Czech Symphony Orchestra

Overview

The Czech Symphony, also known as the Janacek Philharmonic of Ostrava, is one of the foremost symphony orchestras of The Czech Republic. It has performed in some of the most prestigious venues of Europe, the U.S. and Japan featuring distinguished guest artists, and is renowned for its performance of works of Czech composers such as Dvorak. The orchestra’s principal conductor, Theodore Kuchar, is one of the world’s most internationally acclaimed and prolifically recorded conductors of the past decade.

Related Sites

• Jennifer Frautschi Web Site

Program

• Smetana - Vltava “(The Moldau)”
• Mendelssohn - Violin Concerto in E minor, op. 64
• Dvorak - Symphony No. 6 in D major, op. 60

About the Artists

Theodore Kuchar, one of the most prolifically recorded conductors of the past decade, has recorded over 90 compact discs for the Naxos, Brilliant Classics, Ondine and Marco Polo labels. For the past fifteen years, he has served as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of two of Europe's important orchestras, the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra (formerly the Czech Radio Orchestra) and the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine. He presently also serves as Music Director and Conductor of the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra and the Reno Chamber Orchestra in the United States. He is a frequent guest conductor with the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, and in February 2005 conducted a three-week tour of the United States with the Northwest German Philharmonic. During the past several seasons, guest conducting engagements have taken him to many major musical centers including Amsterdam, Berlin, Chicago, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Madrid, Prague, Seoul and Sydney. His collaborations with major artists have included James Galway, Jessye Norman, Lynn Harrell, Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo Ma, Sarah Chang, Mstislav Rostropovich and Frederica von Stade, among others.

With the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra since 2005, Kuchar has recorded compact discs devoted to the complete symphonies of Carl Nielsen, and the complete overtures and tone poems of Dvorak. This past summer, Maestro Kuchar, in collaboration with the Janacek Philharmonic, completed a 3-cd recording of the orchestral works of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana for the Brilliant Classics label. Also completed for Brilliant Classics, was a world premiere recording of Rachmaninoff’s Fifth Piano Concerto, a reconstruction of that composer’s Second Symphony based on the composer’s manuscripts. With the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Kuchar has conducted tours of Australia, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands and Switzerland, and in January and February of 2009 they will undertake a four week tour of the USA.

During his tenure with the National Symphony Orchestra of the Ukraine, Kuchar conducted complete symphony cycles by Bruckner and Schubert, and led eleven international tours to Asia, Australia, Central Europe and the United Kingdom. Under Mr. Kuchar’s direction, the National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine became the most frequently recorded orchestra of the former Soviet Union. Between 1994 and 2004 the orchestra recorded over 70 compact discs for the Naxos and Marco Polo labels, including the complete symphonies of Kalinnikov, Lyatoshynsky, Martinu and Prokofiev, as well as major works of Dvorak, Glazunov, Mozart, Shchedrin, Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky. They also recorded the symphonies and orchestral works of Ukraine’s leading contemporary symphonist, Yevhen Stankovych. The recording of Lyatoshynsky’s Symphonies Nos. 2 and 3 was awarded ABC’s “Best International Recording of the Year” in 1994. Their recording of the complete works for violin and orchestra by Walter Piston for the Naxos label was hailed by Gramophone (January, 2000) as a “Record of the Year” for 1999. The complete symphonies of Prokofiev are regarded by many critics as the most accomplished cycle available compact discs.

Kuchar remains as strong an advocate of composers of the present day as he does of the great composers of the past. In addition to his recordings of contemporary works with the NSO-Ukraine, he has also conducted music by Americans George Crumb, Lukas Foss, and Benjamin Lees, among others. In May, 2000, at the invitation of Yo-Yo Ma, Mr. Kuchar conducted the world premiere of Lukas Foss’s Capriccio for Cello and Orchestra, with Mr. Ma as soloist.

Avery Fisher career grant recipient violinist Jennifer Frautschi is rapidly gaining acclaim as an adventurous performer with a wide-ranging repertoire. As the Chicago Tribune recently wrote, "the young violinist Jennifer Frautschi is molding a career with smart interpretations of both warhorses and rarities." Equally at home in the classic repertoire as well as twentieth and twenty-first century works, in the past few seasons alone she has performed the Britten Concerto, Poul Ruders’ Concerto No. 1, Steven Mackey's Violin Sonata, and Mendelssohn's rarely played d minor Concerto, along with standards such as the Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Berg Concerti.

Ms. Frautschi has created a sensation in recent seasons with appearances as soloist with Pierre Boulez and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Christoph Eschenbach and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival, Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony, Peter Oundjian and the Orchestra of St. Luke's at opening night of the Caramoor International Festival, and at Wigmore Hall and Lincoln Center's Mostly Mozart Festival. Selected by Carnegie Hall for its Distinctive Debuts series, she made her New York recital debut in 2004. As part of the European Concert Hall Organization's Rising Stars series, Ms. Frautschi also made debuts that year at ten of Europe's most celebrated concert venues, including London's Wigmore Hall, Salzburg Mozarteum, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Vienna Konzerthaus, and La Cité de la Musique in Paris. She has also been heard in recital at the Ravinia Festival, La Jolla Chamber Music Society, Washington's Phillips Collection, Boston's Gardner Museum, Beijing's Imperial Garden, Monnaie Opera in Brussels, La Chaux des Fonds in Switzerland, and San Miguel de Allende Festival in Mexico.

Ms. Frautschi's 2008-09 season highlights include a three week tour of the U.S. with the Czech Symphony Orchestra.