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.