CZECH PHILHARMONIC
SEMYON BYCHKOV, chief conductor and music director
MAO FUJITA, piano
Bedřich Smetana, The Bartered Bride:
Overture, Furiant and Dance of the Comedians
Richard Strauss, Burleske for Piano
Sergei Rachmaninov, Symphonic Dances
CZECH PHILHARMONIC
Named Gramophone Orchestra of the Year 2024, it is one of the world’s leading orchestras. In its 131st season, it combines its musical heritage with an expanding international presence through tours, residencies and recordings.
During the Year of Czech Music 2024, the orchestra and its Chief Conductor and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov, presented a three-day residency at Carnegie Hall. That same year, Smetana’s Má vlast received the 2025 Orchestral Award from BBC Music Magazine. Alongside the Czech repertoire, the orchestra has a longstanding relationship with composers such as Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, resulting in a series of landmark recordings, including The Tchaikovsky Project (2019) and a cycle of Mahler symphonies (2026). An upcoming release features Shostakovich’s Symphonies Nos. 5 and 7.
In Prague, the orchestra opens its 131st season with Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring its Artist-in-Residence Janine Jansen, alongside Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony. The season includes a tour to Stockholm, Helsinki and Lucerne, as well as residencies in London, Vienna and Hamburg. In Prague, the orchestra performs at the Rudolfinum and at major festivals, including Dvořák Prague, Prague Spring, Smetana Litomyšl and, for the first time, Janáček Brno.
Under Bychkov, the repertoire includes Má vlast and works by Mussorgsky, Ravel, Adams, Strauss, Glanert and Britten, with 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.
Chief Conductor and Music Director Designate Jakub Hrůša and Principal Guest Conductor Sir Simon Rattle return alongside guest conductors Vasily Petrenko, David Robertson, Elim Chan, Maxim Emelyanchev and Daniel Harding. Guest soloists include Yuja Wang, Behzod Abduraimov, Mao Fujita, Yunchan Lim, Seong-Jin Cho, Radek Baborák and Kirill Gerstein. The Czech Philharmonic’s Composer-in-Residence for its 131st season is Thomas Adès, and its Artist-in-Residence is Janine Jansen.
Its history reflects its geographical location and the country’s complex political past. A pioneer in promoting the music of Martinů and Janáček, the orchestra gave its first concert in 1896 with a programme devoted to Dvořák and conducted by the composer himself. Alongside its commitment to Czech composers, its educational programmes engage more than 400 schools across the country, supporting young musicians and promoting social inclusion.
SEMYON BYCHKOV. Chief Conductor and Music Director
Semyon Bychkov marked the Czech Philharmonic’s 130th anniversary in 2026 with extensive tours in Asia and Europe and with PENTATONE’s release of the nine Mahler symphonies. In the 2026/2027 season he returns to the repertoire of his formative years and, alongside the Czech masters, will conduct works by Shostakovich, Rachmaninoff and Mussorgsky.
Born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) in 1952, he emigrated to the United States in 1975 and, since the mid-1980s, has lived in Europe. He enjoyed success as music director of the Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and the Buffalo Philharmonic and, after a series of high-profile cancellations that led to engagements with the New York and Berlin Philharmonics and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, he returned as principal guest conductor of the St Petersburg Philharmonic in 1989. He was appointed music director of the Orchestre de Paris (1989); chief conductor of WDR Cologne (1997); and chief conductor of the Semperoper Dresden (1998). From August 2026, Bychkov will be music director designate of the Paris Opera, assuming the post of music director in 2028.
Bychkov conducts in all the major opera houses, including La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden in London, and the Metropolitan Opera in 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 Philadelphia and Cleveland orchestras. The warmth of Bychkov’s relationships is particularly reflected in the honorary titles he holds at the Royal Academy of Music and 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).
Mao Fujita. Piano
Born and educated in Tokyo, he won First Prize, the Audience Prize, the Prix Modern Times and the Prix Coup de Coeur at the Clara Haskil International Piano Competition in Switzerland in 2017. In 2019, he won the Silver Medal at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.
Highlights of the 2026/27 season include the world premiere of a new piano concerto by Hosokawa with the Wiener Symphoniker, as well as debuts with the Chicago Symphony, Staatskapelle Dresden, NDR Elbphilharmonie, Bamberger Symphoniker, Swedish Radio Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Seoul Philharmonic. He will return to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Münchner Philharmoniker. Fujita will also undertake European tours with the Wiener Symphoniker (Popelka) and the Orchestre 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 calibre of Bychkov, Chailly, Chan, Chung, Gatti, González-Monjas, Honeck, Hrůša, Janowski, Paavo Järvi, Nagano, Nelsons, Popelka, Shani, Yamada and van Zweden. Previous orchestral debuts include performances with the Boston and Toronto Symphony Orchestras, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI and 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 at some of the world’s most prestigious concert halls and festivals, including his debut in the Concertgebouw’s Great Pianists series, alongside appearances in other major recital series across Europe and Asia. He will tour with Renaud Capuçon throughout 2027.
An exclusive Sony Classical International artist, his highly anticipated debut album, a recording of Mozart’s complete piano sonatas, was released in 2022 to unanimous critical acclaim. He has performed the complete sonata cycle at the Verbier Festival, Wigmore Hall and major concert halls throughout Japan. Fujita has been part of the Konzerthaus Dortmund’s Junge Wilde series since the 2024/25 season.
