Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Founded back in 1926, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra ranks among the finest and oldest Czech orchestras, and has been frequently invited to perform at concert venues worldwide. Since 2011, the post of its chief conductor has been held by Slovakia’s Ondrej Lenárd, who has linked up to Vladimír Válek’s quarter-of-a-century legacy. At the present time, the main visiting conductor is Tomáš Brauner.
Over the past few years, the orchestra has worked with Czech and international conductors of such renown as Jiří Bělohlávek, Tomáš Netopil, Jakub Hrůša, Tomáš Hanus, Petr Altrichter, Steven Asbury, Michał Nesterowicz and Ion Marin. The soloists the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra has accompanied include Pierre Amoyal, Gautier Capuçon, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, Christian Lindberg, Juan Diego Flórez, José Cura, Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Sergey Khachatryan, Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, István Várdai, Adam Plachetka, Lukáš Vondráček and Ivo Kahánek.
The orchestra’s dis­cography is extensive indeed. Among the most noteworthy of its recent recordings are the three Supraphon albums featuring Leoš Janáček’s music, conducted by Tomáš Netopil, two of which were named Gramophone’s E­ditor’s Choice – in August 2013 (symphonic works, including Sinfonietta and Taras Bulba) and in October 2014 (Glagolitic Mass and The Eternal Gospel). Another remarkable achievement is their complete recording of Miloslav Kabeláč’s eight symphonies (Supraphon, 2016). The orchestra also made the world’s first-ever album of Antonín Dvořák’s opera Alfred and a profile album of Adam Plachetka, the solo bass-baritone of the Wiener Staatsoper.
The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra has given subscription concerts at the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, the Smetana Hall of the Municipal House and, since the 2016/17 season, at the Forum Karlín and Studio 1 of Czech Radio in Prague. It has regularly performed at prominent festivals, including the Prague Spring, Smetana’s Litomyšl, the Český Krumlov Festival, the Dvořák Prague and Janáček May. The orchestra has often appeared at concerts venues throughout Europe and Japan.