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History of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and itś concertmasters
Vrabcová, Monika ; Štraus, Ivan (advisor) ; Štraus, Ivan (advisor) ; Hůla, Pavel (referee) ; Matoušek, Bohuslav (referee)
4 July 1986 is considered to be the date Of Chzech Philharmonic orchestra. That day in Rudolfinum ( present Dvořák´s Hall ) Antoín Dvořák conducted a concert of the National Theatre orchestra members who created the charity Society.It made it its alm to organize four symphonic concerts every season in Prague. The Society soon came to an end because of an injudicious rebellion against a strict conductor Karel Kovařovic but Czech Philharmonic was re-established on 15 October 1902 on another basis. By the rise of a professional Czech symphonic orchestra ( after the National Muzeum anh the National Theatre) an institution which had been noticeably absent and which in fact finished process of the netional cultural emancipation was created. For several decades Czech Philharmonic was without a regular state support and so it had to rely only the profit from its own concert activity and modest donations from liberal sponsors. It struggled along in demeaning conditions. The orchestra raised money for its activity by giving concerts on long tours around Bohemia because in Prague the demand for classical music was nearly satisfied. In spite of this fact it - often in the last moment - managed to overcome all troubles by combined efforts. Among the conductors of the first period it is necessary to mention Oskar Nedbal, a former viola player of Czech Quartet and an author of many successful operettas, and Ladislav Čelanský. The first period of Czech Philharmonic existance, which can be shortly characterized as a " fight for survival", ended when Václav Talich took office of the principal conductor. Talich was an excellent musician with big experience also in chamber music. He introduced himself by producing Josef Suk ´s composition " Zrání " ( Maturation) . Then he led the orchestra with a firm hand so that it reached an excellent European standard. Although annual tours the country remained still necessary, the Czech Philharmonic orchestra noticeably won recognition abroad and gained a good international reputacion. Talich, who was also the director of the National Theatre at that time, led the orchestra until a difficult period of the Nazi occupation but in 1941 he had to give up his office not to endanger the whole institution in war conditions. Rafael Kubelík, a famous violin virtuoso´s son, replaced Talich. He led Czech Philharmonic until 1948 when he emigrated to protest against current political situation. However, the artistic standard of the orchestra rose even in the conditions of the communist dictatorship. In 1945 Czech cultural world was enriched by a musical festival Prague´s Spring, founded in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Philharmonic´s establishment. The festival gradually became a big world famous musical event. In 1950s, Czech Philharmonic became a large artistic establishment when two choir ensembles and a range of chamber ensemles and soloists joined it. Kubelík handed the reins over to Karel Ančerl. Under his baton a multitude of great gramophone recordings which won many renown international awards arose. Another artist who led Czech Philharmonic was Václav Neuman. He took office in 1968. During his activity the operational range of the orchestra´s foreign travels spread in other countries, especially American, and Czech Philharmonic kept the prestige of a world orchestra, also thanks to many excellent gramophone recordings. After Václav Neuman´s death, Jiří Bělohlávek appeared in the vanguard of Czech Philharmonic. He led orchestra for three years. On 1 1998 Bělohlávek was replaced by Vladimír Ashkenazy, a world famous piano player, who decided on a conductor career. The orchestra profited from his world fame and realized several very successful foreign tours. On 1 August 2003 Zdeněk Mácal, who had already conducted Czech Philharmonic in Prague´s Spring in 1966 and who joined the orchestra after a long emigration, was appointed Ashkenazy´s successor. It is not possible to forget three conductors who
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History of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and it´s representative concertmasters
Vrabcová, Monika ; Štraus, Ivan (advisor) ; Štraus, Ivan (advisor) ; Tomášek, Jiří (referee) ; Pazdera, Jindřich (referee)
FOK. The notion which have marked the awareness of concert visitors, record collectors or even cinema lovers with an indelible trace in the decades of its existence... A Cinderella who, due to admirable human efforts, passed through necessary imperfections of early youth, turbulent growing up, melancholy of middle age, betrayals of fate and passions of society, and blossomed into mature and spiritual beauty. The ensemble, originally created as a last resort for unemployed musicians, have managed to gain respect on an international scale in the course of time and it united a whole range of the most renowned conductors and soloist names with the memory of cooperation. As a loyal companion of Prague, it has kept being sucked into the vortex of the city's history, celebrating triumphs, being shaken by downfalls, it has been tempered by fate itself as well as it has tempered with the fates of others, it has always represented an enticing challenge for many biographers. It is, therefore, a major theme of the whole range of already published writings. In the area of biographical data described so much in detail, one can hardly produce new, so far unknown information. Nevertheless, I think that a view from the inside, through the optics of my own interpretative experience as an deputy concertmaster, could enrich the available literature by many observations, however subjective they may necessarily be.
The study describes the winding paths of fate, along which the orchestra's history has passed in the course of long years. It illuminates the ambience of pioneer beginnings, the formation of the ensemble under almost garage conditions, it maps out the ?Golden Age?, when favourable circumstances brought the best opportunities for artistic development and for an establishment of our reputation both on the domestic and international scenes. It mentiones in greater detail 3 significant organiser and conductor personalities: Dr. Rudolf Pekárek,
Dr. Václav Smetáček and Jiří Bělohlávek, whose contributions were fundamental to the orchestra's development. In the chapter ?foreign concert tours?, readers will learn about the almost ridiculous influence of political pressures of the communist powers-that-be on the form of guest performances abroad and on the comfort of the musicians. The central points of the work are sections dealing with concertmasters. Some of the personalities, who held this post in the orchestra in the past, reminiscence in an interesting way about their activity in the orchestra FOK and they give us their own opinion about the ideal of a concertmaster. Through the words of his widow, Mrs. Míla Smetáčková, even the legendary chief conductor Václav Smetáček comes to express his opinion; the FOK was his fate for the whole 30 years. The conclusion of the work reveals partly the contemporary situation while anticipating the future and mentions extraordinary dramaturgical and marketing ideas, which help the orchestra to face the adversities of the present age, unkind to its own culture.
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