Interview with the Intendant of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra Jan Simon

SOČR is offering fifteen concerts in the forthcoming season. How did you go about deciding on the programme for these concerts?

The primary objective was to offer audiences an attractive programme where every visitor would find something they’d truly appreciate. It is true to say that, as a radio orchestra, we also have our commitments towards our parent institution, Czech Radio and, in particular, Czech Radio 3 – Vltava. Therefore, when constructing the repertoire, we take into account the programming devised by this station, which not only broadcasts music recordings from Czech Radio’s archive, but it also frequently takes over recordings of concerts made by other foreign public service stations. And, of course, to a great extent today’s broadcasting involves selections made from the many CDs available. Which means a lot of competition for the music produced by our own orchestra. I should also add that what audiences in the concert hall find attractive won’t necessarily be attractive for the purposes of broadcasting. The fact is that there are so many recordings of works by “the classics from Bach to Stravinsky” in radio archives and on CD, performed by all manner of first-rate artists. So there really is so much to choose from, and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) prefers to broadcast works whose performance is quite rare or innovative in some way. Works whose selection is governed by this criterion may not have universal appeal for the concert-going public. We have therefore tried to choose music which our orchestra hasn’t performed so much in recent concert seasons, nevertheless, the programme still has to contain a certain number of “evergreens”.

Do you think that members of the orchestra are particularly looking forward to performing certain works on this season’s programme?

I certainly hope that our players are looking forward to all the works from the given repertoire. Because, if they weren’t, I think the audience would be able to tell immediately. It’s my belief that the intensity of musical expression is directly contingent on the intensity of a musician’s emotional bond with the work in question. The basic rule of a performer is that he conceives the work as his own. I’m basing my opinion on the assumption that, if I’m not convinced myself about something, I’m hardly going to be able to convince others about it. But I could name a couple of works as an example: Mahler’s Symphony No. 3, Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony and Suk’s Asrael…

You traditionally include various contemporary composers in your repertoire; whom are you presenting in the 2010/11 season?

I should certainly mention the concertante piece for two clarinets and orchestra by Jiří Teml, who has collaborated with Czech Radio for many years. I’m also delighted that we’ll be acknowledging the work of excellent composer Vladimír Sommer during this subscription series. And I’m especially looking forward to the re-opening of Czech Radio’s newly reconstructed Studio 1 on Vinohradská třída, when the orchestra will once again be able to focus consistently on its recording projects, and on the presentation of contemporary works in particular.

Which artists have you invited to work with the orchestra? Who is coming back and whom are you welcoming for the first time?

Various artists will be performing for the first time in this subscription season, such as conductors Tomáš Hanus, Koji Kawamoto and Tomáš Netopil, then also the soloists – pianist Adam Skoumal, oboist Vilém Veverka and harpist Jana Boušková. Conductor Petr Altrichter will be returning to SOČR after some time away from the orchestra; other regulars include Ondrej Lenárd and Christopher Seaman. The dominant figures are, of course, the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra’s Chief Conductor Vladimír Válek and SOČR’s conductor Jan Kučera. I’m personally very much looking forward to the appearances of pianists Ivan Klánský and Igor Ardašev. You probably know why…

Some of the members of the orchestra will be featured as soloists. In which works will they be given an opportunity to perform for SOČR audiences?

I think it’s wonderful that the leading players in our orchestra are also excellent soloists. Names such as Pavel Ludvík, Vlastimil Kobrle, Petr Zdvihal, Štěpán Koutník, Pavel Čermák and others are a sign of quality and an integral part of our current classical music elite. Moreover, the presentation of these musicians in the role of soloist increases their musical and professional prestige during their work with other colleagues from the orchestra. The pieces they’ll be performing cover a broad stylistic spectrum, from early Classicism to the present.

Let’s take a brief look back at the summer months. What interesting things did the orchestra have in store during the holidays?

SOČR’s appearance at the opening concert of the Český Krumlov IMF with tenor José Cura certainly made an impact on the audience – and on the orchestra as well. This was followed by a truly deserved holiday, at the end of which the orchestra will continue their season’s commitments, such as the closing concert at Český Krumlov, the Dvořák’s Prague Festival and especially the launch of the 84th subscription season in Prague’s Rudolfinum with Chief Conductor Vladimír Válek, and, hot on its heels, a tour to Wiesbaden in Germany with conductor Zdeněk Mácal, where we’ll resume our collected performances of Dvořák symphonies.

In September 2010 precisely 25 years will have passed since Vladimír Válek took up his position as head of the orchestra. Are you planning any celebrations to mark the occasion or are you simply going to celebrate through your work?

This fact really does deserve to be fully acknowledged. Thanks to Vladimír Válek our orchestra has come away from the relatively anonymous environment of the radio studio to become an integral and important part of public life and culture, and this without neglecting its fundamental mission as a radio orchestra, namely to create recordings primarily for radio broadcast. And it’s not just his quarter century as head of the orchestra that we’re celebrating. There’s another special date to commemorate: that same month, 2nd of September to be precise, Vladimír Válek is celebrating a very special landmark. (Since he’s a man, I think I’m allowed to betray the fact that he’ll be 75 years old). This certainly deserves recognition and celebration. The opening concert of the subscription season on 6 September 2010 will mark these important dates – so we will be celebrating through work. But I’m sure we’ll be celebrating in lots of other ways as well!