Czech Philharmonic
Semyon Bychkov, Chief Conductor & Music Director
Jakub Hrůša, Chief Conductor Designate
Sir Simon Rattle, Principal Guest Conductor
131st SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT – 2026-2027
There could be no other reason why so many people of different cultures, taste and
temperament, would come together if it weren’t for the need to be touched, transported
and ennobled by something greater than us all. Music answers that need. It would not be
known as a universal language if it didn’t have the capacity to speak to every heart and
every mind in a way that nothing else can: it tells us what we want to know and, what
we should try to avoid; it comforts us when we are troubled but, disturbs when we are
too comfortable; it reveals the human condition in all of its complexity; and, above all
reminds us of how meaningless life would be without beauty. SEMYON BYCHKOV
The opening of the Czech Philharmonic’s season with Chief Conductor and Music
Director, Semyon Bychkov comes in the middle of guest engagements at four prestigious
festivals: Stockholm’s Baltic Festival, the Helsinki Festival, the Lucerne Festival and
Dvořák’s Prague. Joining Bychkov and the Orchestra to perform Shostakovich’s Violin
Concerto No. 1 for the opening of the season, as well as the festivals in Stockholm and
Helsinki is violinist Karen Gomyo. The programme is completed with Dvořák’s Symphony
No. 7.
The Orchestra under Bychkov will give two concerts in both Stockholm and Helsinki, the
second of which, together with the Lucerne Festival and Dvořák’s Prague, will feature the
pianist, Yunchan Lim, who will perform Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. In Stockholm
and Helsinki, the programme will be completed by Smetana’s Má vlast; in Lucerne it will
be Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7; and at Dvořák’s Prague, the programme opens with Dvořák’s
Carnival Overture and concludes with Vyšehrad, Vltava, and Šárka from Smetana’s Má
vlast.
This year’s Artist in Residence is violinist, Janine Jansen. She will join Principal Guest
Conductor Sir Simon Rattle to perform Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1 in December
and, in February Chief Conductor Designate, Jakub Hrůša, for Beethoven’s Violin
Concerto in D major. In addition to her concerts with the Orchestra, Janine Jansen will
give a chamber concert with Alexandre Kantorow.
For the next two seasons, the Czech Philharmonic’s Composer in Residence is Thomas
Adès. The 2026-27 season includes performances of his works in two chamber concerts
and three orchestral concerts, one of which he will conduct. In November, the first
concert is conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and features the Czech première of Aquifer; in
January Kirill Gerstein joins the Orchestra for the Czech première of Adès’ In Seven Days
conducted by David Robertson; and, in March Adès will conduct the violin and orchestra
version of Märchentänze with soloist Jiří Vodička in a programme that also includes works
by Sibelius and Elgar.
Guests of the Orchestra in September and October include Magdalena Kožená singing arias
from Handel’s Agrippina and Ariodante; Elim Chan conducting a Czech/Russian programme
with Gil Shaham the soloist in Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 2, a programme which will
also be performed in Bratislava; Daniel Harding conducts John Williams’ Concerto for Horn
and Orchestra with soloist Radek Baborák, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with
soloists Fleur Barron and Andrew Staples; and Vasily Petrenko takes a programme of
Bartók, Janáček and Stravinsky to the Janáček Brno Festival.
The Czech Philharmonic’s season is book-ended by two significant European tours –
autumn 2026 and spring 2027 – when the focus will be on the music of one of Semyon
Bychkov’s earliest musical heroes, Sergei Rachmaninov. Concerts in Belgium, France,
Spain, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Austria and Germany include Rachmaninov’s Symphony No. 2, The Bells and Symphonic Dances. Behzod Abduraimov is the soloist in
Antwerp, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia and Zaragoza with Rachmaninov’s Piano
Concerto No. 3; Mao Fujita will join the Orchestra in Alicante and Madrid for
performances of Strauss’ Burleske. For the later tour – in spring 2027 – two concerts each
in London, Vienna, and Hamburg will feature Seong-Jin Cho performing Rachmaninov’s
Piano Concerto No. 2 and Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, while the single concerts in
Amsterdam and Linz, will feature Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 2.
Between the two European tours, both the Chief Conductor Designate, Jakub Hrůša and
Principal Guest Conductor, Sir Simon Rattle, are guests of the Orchestra. In December,
Rattle will be with the Czech Philharmonic for two consecutive weeks, the first a
programme that includes Barber’s Piano Concerto with soloist Yuja Wang and, the second
featuring Janine Jansen performing Szymanowski’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The two
programmes are completed respectively by Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 and, the
première of Adès’ Aquifer alongside Debussy’s La Mer. In February, it is the turn of Hrůša
who will conduct the world premiere of Martin Smolka’s Melancholia is Sitting and
Looking Elsewhere – a Czech Philharmonic commission – and the suite from Strauss’ Der
Rosenkavalier that follows Janine Jansen’s performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
Other guests of the Czech Philharmonic this season include Petr Altrichter who will
conduct the Orchestra in Karlovy Vary; Maxim Emelyanychev in works by Mendelssohn,
Mozart and Haydn; Charles Dutoit conducting Ravel’s complete Daphnis and Chloe with
the Prague Philharmonic Choir; and Nicholas Kraemer conducting Bach’s St John Passion.
For the final concert of the Orchestra’s season in Prague, Semyon Bychkov will conduct
the Czech Philharmonic and the Prague Philharmonic Choir in three performances of
Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to mark the 200th anniversary of Beethoven’s death.
The Czech Philharmonic’s education programme continues to grow. In autumn 2026
Čhavorenge will release a new album, Daje daje, focusing on traditional folk music and
featuring a strong selection of czardas dances. The ongoing relationship with London’s
Royal Academy of Music, supported by a generous donation from the Gage Foundation,
continues with a further exchange between students at the Royal Academy of Music and
the Czech Philharmonic Orchestral Academy with four students travelling to London in
January 2027 and, four students from London coming to Prague in April 2027.
Additionally, this season the Czech Youth Philharmonic (ČSF) participates in a subscription
week with Charles Dutoit in February 2027.
Voted Gramophone’s Orchestra of the Year 2024, the 131-year-old Czech Philharmonic
gave its first concert – an all Dvořák programme conducted by the composer himself – in
the famed Rudolfinum Hall on 4 January 1896 and is acknowledged for its definitive
interpretations of Czech composers and recognised for its special relationship to the music
of Brahms, Tchaikovsky, and Mahler. The Orchestra’s extraordinary and proud history
reflects both its location at the very heart of Europe and the Czech Republic’s turbulent
political history, for which Smetana’s Má vlast (My Homeland) has become a potent
symbol. Throughout the Orchestra’s history, two features have remained at its core: its
championing of Czech composers and its belief in music’s power to change lives. From as
early as the 1920’s Václav Talich (Chief Conductor 1919-1941) pioneered concerts for
workers, young people and voluntary organisations, a philosophy which is equally vibrant
today. Together with recordings of Dvořák’s last three symphonies and, Smetana’s Má
vlast, recent recordings include Decca Classics 2019 release of the Tchaikovsky Project
Boxset – the six symphonies, Manfred and three piano concertos with soloist, Kirill
Gerstein – and PENTATONE’S 2026 release of the Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 1-9.
PENTATONE will release Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7 in November 2026.
Semyon Bychkov’s Mahler symphony cycle with the Czech Phil is meticulous, imaginative
and deserves to be placed alongside the very best sets. The Guardian, 9 April 2026