scala of Milan, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden of London and the Metropolitan Opera of New York.

In Europe he is a frequent guest of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Munich, Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, the Orchestre National de France and the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia; while in the United States he conducts the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and the orchestras of Philadelphia and Cleveland.

The warmth of Bychkov's relationships is manifested especially in the honorary titles he holds at the Royal Academy of Music and at the BBC Symphony Orchestra, which he conducts regularly at the BBC Proms.

Semyon Bychkov was named Conductor of the Year by the International Opera Awards (2015) and by Musical America (2022).

He was born and studied in Tokyo, and in 2017 won First Prize, the Audience Award, the Prix Modern Times and the Prix Coup de Coeur at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland. In 2019 he won the Silver Medal at the International Chaikovski Competition in Moscow.

Among the highlights of the 2026/27 season are the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Hosokawa with the Wiener Symphoniker, and his debuts with the Chicago Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Bamberger Symphoniker, Swedish Radio Symphony, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and the Seoul Philharmonic. He will return to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Münchner Philharmoniker. Fujita will also perform European tours with the Wiener Symphoniker (Popelka) and the Philharmonique de Radio France (Gražinytė-Tyla), as well as a tour of Spain with the Czech Philharmonic (Bychkov).

Fujita has worked with conductors of the stature of Bychkov, Chailly, Chan, Chung, Gatti, González-Monjas, Honeck, Hrůša, Janowski, Paavo Järvi, Nagano, Nelsons, Popelka, Shani, Yamada and van Zweden. Among his previous debuts with orchestras are those with the Boston and Toronto Symphonics, the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and the Danish National Symphony. He is also a sought-after chamber musician and has collaborated with Renaud Capuçon, Joshua Bell, Emanuel Ax, Kirill Gerstein, Antoine Tamestit, Kian Soltani and the Hagen Quartett.

In 2026/27, he will give recitals in some of the most prestigious concert halls and festivals in the world, including his debut in the « Great Pianists » cycle of the Concertgebouw, as well as participating in other important recital cycles in Europe and Asia. He will perform a tour with Renaud Capuçon throughout 2027.

Exclusive artist of Sony Classical International, in 2022 his awaited debut album was published, a recording of the complete piano sonatas by Mozart, which received unanimous praise from the critics. He has performed the complete cycle of sonatas at the Verbier Festival, the Wigmore Hall and in the main concert halls of Japan. Fujita is a member of the « Junge Wilde » series of the Konzerthaus Dortmund since the 24/25 season.