catalogue

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) worked on his last symphony, Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, in 1823. The work crowns the development of the classical symphony and paves the way for similar, large-scale symphonic works by Berlioz, Bruckner and Mahler. The urgent message for mankind, that all nations of the world will live together in peace and fraternity, contained in this monumental piece of music by tradition closed the 53rd Prague Spring Festival.

The Prague Philharmonia was established in 1994 as an ensemble in which musicians of the younger generation would join forces. The leading role in this effort was taken by conductor Jiří Bělohlávek. Jiří Bělohlávek has been successful in forging the young musicians into an ensemble with unusually coherent sections, where technical perfection and the spontaneous musicality of the individual players is complemented by enormous vitality and, at the same time, an indispensable dose of artistic humility and responsibility. The basic instrumentation of the Prague Philharmonia is derived from the Viennese classical orchestra, but is supplemented and altered according to need. The ensemble interprets works whose scoring ranges from small string and wind ensembles to a full symphony orchestra. In its repertoire, the orchestra focuses on the masterpieces of the classical and romantic eras, and on music of the twentieth century.