Opening words of Jakub Čížek, Director of PRSO
Dear friends of the PRSO,
Music is a gift that can change a life. It can bring people close together, cheer them up and caress their souls; however, it also has the power to stir the emotions, to excite or to educate and cultivate. We at the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra do our best to present the full range of what can be discovered in music’s symphonic form.
Following the model of the previous season, we are offering you three concert series in our 91st season. We are very glad that you have gradually found your way to the “N – New Horizons” series aimed at popularising our concerts and introducing the PRSO to those who aren’t its regular audience.
Our intimate “S – The PRSO Lives Here” series at Czech Radio’s Studio 1 has also been very well received and we will continue it with pleasure. However, for us the central pillar remains the “R – When Classical is a Passion” series of 12 concerts at the Rudolfinum.
In the new season you can look forward to major works from the world repertoire, such as Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass and Hector Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Alongside well-known works, we have attempted to uncover for you lesser known and performed works by Richard Strauss, Zemlinsky, Ligeti, Dukas and other composers. A major share of the season is given over to Czech music, from Antonín Dvořák to Bohuslav Martinů and Viktor Kalabis. A cello concerto by young Czech composer Jan Ryant Dřízal will receive its world premiere.
To our great delight, the Czech bass baritone Adam Plachetka has become artist in residence of the PRSO’s 91st season. He will appear at three concerts in total, each time in a different role. However, the season also offers many more opportunities to see other world stars on stage with the PRSO. Of all of them, allow me to mention the cellist Steven Isserlis, who I am personally looking forward to greatly. For me, the cello is a musical instrument that, thanks to its scope and colour of sound, as well as the possibilities for playing it affords, can evoke a broad spectrum of moods and feelings, so much attractive musical language.
I trust you will support us in the new season and that you will look forward to music you know well but also to compositions that will be for you a pleasant surprise.
I look forward warmly to meeting you at the concert halls.
