Concertino Praga 2025 – Final II

The Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (SOČR) is one of the most distinguished Czech orchestras of today. Since the 2022/2023 season, the ensemble has been led by Petr Popelka as its Chief Conductor and Artistic Director, with Robert Jindra serving as Principal Guest Conductor for a second consecutive year.

During the 2024/2025 concert season, SOČR will welcome numerous renowned artists, including acclaimed violinist Isabelle Faust and violinist-conductor Renaud Capuçon. Other notable guests include Dutch pianist brothers Lucas and Arthur Jussen, conductor Han-na Chang, and conductor and organist Wayne Marshall. A highlight of the season is the concert performance of the third act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, completing a trilogy that began in previous seasons with the first and second acts. Leading roles will be performed by Michael Weinius and Elisabeth Teige. In addition to these international stars, SOČR will also collaborate with prominent Czech soloists such as soprano Kateřina Kněžíková, baritone Adam Plachetka, and violinist Josef Špaček.

In recent years, SOČR has collaborated with leading Czech and international conductors, such as Tomáš Netopil, Petr Altrichter, Jakub Hrůša, Cornelius Meister, Alexander Liebreich, Stephan Asbury, Ion Marin, Michał Nesterowicz, Anu Tali, Wayne Marshall, Omer Meir Wellber, Ilan Volkov, and Eva Ollikainen.

Renowned soloists who have performed with the orchestra include pianist Krystian Zimerman; violinists Pierre Amoyal, Frank Peter Zimmermann, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, Gidon Kremer, and María Dueñas; cellists Gautier Capuçon, Daniel Müller-Schott, István Várdai, and Steven Isserlis; trombonist Christian Lindberg; and jazz musician Avishai Cohen. Vocal soloists have included stars such as Renée Fleming, Elīna Garanča, José Cura, Juan Diego Flórez, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, and Jonas Kaufmann. The orchestra frequently works with Czech artists such as Lukáš Vondráček, Ivo Kahánek, Jan Bartoš, Josef Špaček, Jan Mráček, Tomáš Jamník, Adam Plachetka, Simona Šaturová, Kateřina Kněžíková, Petr Nekoranec, and Vilém Veverka.

SOČR is dedicated to supporting contemporary Czech composers, commissioning and regularly performing works by Miroslav Srnka, Ondřej Adámek, Pavel Zemek Novák, Jan Ryant Dřízal, Šimon Voseček, and Jana Vöröšová.

The orchestra boasts an extensive recording portfolio. Notable recent recordings include a Hyperion Records release featuring harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani and conductor Alexander Liebreich with works by Viktor Kalabis, Hans Krása, and Bohuslav Martinů, which was selected as Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine. Noteworthy is the album Mysterium of Time, featuring music by Miloslav Kabeláč and complementing SOČR’s acclaimed complete recording of his symphonies (Supraphon, 2016).

In 2023, the orchestra recorded an album with violinist Josef Špaček and pianist Miroslav Sekera, presenting chamber and orchestral works by Bohuslav Martinů. That same year, it recorded Jan Novák’s Concertos, conducted by Tomáš Netopil and featuring Novák’s daughters, Dora and Clara Nováková. Both recordings were released by Supraphon.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s birth, SOČR recorded his opera The Two Widows. The recording, conducted by Robert Jindra and featuring soloists Kateřina Kněžíková, Pavol Breslik, Adam Plachetka, Jana Sibera, Petr Nekoranec, and the National Theatre Chorus, was broadcast on Czech Radio Vltava and will be released on CD.

SOČR presents concerts as part of subscription series at major Prague venues, including the Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, Smetana Hall of the Municipal House, Bethlehem Chapel, as well as individual concerts at DOX+ and Czech Radio’s Studio 1.

The orchestra is a regular guest at prestigious festivals such as the Prague Spring International Music Festival, Dvořák Prague International Music Festival, Smetana’s Litomyšl, Leoš Janáček International Music Festival, and the Český Krumlov International Music Festival.

Internationally, SOČR frequently performs at major European venues and regularly tours in Japan, continuing to strengthen its reputation on the global stage.

source: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

Beginning in 2020, he became the Chief Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. From 2013–2018 he was Chief Conductor of the Plzeň Philharmonic, from 2014–2018 he has been Principal Guest Conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra in Prague and from 2018–2021 he has been Chief Conductor of the Bohuslav Martinů Philharmonic.  

In 2018 Tomáš Brauner toured with the Prague Symphony Orchestra in Munich (Rachmaninoff: Piano Concert No. 2 & No. 3) and in Poznań (Smetana: My Country). In 2022 he performer with Prague Symphony Orchestra in Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, in 2023 in Wiesbaden and Dresden. In the 2023/2024 season, he and FOK will tour to Austria, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

Tomáš Brauner works regularly with leading symphony orchestras and opera houses including the Czech Philharmonic, Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Münchner Symphoniker, Nürnberger Symphoniker, Slovak Philharmonic, Philharmonie Sudwestfalen, National Radio Orchestra Romania, Moscow Radio State Orchestra, Athens Orchestra of Colours, PKF – Prague Philharmonia, and many more.

Tomáš Brauner began his opera conducting career at the J.K. Tyl Theatre in Plzeň. He made his debut at the Prague State Opera in 2008 with a performance of Verdi’s Othello. In the National Theater in Prague, he conducts Verdi’s La Traviata. He has conducted Janáček’s Jenůfa at the prestigious Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. In 2019 he had new productions at the Slovak National Theatre in Bratislava with Hoffman’s Les Contes d’Hoffmann.

Tomáš Brauner also receives regular invitations to perform at major international festivals such as Prague Spring, Bad Kissingen, and the Richard Strauss Festival in Garmisch Partenkirchen. His recording of the complete cello works by Bohuslav Martinů for the Dabringhaus und Grimm label won Classic Prague Awards 2017. He recorded with Prague Symphony Orchestra Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and Rachmaninoff’s complete piano concertos with Lukáš Vondráček. Tomáš Brauner was born in Prague in 1978. After graduating in conducting from the Prague Academy of Performing Arts in 2005 he undertook a study attachment at the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna. Five years later he was a prizewinner at the Dimitris Mitropoulos International Conducting Competition in Athens.

zdroj: Symfonický orchestr Českého rozhlasu

The names of the finalists and their selected competition pieces will be announced in June.