29th concert season

For this year’s orchestral subscription series A, the PKF — Prague Philharmonia is offering nine concerts with a programme which includes music from the Classical period to the 20th century. A central figure in our repertory will be Johannes Brahms, one of the most important composers of the 19th century, who had a significant influence on the career of Antonín Dvořák. The PKF — Prague Philharmonia will perform works by composers whose music is part of the orchestra’s core repertoire (Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn), as well compositions by those who appear more sporadically in the concert series programmes, such as the Czech composer Viktor Kalabis. For four of these concerts the orchestra will be led by Chief Conductor Emmanuel Villaume, while for the remainder the baton will be transferred to the respected French conductor Marc Minkowski and Venezuelan-born Domingo Hindoyan. Star names also feature amongst the soloists: the opening concert will feature a soloist from the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Ailyn Peréz, while in April we will be welcoming the Grammy Award-winning pianist Garrick Ohlsson.

Season Subscription

The theme of the 29th chamber series is Duos. We want to highlight the strength and importance of individual musical instruments in classical music. We can look forward to works for four-hand piano, two double basses, two trumpets, compositions with two clarinets, two cellos, as well as musical dialogues between interesting combinations of instruments.

The season will be opened by the Zemlinsky Quartet together with cellist Lukáš Pospíšil and violist Stanislav Svoboda. The closing concert focuses on four-hand playing with the pianists Jan Čmejla and Lukáš Klánský, who will also perform with the Lobkowicz Trio and Jan Fišer.

An important element of the whole season will be the 200th anniversary of the birth of the French composer César Franck and the 240th anniversary of the birth of Niccolò Paganini.

The sixth edition of the PKF—LOBKOWICZ donor subscription series once again presents the greatest talents from the contemporary international music scene. We cordially invite you to a venue which provides the orchestra of the PKF — Prague Philharmonia with the opportunity to share its characteristic virtuosity and artistic enthusiasm with those who are fascinated by timeless stories of art, all within an intimate and distinguished setting. Surrounded by the exclusive collections of Lobkowicz Palace at Prague Castle, we have organized four evenings in 2022, each with a unique atmosphere, when we will once again be offering captivating stories about the search for beauty and harmony in art, leading you straight to the heart of the PKF orchestra.

By purchasing the PKF – LOBKOWICZ donor’s subscription series you are directly helping the artistic activity of the PKF — Prague Philharmonia, for which we are very grateful.

The theme for this season – subtitled “Cycle S – worldwide!” – is musical treats by leading 20th and 21st century composers from Austria, Germany, France, Estonia, Latvia, Finland, the USA and the Czech Republic.

The main musical figures and interpreters of this cycle are members of the PKF — Prague Philharmonia, who you will have the chance to meet within the more intimate setting of a chamber ensemble.

The concerts traditionally have introductions and a feature of the programme is the chance for the public to engage in discussions with the players and the guests who have been invited for each evening.

In the new season you can also look forward to four different concerts for children and the whole family. This time we are focusing on stories which cannot be told using words – only through music. In the first concert, which is dedicated to the Baroque, we will witness the dance of the kings and the wild pageant of the ghosts in the underworld. The second programme is dedicated to Mozart and offers festivity, lightness and magic. We have prepared a concert from the music of the Romantics for those wishing to delve into the realms of fantasy or dreams. The season then comes to a close with a cheeky, danceable modern number from the start of the twentieth century.

Concerts in cycle D start at 10:00, concerts in cycle E start at 12:00 (at noon), the programme is the same.

We pay tribute to the brilliant thinker Jan Amos Komenský, whose work continues to inspire us in the 21st century, in the form of the musical cycle Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart. Together with the composer Tomáš Kačo, we will give the world premiere of this cycle on 28 June 2023 at the Rudolfinum in Prague, 400 years after Komenský completed his Labyrinth.