In 1927, the Prague-based company, owned by Gustav Sušický, retailing electrical appliances, radio sets and optical devices, began selling Avuston gramophones, produced by the then little-known Ultraphon firm in Amsterdam. In 1929, Ultraphon’s Berlin branch office made an offer to Gustav Sušický to become an exclusive dealer for selling gramophone records, whose production was being planned at the time. A new company, Ravitas, was established for this purpose. Initially, the discs, featuring international music, were imported to the Czech shops from Berlin. Records with Czech music would only appear later on.

On 3 August 1929, N. V. Küchenmeister’s In­ternationale Maatschappij voor Accoustiek was set up, an overarching “parent” holding, whose shares were held by the special limited partnership Heinrich J. Küchenmeister & Co. It was divided into three subordinate holding companies, each of which controlled a variable group of affiliated companies in a number of countries in Europe. The production capacity of the Prague affiliated branch, which managed a record-making factory for the entire concern (another plant owned by the concern was located in Paris), was 5,000 records a day.

In 1930, the first gramophone record pressing plant was set up in Prague.

Ultraphon registered the Supraphon trademark – as the name of an electrical record-player!

The performance of Bedřich Smetana’s symphonic poem My Country at the National Theatre in Prague during the time of Nazi Germany’s Pro­tectorate of Bohemia and Moravia was a significant demonstration of patriotism on the part of the conductor Václav Talich and the Czech Philharmonic alike. The emotional charge of the moment gave rise to his evidently best recording of My Country, capturing the concert audience’s long ovations, followed by a spontaneously singing of the Czech national anthem. The recording of this concert, and that of Antoník Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, which was held at the National Theatre eight days later, has been preserved owing to the performances’ having been directly broadcast in several European cities. Supraphon only released the unique recordings some 72 years later, in 2011, when they were discovered at the Norwegian Radio archive. In 2012, the CD containing the recordings received the Gramophone Award, which was taken over in London by Václav Talich’s gran­ddaughters and Supraphon representatives.

In October 1943, a recording of Bedřich Smetana’s My Country was made by the National Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Karel Boleslav Jirák, at the Domovina studio in Prague for the Esta label. A conductor, educator and composer, Jirák was at the helm of the radio orchestra until 1945, yet he had to withdraw from his post in the wake of his being accused of asocial and “non-Czech” behaviour. In 1947, he was invited to Chicago to serve as an instructor at the university summer music classes, and as his work met with a positive response, he stayed on in the USA. An outstanding teacher, a specialist in all styles of music, and a seasoned conductor, he would go on to train dozens of renowned artists during his tenure in America. On the other hand, the Czechoslovak government hated and renounced him up until 1968, which saw a change in the political climate. During his time in the USA, Jirák composed 34 accomplished pieces, including two symphonies, a requiem, chamber and orchestral works, as well as songs set to Czech poetry.

The nationalisation of the majority of enterprises in Czechoslovakia in 1946 led to the devastation of a competitive environment, and the Ultraphon and Esta labels were placed together under a single roof. Three years later, Supraphon was established as the export arm of the national Gramofonové závody enterprise. The symbol of a lion with a lyre appeared on its records. The state-run Gramofonové závody controlled everything – from the development and production of the material for record pressing, the actual recording, to distribution and retail of audio discs. The entire conception complied with the unfortunate contemporary trend of a national and socialist economy and culture.

In May 1949, a recording of Bedřich Smetana’s opera Libuše was made for Supraphon at the Czechoslovak Radio studio. The title role was portrayed by the celebrated Czech soprano Marie Podvalová, an artist dazzling in demanding dramatic roles and possessing a splendid voice, physical beauty and great theatrical talent. Marie Podvalová recorded for Supraphon more than a hundred albums, which rank among its most remarkable releases.

In the autumn of 1950, the post of chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic was assumed by Karel Ančerl, who would hold it for 18 years. During that time, Supraphon released numerous recordings. Oddly enough, despite the culture sphere having been under the total control of the Communist party, in addition to ideologically focused titles (which have, deservedly, fallen into oblivion), this period saw the release of many classical music recordings of great and enduring value. Paradoxically, the political support provided to classical music gave rise to projects that have proved to be timeless and, what is more, equal in quality to those produced by Western European labels at the time. In 2002, the recordings made by Karel Ančerl conducting the Czech Philharmonic returned to the audience through Supraphon’s re­mastered CD edition, which, under the title “Ančerl Gold Series”, encompasses 42 albums and has earned the company a number of prestigious international awards.

At the beginning of 1951, the superlative Czech singer Beno Blachut recorded for Supraphon at the Domovina studio Bedřich Smetana’s opera Dalibor, alongside the National Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Jaroslav Krombholc. Over the period of 40 years, Blachut made for Czechoslovak Radio, Supraphon and Decca a hundred or so recordings of arias, songs, opera scenes and complete operas. Besides the acclaimed recording of Dalibor, the most noteworthy albums of his include those of the operas The Kiss, Rusalka, The Dogheads, Jenufa, Katya Kabanova, The Makropulos Case, The Diary of One Who Disappeared, as well as Stabat Mater, The Spectre’s Bride and the, today legendary, Czech Christmas Mass. Supraphon has also returned to Blachut’s recor­dings in the new millennium, re-releasing the complete operas (e.g. in 2001, a remastered Dalibor was issued on 2 CDs, half a century after it was recorded).

In the autumn of 1951, Supraphon released the first mini series of LP vinyl records, the triple album containing Bedřich Smetana’s My Country. The production of shellac discs was gradually phased out, until it was finally terminated in the early 1960s.

In 1953, Czechoslovak Television launched its broadcasting activity. Until the late 1980s, Supraphon frequently collaborated with Czechoslovak Television on the creation of music programmes. A number of recordings for Supraphon albums were made in the specialised Czechoslovak Television studios. Supraphon also provided playback, which from the 1960s was amply used on Czechoslovak Television pop music programmes. Several TV programmes even had the name of Supraphon in their titles (e.g. the Supraphon Album), and co-productions of TV broadcasts of opera and operetta performances were captured on Supraphon records (The Bartered Bride, Rusalka, Die Fledermaus, etc.). Owing to Czechoslovak Television, the 1960 saw the emergence of the first video clips, visually rendering the songs that had been released on Supraphon discs.

The Prague Spring festival in 1955 hosted the then 28-year-old Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who performed Bach’s Suites. The live recording of the young artist’s concert is precious indeed, given that when, at the time globally renowned, Rostropovich next recorded the pieces, in a French studio in 1991, he was 64 years of age.

In March 1959, Supraphon received its first prestigious Grand Prix du Disque de l’Académie Charles Cros, for a recording of Leoš Janáček’s opera The Cunning Little Vixen, as performed by the National Theatre Orchestra in Prague, conducted by Václav Neumann, and featuring the soloists Rudolf Asmus, Květa Belanová, Antonín Votava, Libuše Domanínská, Helena Tattermuschová, and other singers. The Grand Prix du Disque de l’Académie Charles Cros has been annually awarded since 1948 for recordings that are truly outstanding, in both artistic and technical terms. L’Académie Charles Cros was founded in 1947 by a group of musicologists, critics and recording industry professionals in honour of Charles Cros (1842–1888), a French poet and pioneer in the field of sound recording technology. Owing to the high standard of the Academy’s work, the Grand Prix du Disque de l’Académie Charles Cros is the most prestigious classical music award there is. To date, Supraphon has received the prize for 18 recordings, most recently in 2006, for the 42-disc set within the Karel Ančerl Gold Edition.

In June 1960, the celebrated Smetana Quartet, at the height of its powers, made a recording in the Domovina studio in Prague. Its members, Jiří Novák, Lubomír Kostecký, Antonín Kohout and Milan Škampa, chose to feature on their LP music by Franz Schubert. Indisputably the finest representative of the “Czech quartet school”, the ensemble gained renown all over the world owing to their musical faculties, artistic mastery, as well as novel performance elements (playing by heart, which came as a shock to the contemporary audience; some 40 pieces since 1949!). The Smetana Quartet, formed in 1945 and dissolved in 1989, gave more than 4,000 concerts.

At the end of 1961, Supraphon recorded in Prague Antonín Dvořák’s opera Rusalka, as performed by the National Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Zdeněk Chalabala, with Milada Šubrtová in the lead role. The Water Sprite was portrayed by the charismatic singer Eduard Haken, the Prince by Ivo Žídek. In 1998, Supraphon awarded Milada Šubrtová an anniversary Platinum Disc for her performance in Rusalka on the internationally acclaimed recording, which in a number of releases has been sold on LP, MC and CD, and recently has been available for download, for more than half a century and has become one of the most successful albums in Supraphon’s his­tory.

At the beginning of 1963, Supraphon recorded at the Rudolfinum a new album featuring Bedřich Smetana’s symphonic poem My Country, as performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the globally renowned conductor Karel Ančerl.

On the first day of 1969, Supraphon assumed the official name of Supraphon n. p. (National Enterprise) and became an independent publishing company without a record pressing plant.

In the late 1960s, magnetic recording began to be common in Czechoslovakia, yet the gramophone record as a storage medium continued to be concurrently improved too. During the course of the decade, magnetic recordings began to be released on tapes and audio cassettes. In Czechoslovakia, a number of titles were also produced on reel-to-reel tapes. The first tapes contained monophonic half- and four-track recordings, run at 9.5 cm/s. BASF, AGFA and Scotch tapes were used. Later on, in the 1980s, several dance music compilations were released on EMI tapes.

In 1971, the Mozartgeheim awarded the prestigious Wiener Flötenuhr to the Supraphon album containing W. A. Mozart’s concertos for piano and orchestra, recorded by the soloist Pavel Štěpán and the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Zdeněk Mácal. Also receiving the award was the account of Mozart’s quartets for flute, violin, viola and cello, by Petr Brock, Josef Vlach, Josef Koďousek and Viktor Mouček. The recording was made for Supraphon in 1968. Supraphon also received the Wiener Flötenuhr in 1972, 1974, 1975 and 1982.

In the spring of 1974, Supraphon received the UK’s Award of the Music Trades Association for the complete recordings of Bedřich Smetana’s choral works, made by the Prague Philharmonic Choir, led by the chorus master Josef Veselka. The label would won the prize again in 1979, for an album featuring Bohuslav Martinů’s Sym­phonies Nos. 1 – 6, as performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Václav Neumann.

Supraphon’s album of the complete Antonín Dvořák symphonies received the Premio della Critica Discografica Italiana 1975. The recordings, made by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Václav Neumann, had come into being between 1971 and 1973.

In early 1977, the Czech Philhamonic, conducted by Václav Neumann, recorded for Supraphon at the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 5. During the course of the 1970s, Neumann recorded all 10 Mahler symphonies, with the result being a highly acclaimed set that Supraphon would release on several occasions on LP and CD, and, over the past few years, has made available for download as well.

In February 1978, the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles hosted the 20th edition of the Grammy Awards ceremony. Supraphon received a nomination in the Best Chamber Music Performance category for a recording of Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet in E major and String Quartet in E flat major, as performed by the Prague Quartet, yet the award was won by David Munrow, conducting The Early Music Consort of London. By the way, the Grammy Award 1978 in the Pop Music category was given to The Eagles for the album Hotel California (Warner Music Group), while Barbra Streisand’s E­vergreen (Sony Music) was voted the Song of the Year.

Supraphon received the Prix Caecilia de l'Union de la Presse Musicale Belge 1978 for its recording of Arthur Honegger’s Jeanne d‘Arc au buche, as performed by the Czech Philharmonic, the conductor Serge Baudo and soloists. The annual prize has been awarded by Belgian critics in collaboration with the company Music Bozar since the 1960s. Supraphon again received it in 1980, for an album of Bohuslav Martinů’s sym­phonies; in 1985, for Martinů’s The Miracles of Mary; and in 2011, for the Pavel Haas Quartet’s recording of Sergei Prokofiev’s string quartets.

In September 1978, representatives of EMI visited Prague so as to present to Supraphon for the decade-long co-operation a commemorative painting by Francis Barraud, His Master’s Voice, depicting the legendary dog Nipper listening to a phonograph. It has adorned the Supraphon headquarters ever since.

In 1979, Supraphon’s re­cording of Bohuslav Martinů’s Sym­phonies Nos. 1 – 6, received the prestigious Diapason d'Or, a recommendation given by reviewers of Diapason magazine in France. The album was made by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Václav Neumann.

In 1982, a Supraphon recording of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, From the New World, made in 1981 by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Václav Neumann, won in Japan the Compact Disc Top 30 prize. That year, the Japanese music critics also presented to Supraphon the Prize of The Ongakuno Tomo Sha Publishing House 1981, for its recording of W. A. Mozart’s String Quartets in C minor, K 406, and E flat major, K 614, as performed by the Smetana Quartet and the violin virtuoso Josef Suk. Supraphon had previously received the prize in 1974, for an album of Antonín Dvořák’s sympho­nies, and in 1980, for a disc of Leoš Janáček’s String Quartet, featuring the Smetana Quartet.

The earliest gramophone discs were pressed by Emil Berliner in the USA from ebonite or vulcanised rubber. In 1896, the first record was made from a compound of shellac (a bonding agent) and ground shale (a filler). The expensive and scarce shellac was ultimately replaced by Novolac, a phenol-formaldehyde resin, which was produced for the Czechoslovak gramophone record industry by the Stalinovy závody (Stalin Works) in Litvínov, and used for pressing records in the factory in Loděnice between 1952 and 1954. Gramophone discs were manufactured in Loděnice until 1964. In 1952, a new pressing matter, based on vinyl chloride, started to be developed. In 1957, the composition of the components stabilised, which led to records possessing better acoustic properties – vinyl discs. The subsequent period, until 1983, saw the optimisation of the pressing material, with the resulting copolymer, KV 172, almost reaching the quality of top foreign copolymers. The greatest progress was attained in the homogeneity of batches and the preservation of even parameters between the batches.

Near the end of 1984, Supraphon concluded a contract of co-operation with the German record company Ariola, which selected from the label’s classical music catalogue several albums for the production of one of Europe’s first CDs. They included the Supraphon recording of Antonín Dvořák’s sympho­nies, made by the Czech Philharmonic, under the baton of Václav Neumann.

On 10 June 1985, Supraphon and Nippon Columbia concluded a contract on co-production of digital recordings. Previously, in 1984, Supraphon had received a Gold Disc of Nippon Columbia for its albums of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 7 and Smetana’s My Country. In 1985, the Japanese company provided to Supraphon its recording equipment, including the video recorder SONY U-Matic, which, however, recorded the digital audio signal. The collaboration resulted in a number of co-production projects – albums of classical music, mainly made by the Czech Philharmonic. Initially, the digital recordings were released on analogue discs and audio cassettes, yet in the middle of the 1980s a new system was placed on to the market, which markedly transformed the music industry: the compact digital disc, CD, which made digital recordings available to the general public. In May 1987, Supraphon released its first CD, containing Bedřich Smetana’s My Country, yet a year previously it had produced CDs under licence from Nippon Columbia, including one with Leoš Janáček’s Gla­golitic Mass.

In September 1986, the globally renowned harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková and the organist Alena Veselá recorded for Supraphon at the Rudolfinum hall in Prague Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chorale Preludes, an album that went on to gain great acclaim worldwide.

Until 1990, Supraphon pursued publishing, editing, production and sale of gramophone records, sheet music, videos and books about music. Over the following decade, the music industry giant’s activities were considerably diminished. By a decree issued by the Ministry of Culture, the publication of books and music scores was detached within the state enterprise and was given the name Editio Supraphon. The production of records in the Loděnice plant was separated, as was the network of record shops. Lyra Pragensis was disaffiliated, and BVA, an independent company producing classical music videos, ensued.

In August 1990, Prague was visited by three top representatives of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) – Sir John Morgan, the new President; Ian Thomas, the Director General; and Ian Haffey, the IFPI’s legal advisor and anti-piracy co-ordinator. The objectives of their visit included assessment of the post-1989 development in Czechoslovakia and its significance for its recording industry’s co­llaboration with the IFPI, including in terms of abatement of the fast-expanding piracy. During his visit to Supraphon, Sir John Morgan and the label’s repre­sentatives discussed the issue of rental offices (in public libraries and department stores), stressing the necessity of settling their obligations towards copyright holders.

At the 25th edition of the MIDEM international music industry trade fair, Supraphon had its very own exhibition stall (participating in the fair for the first time separately from the other Czechoslovak record companies), and enjoyed ongoing interest in collaboration on the part of foreign partners, pertaining, among other things, to the possibilities of making use of the Supraphon distribution network in Czechoslovakia. The MIDEM 1991 gala evening at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes included performances by the celebrated virtuoso Sir Yehudi Menuhin, as well as the Czech violinist Josef Suk.

Under the title “Mon amour”, Supraphon revived the ESTA brand (known from the 1930s), with the aim to map albums of the most popular classical music works on CD, offered at lower prices, so as to enhance sales of recordings in this genre.

Supraphon prepared a special set of the complete archive recordings made by the famous Czech soprano Ema Destinnová. Following two full decades of seeking, and owing to the selfless endeavours of collectors in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Italy, the UK and Canada, it succeeded in tracking down all the known recordings and duly put together a set that could be chronologically arranged in a complete edition. Supraphon made an agreement with the legendary Abbey Road Studios in London, which reconditioned the historical audio recordings and significantly reduced the level of crackle. The Ema Destinnová set received numerous international prizes, and was nominated for the prestigious Gramophone Award in the Historic Archive category.

In September 1994, Supraphon was divided into the parent company Supraphon (holding) and the subsidiary Supraphon Records, in the form of which it operated for two years. The post of director of Supraphon Records was held by the musicologist, producer and pedagogue Jiří Štilec, while the holding company was first helmed by Supraphon’s di­rector, Vladislav Kukačka, succeeded in February 1995 by Jana Gondová, who in the 1990s returned from Canada, where she had worked for CBC Canada.

In November 1995, Jiří Bárta completed at the Kozel chateau in West Bohemia a recording of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Suites for Solo Cello. The renowned Czech cellist signed with Supraphon an exclusive five-year contract.

In March 1996, the Czech violinist Gabriela Demeterová terminated her collaboration with Panton and signed a contract with Supraphon, for which over the next decade she would record several acclaimed albums. One of her first CDs featured Heinrich Franz Biber’s Biblical Sonatas. Supraphon also released a video clip, presenting Gabriela Demeterová in a casual way, which in the middle of the 1990s boosted the artist’s popu­larity, as well as aroused the interest on the part of TV creators.

The Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, recorded at the Rudolfinum hall in Prague Leoš Janáček’s opera Katya Kabanova, starring the world-renowned soprano Gabriela Beňačková in the title role. Released on two CDs in the autumn of 1997, it subsequently won a number of prestigious prizes, including the Cannes Classical Award and the Preis der Deutschen Schallplatten­kritik. It also received a nomination for the Grammy Awards.

The release of the album Iva Bittová Classic was the fruit of the collaboration between the Škampa Quartet and the Czech cross-over artist and composer. The CD met with great acclaim, with the critics highlighting its masterful blend of Roma melodies, Moravian folk and jazz music.

Supraphon’s re­cording of Leoš Janáček opera Katya Kabanova received the prestigious Cannes Classical Award at the MIDEM international music industry trade fair. The CD featured Gabriela Beňačková, Dagmar Pecková, Eva Randová and other singers, and the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras.

In the presence of the media, the Škampa Quartet introduced its new album at the Adria Palace in Prague. The ensemble, who had exclusively recorded for Supraphon since 1992, and was a quartet in residence at Wigmore Hall in London, had received the Supraphon Gold Disc and a number of international accolades, including the Netherlands’ Prix Charles Hennen, the Czech Chamber Music Society Prize, and the Royal Philharmonic Society Award. During the launch of the CD, featuring Leoš Janáček’s string quartets, the news broke of the terrorist attack against the World Trade Center in New York City.

The superlative violinist Pavel Šporcl took over the Platinum Disc at a concert in Prague, which rounded off his tour presenting his first Supraphon recording. His “yellow-blue” album was one of the bestselling classical music CDs in the Czech Republic (14,000 discs sol­d).

The renowned Czech harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková was honoured for her lifelong merit for Czech culture and for the recording of J. S. Bach’s Harpsichord Concertos, made with the Prague Chamber Soloists and the conductor Václav Neumann, re-released in 2002. She also received a Supraphon Jubilee Platinum Disc for her immense contribution to the label’s renown.

Supraphon invited along for collaboration the distinguished British conductor and specialist in the music of the pre-classical period Christopher Hogwood. He and the Czech Philharmonic recorded at the Rudolfinum in Prague Bohuslav Martinů’s pieces Le Raid merveilleux and La revue de cuisine.

Supraphon began the release of a series of remastered recordings made by Václav Talich, one of the major 20th-century Czech conductors, who primarily worked with the National Theatre Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic, elevating their performance artistry to a truly global level. Between 1919 and 1950, he made numerous remarkable recordings for Ultraphon and, later on, Supraphon. In 1946, Talich founded the legendary Czech Chamber Orchestra and co-formed the Slovak Philharmonic. As a conductor, he also worked in Sweden and Scotland.

In May 2006, Supraphon released the Smetana Trio’s recording of Antonín Dvořák’s piano trios No. 3 in F minor and No. 4 “Dumky”. A year later, the CD won the BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award within the public voting.

The Pavel Haas Quartet made another recording of string quartets by Leoš Janáček No. 1 and Pavel Haas Nos 1&3, which went on to be shortlisted for the Gramophone Award. In 2009, the CD won the Cannes Classical Award within the MIDEM international music fair.

In January 2009, two years prior to the passing away of the violin virtuoso Josef Suk, Supraphon released his final studio recording, made in the previous autumn at the Bohemia Music Studio in Prague. It contained accounts of Antonín Dvořák’s Mini­atures, Bagatelles and Terzetto, and Josef Suk’s Piano Quartet in A minor. In addition to Suk, the album was created by the violinist Miroslav Ambroš, the cellist Jiří Bárta, the violist Karel Untermüller and the pianist Jan Simon. During the CD’s launch in February, Josef Suk was handed over a Supraphon Jubilee Platinum Disc in recognition of 55 years of his collaboration with the company. (The Supraphon archive contains some 410 recordings made by Josef Suk, totalling 6,259 minutes of music!)

January 2010 saw the release of a recording of Antonín Dvořák’s symphonic poems, made by the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, a true connoisseur and champion of Czech music. In the same year, the album received the Gramophone Award. Regrettably, Sir Charles died in July 2010 and could not take it over. The CD is thus the legendary conductor’s final account of Dvořák’s music, as well as a towering achievement, rounding off his long-term collaboration with the Czech Philharmonic and the Supraphon label.

On 27 April 2010, Sir Charles Mackerras received from Supraphon two Gold and two Platinum Discs for the conductor’s bes­tselling CDs, featuring Bedřich Smetana’s My Country, Antonín Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, Leoš Janáček’s sym­phonies, overtures and suites from operas, and Bohuslav Martinů’s Three Fragments from Juliette. Sir Charles also received the Artis Bohemiae Amicis prize from the Ministry of Culture, for his championing of Czech music all over the world.

Following the passing of Sir Charles Mackerras in July 2010, another musical giant – the violin virtuoso Josef Suk passed away at the age of 81. The great-grandson of Antonín Dvořák and grandson of the composer Josef Suk was one of the greatest of Czech violinists. Josef Suk made his first recordings for Supraphon back in November 1953.

The fourth recording of the Pavel Haas Quartet, marking their return to the Czech repertoire, contains Antonín Dvořák’s best-known string quartets – No. 13 in G major and No. 12. in F major “American”. The CD met with an enthusiastic response, with the critics praising the PHQ as “the most exciting string quartet”. The recording received the Gramophone Award in the chamber category and, most significantly, it was elected Recording of the Year 2011.

The Czech Philharmonic’s sou­nd, renown and international triumphs, as well as its first recordings, are organically linked with the conductor Václav Talich. The performance of Bedřich Smetana’s My Country on 5 June 1939 at the National Theatre in Prague, during the time of the Nazi Germany’s Pro­tectorate, was a bold manifestation of his patriotism. The emotional charge of the moment gave rise to probably his best album of the piece. The recording of the concert, as well as of the performance of Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances, which the National Theatre hosted four days later, has been preserved owing to their having been directly broadcast on the radio in several European cities. The Supraphon recording was released in August 2011, and the next year it received the Gramophone Special Historic Award.

Vilém Veverka, the winner of a number of international competitions and an acclaimed soloist, releases his album debut. The repertoire for solo oboe is sparse, yet oboists can boast of a true gem: the inspiration brought to Benjamin Britten by the oboe and the verse of the Roman poet Ovid gave rise to the cycle Six Metamorphoses. A similar abundance of characters is also rendered by the collection of Twelve Fantasias by G. P. Telemann, one of the most productive composers of all time. A repertoire spanning the period between Baroque and contemporary music is one of the most salient features of Vilém Veverka.

The violin virtuoso Pavel Šporcl celebrated his 40th birthday by recording a 3-CD album within Supraphon’s pres­tigious Gold Collection series (the one and only classical music artist to have done so). The label awarded him the Diamond Disc for a decade of fruitful co-operation. Šporcl’s albums are among the bestselling Supraphon releases in the third millennium.

After a pause of several years, the opera star Dagmar Pecková returned to Supraphon. Following a CD featuring a compilation of songs by Mahler, Wagner, Brahms and Berio, a year later, she recorded the ambitious album of songs Sinful Women, which she also presented at concerts.

After their Janáček quartets and their award-winning Dvořák (Gramophone Award 2011 „Recording of the Year“), the Pavel Haas Quartet put all their energy to the service of the music of Bedřich Smetana. They recorded Smetana's String Quartet No. 1 „From My life“ and String Quartet No. 2. For the Pavel Haas Quartet, Smetana's music is an obvious and clear choice, not a sudden revelation; it is „only“ the concept of the music itself that is revelatory.

On 27 August 2015, the British music monthly announced the winners of the Gramophone Awards 2015. The Pavel Haas Quartet’s Supraphon album featuring Smetana works has prevailed in the Chamber category. The Gramophone Awards ceremony took place on 17 September 2015 at St John's, Smith Square, London. This year, the Pavel Haas Quartet took over the accolade in person and performed within the gala event.
By the end of the year, they received annother prestigious accolade – Presto Classical Recording of the Year.

The music label opened in Jungmanovo náměstí in the centre of Prague a new bricks-and-mortar shop, the SUPRAPHON Musicpoint. “Even though digital distribution has been a growing trend, many music lovers still give preference to listening to CDs and LPs. In the wake of the launch of the Supraphonline.cz digital service, Supraphon has decided to return to selling physical recordings in its own shop,” said Iva Milerová, Supraphon’s di­rector.

Over the 14 years since forming, the Pavel Haas Quartet have gained enormous international acclaim. The prestigious prizes they have received include five Gramophone Awards, most recently last year. The ensemble’s latest album, featuring Bedřich Smetana’s String Quartet No. 1 in E minor, “From My Life”, and String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, has obtained the BBC Music Magazine Award in the Chamber category.

An album of Bohuslav Martinů’s Cantatas was released 60 years since their first Supraphon recording, on LP, as performed by the Czech Choir and the Czech Philharmonic Children’s Choir, conducted by the chorus master Jan Kühn. Supported by the Bohuslav Martinů Foundation, the new album presents the cantatas interpreted in top quality and in line with the composer’s original notion. Besides the Prague Philharmonic Choir, conducted by Lukáš Vasilek, the CD features a number of distinguished soloists, including the soprano Pavla Vykopalová, the baritone Jiří Brückler and the pianist Ivo Kahánek, as well as members of the Bennewitz Quartet, the narrator Jaromír Meduna and other artists.

The mezzo-soprano Dagmar Pecková has appeared on the world's most prominent stages as an artist acclaimed as a refined performer of music by Mozart, Mahler, Bizet. One of her dreams, to make an album of Kurt Weill's songs, has come true, 25 years after she portrayed at the Stuttgart Opera the lead female role in the opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny. The singular poetics of Weill's songs, a fabulous orchestra and splendid arrangements blending classical music and jazz – and, of course, Dagmar Pecková, who has never been „just“ a diva, but a singer who makes her dreams come true and does everything with great enthusiasm.

On 21 April 2017, Supraphon re-released a recording of Bach’s harpsichord concertos to mark the 90th birthday of the legendary harpsichordist Zuzana Růžičková. The artist made it during the turbulent time of the Prague Spring and the subsequent Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The world-renowned harpsichordist collaborated on the project with the Prague Chamber Soloists, conducted by Václav Neumann.

Zuzana Růžičková, an esteemed harpsichordist and music educator, died after a short illness. She was 90 years of age.
Zuzana Růžičková recorded some 35 albums, featuring the complete harpsichord works of J. S. Bach. From 1979 to 1990 she was a soloist of the Czech Philharmonic. She received numerous other accolades, including four Grands Prix du Disque Académie Charles Cros. In 2003, she was decorated with the honour of Chevalier des Arts et des Letters, and received the Medal of Merit from the Czech President.

In collaboration with Czech Radio, Supraphon releases on 16 November 2017 an album made up of a new recording of Bohuslav Martinů’s Bouquet of Flowers and the premiere studio recording of Jan Novák’s Philhar­monic Dances. Available on both CD and for download, it features the two works’ splendid performance by the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Tomáš Netopil, the solo singers Kateřina Kněžíková, Michaela Kapustová, Jaroslav Březina and Adam Plachetka, the Prague Philharmonic Choir and the Prague Philharmonic Children’s Choir.

On 14th April, Milan Škampa, the acclaimed violist and a member of the Smetana Quartet, died at the age of 89.
Milan Škampa was born in 1928 in Prague into a family of musicians. First of all he studied violin and became a soloist of the Czech Radio Orchestra at the age of 16. A few years later he switched to playing the viola and joined the internationally renowned Smetana Quartet in 1956.
The Smetana Quartet was for the period of 43 years one of the world’s leading ensembles. Its superb performances were captured on more than 150 gramophone records, the ensemble gave thousands of concerts in some sixty countries throughout Europe, America and Asia, and was repeatedly invited to the most prestigious festivals and recording studios.
At the end of the sixties, Milan Škampa became a professor at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He was esteemed as a great connoisseur of Janáček's music.

With support from the State Fund of Culture and the National Museum, Supraphon released an extraordinary album of Antonín Dvořák’s Moravian Duets. The entire cycle of folk poetry settings has been recorded on the composer’s very own 1879 Bösendorfer piano, a precious item maintained at the Antonín Dvořák Museum in Prague. The album features internationally renowned young artists, all of them possessing a great sense for the grace of Dvořák’s songs, as well as the singular tone qualities of the instrument, once touched by the maestro himself. The soprano Simona Šaturová, the mezzo-soprano Markéta Cukrová and the tenor Petr Nekoranec were accompanied on Dvořák’s piano by Vojtěch Spurný.

Pavel Haas Quartet received their sixth Gramophone Award. The album with Antonín Dvořák’s Quintets, Opp. 81 and 97, also features special guests: the Israeli pianist Boris Giltburg (the winner of the Queen Elisabeth Competition in 2013) and the violist Pavel Nikl, one of the ensemble’s founding members. The Pavel Haas Quartet’s being at home with Dvořák’s music has also been confirmed by other accolades they have received for the recording (Diapason d’Or, Choc de Classica, BBC Music Magazine Recording of the Month, Presto Classical Recording of the Year etc.).

One of the most important events in classical music of autumn 2018 was the release of the world premiere recording of Bohuslav Martinů’s pastoral opera What Men Live By, wonderfully performed by Jiří Bělohlávek with the Czech Philharmonic and a whole host of important soloists. It is the first professional recording of this moving one-act opera made from three concert performances in December 2014. What Men Live By was released together with Martinů’s Symphony No. 1, recorded in January 2016.

On 2 February 2019, the UK Czech music expert, musicologist, journalist and music organizer Graham Melville-Mason died at the age of 85. He was the only non-Czech member of the artistic board of the Prague Spring International Music Festival and headed the UK’s Dvořák Society. Czech music became the main focus of his professional and personal life following his retirement in 1989. He dedicated himself to the works of Czech masters and key contemporary composers; he maintained numerous friendships with Czech musicians. He studied Czech culture, he drove a Škoda and could speak Czech.

The album of Bohuslav Martinů's Songs recorded by three renowned artists Martina Janková, Tomáš Král and Ivo Kahánek received a great review together with Diapason d'Or in the April edition of Diapason magazine.

The Jan Bartoš's new album featuring Janáček's Piano Works received a wonderful review together with Editor's Choice in Gramophone September issue. This is the third Bartoš’s album released by Supraphon, the previous albums of Mozart’s and Beethoven’s works have met with great acclaim too.

The most significant pop-music singer Karel Gott died at the age of 80. The relation between Karel Gott and Supraphon was truly extraordinary: almost 6 decades of collaboration, 300 albums and around 1.000 songs he recorded. Karel Gott was well-known in Germany too, where he was called “The Golden Voice from Prague“.

Two Supraphon recordings were awarded within the Classic Prague Awards, which originated four years ago and are the only classical music accolades in the Czech Republic. Pavel Haas Quartet received the Recording of the Year prize for their album of Shostakovich’s String Quartets No. 2, 7, 8 and Belfiato Quintet received the Best Chamber Music Performance prize for their interpretation of Antonín Rejcha’s Wind Quintets on an album released in September.

On 22 May 2020, Supraphon released for the first time a unique recording of the performance of Bedřich Smetana’s opera Libuše on 29 May 1939 at the National Theatre in Nazi-occupied Prague. The album also features the Overture, recorded in 1940, and fragments from Act 3, including Libuše’s Prophecy. At the end, the audience sings the Czech national anthem. The album received the Gramophone Editor's Choice in October.

The greatest Czech classical music creators include Antonín Dvořák, Bedřich Smetana, Leoš Janáček, Josef Suk, Bohuslav Martinů… and Vítězslav Novák, a pupil of Dvořák’s and later on a highly distinguished composer and teacher. This year’s 150th anniversary of Vítězslav Novák’s birth affords the opportunity to take a closer look at his oeuvre – and to rediscover that which has been overlooked. The new album, made by Jan Bartoš in collaboration with the conductor Jakub Hrůša and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, contains Novák‘s Piano Concerto in E minor, the piano cycle At Dusk, Op. 13 and Toman and the Wood Nymph – Symphonic poem for large orchestra, Op. 40.

Ivan Moravec, deemed by many the finest 20th-century Czech pianist, would have celebrated his 90th birthday on 9 November. Supraphon is marking the anniversary with the most complete collection of his recordings to date, titled Portrait. The release, encompassing 11 CDs, features the most significant and unique recordings Moravec made between 1962 and 2000 for Supraphon and several US labels. The set also included a DVD with a documentary and previously unseen footage from the Czech Television archives.

On 5 January 2021, Alfred Brendel, the world-renowned Austrian-British pianist, celebrates his 90th birthday. To mark the occasion, Supraphon has come up with a special present, which will delight all the fans of the great classical music figure’s work. The label is releasing a DVD titled Alfred Brendel – My Musical Life, featuring documentary footage of the lectures and the masterclass Brendel gave in 2019 and 2020 during his visit to Prague upon the invitation of the Prague Music Performance and the Czech Philharmonic.

The Czech opera singer Kateřina Kněžíková was performing the title role in Leoš Janáček’s Katya Kabanova at the prestigious Glyndebourne Festival Opera in Sussex, England, in spring 2021. On 28 May, Supraphon releases her debut solo album. Titled Phidylé, its repertoire is made up of engrossing songs by Bohuslav Martinů, Henri Duparc, Maurice Ravel and Karol Szymanowski, which Kněžíková recorded with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, conducted by Robert Jindra.

The complete album of Ludwig van Beethoven‘s piano trios, released by Supraphon on 16 July 2021 on 4 CDs, features the Suk Trio, who soon after their establishment in 1951 gained international renown and recognition. Supraphon made the recordings for Nippon Columbia within a short timeframe, from June 1983 to April 1984, at the Rudolfinum in Prague. They capture the mature ensemble when it included the pianist Josef Hála, who in 1980 had replaced Jan Panenka. Shortly after its release, the album received Gramophone Editor's Choice and Joker Patriomoine in Crescenddo magazine.

Ranking among the world‘s top cor anglais players, Dominik Wollenweber has been a member of the feted Berliner Philharmoniker for 28 years. Supraphon is releasing an album of his, aptly titled The Art of English Horn, produced by his Czech colleague, the brilliant oboist Vilém Veverka. Conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, the Berliner Philharmoniker accompany Dominik Wollenweber in Sibelius’s won­derful tone poem The Swan of Tuonela, while members of the orchestra keep him company throughout the present recording. One would be hard pressed to imagine an album dedicated to the English horn lacking the Largo from Antonín Dvořák’s New World Symphony or the solo from Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. On the other hand, J. S. Bach’s Concerto in G major and Schubert’s Im­promptu No. 3 may come as a surprise, while Jean Françaix’s Quartet is simply bound to lift the listener’s spirit.

Karel Ančerl was one of the most distinguished conductors in post-war Europe. A survivor of Nazi concentration camps, as well as the openly anti-Jewish policy of Communist Czechoslovakia. An artist who through his limitless patience and diligence transformed the Czech Philharmonic into a world-class orchestra and brought them to the most prominent concert venues all over the globe. The present Supraphon compilation, comprising 15 CDs, includes works never recorded in a studio, a repertoire ranging from Mozart to Ančerl’s contem­poraries.

The soprano Kateřina Kněžíková’s album Phidylé, made with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava conducted by Robert Jindra, has garnered acclaim since its release in May 2021 (Gramophone Editor's Choice, nomination for the Czech Anděl Award). Its latest success is receiving the BBC Music Magazine Award in the closely observed Vocal category. Solely earmarked for classical music, and unlike the majority of other prestigious accolades, the winners of the BBC Music Magazine Awards are selected via online public voting worldwide.

The year 2022 marks two decades since the violinist Veronika Jarůšková and the violist Pavel Nikl formed the today internationally celebrated Pavel Haas Quartet. The ensemble have performed at the world’s most prestigious concert venues (Wigmore Hall in London, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, Carnegie Hall in New York, etc.) and have made nine critically acclaimed albums (Gramophone Award, BBC Music Magazine Award, Diapason d’Or de l’Année, Classic Prague Award, and other accolades). The venerable BBC Music Magazine has ranked the Pavel Haas Quartet among the 10 greatest string quartets of all time. The ensemble received a Jubilee Platinum Disc from Supraphon

One of the most famous and important Czech conductors, Libor Pešek, died on Sunday, October 23. A conductor who spread the fame of Czech music far beyond the borders of the Czech Republic. A student of Václav Smetáček and Václav Neumann, he started with jazz and during his career he collaborated with many Czech and foreign chamber and symphonic ensembles. His collaboration with the Supraphon label started in 1961, when he made his first recording at Studio Domovina with Chamber Harmony.