The Prague Philharmonia opened its 31st season with works by classics by Bedřich Smetana and Antonín Dvořák, as well as Vítězslav Novák and Karel Husa. The orchestra formerly known as PKF performed this Saturday evening at Prague’s Rudolfinum under the direction of its French chief conductor, Emmanuel Villaum.
The Prague Philharmonia started the evening with Smetana’s overture to the opera Tajemství. The work premiered in 1878, when the composer had already left his position as bandleader of the Provisional Theater due to hearing problems and lived in seclusion.
This was followed by the Slovakian Suite by Vítězslav Novák from 1903. In this case, Dvořák’s pupil was inspired by Moravian folklore, especially by trips to Wallachia and Slovakia.
The second part of the evening was followed by the Serenade for wind quintet, strings, xylophone and harp by Karel Husa, performed by the Belfiato Quintet. The composer studied music in Paris and emigrated to the United States in the 1950s. This is precisely why his works were not presented in Czechoslovakia under communism. Serenade premiered in 1963, six years later Husa won the Pulitzer Prize for his String Quartet No. 3.
Dvořák’s symphonic poem The Golden Wheel ended the evening. This composition is a tribute to the Czech poet Karl Jaromír Erben, it belongs to the cycle of four symphonic poems that Dvořák created after returning from the USA. It was established in the spring of 1896.
The Prague Philharmonia Orchestra was founded in 1994 by the conductor Jiří Bělohlávek, who assembled it from young music school graduates. Later, the ensemble was led by the Swiss conductor and flutist Kaspar Zehnder or Jakub Hrůša, who was replaced in 2015 by the French-born Emmanuel Villaume.
Already in the mid-1990s, PKF became a generally beneficial company. Since then, the number of its members has grown significantly, so that in addition to chamber works, it also plays compositions that require a cast of 40 to 50 performers. His repertoire mainly includes music of Viennese classicism, romanticism, but also modern and contemporary works.
This season, the ensemble is presented under the name Prague Philharmonia, in the past it performed as Prague Chamber Philharmonic, PKF or most recently PKF – Prague Philharmonia. The reason for frequent name changes was the complex situation of using the Czech and English versions of the original name in the Czech Republic and abroad, or differences in the translation of the name.
But the shift in what is most often on the program also played its role in choosing the new name. “The repertoire of the ensemble has gradually expanded from the chamber character of compositions by Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven to a larger symphonic cast of Czech and world romanticism and 20th century music. That is why we decided to unify both names,” explained the director of the orchestra Kateřina Kalistová this year.
In the 2024/2025 season, the Prague Philharmonia will offer five subscription series. The dramaturgy of the orchestral cycle A was compiled by Villaume himself, who will conduct five of the nine evenings. The concerts will be devoted to the works of classics by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Ludwig van Beethoven, but also the world premiere of a work by Petr Wajsar. “We try to build on the past and at the same time look towards the future,” commented Villaume.
The Lobkowicz subscription donation series continues for the eighth year, which will present outstanding talents of contemporary music during four evenings. Chamber cycle K bets on the theme of “other instruments” in the 31st concert season. Listeners can look forward to bass clarinet, contrabassoon, English horn, baroque bassoon, harp or viola d’amore.
The concerts of the contemporary music series S will mostly take place in the premises of the Švand Theater. Among them, there will also be a special evening for the 65th birthday of the composer, artist and former presidential candidate Vladimír Franz, planned for March 17, 2025. The new season will also include the cycle D and E for parents and children at the Rudolfinum.