Former PRSO chief conductor František Vajnar passed away
One of the most important conductors of the post-war generation died on Sunday 9 December at the age of 82. He built on the work of his teacher from the Prague Conservatory Alois Klíma at Czechoslovak Radio, serving as chief conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra (PRSO) in the period 1979–1985.
František Vajnar was born on 15 September 1930 in Strašice near Rokycany. He studied violin and conducting at the Prague Conservatory in the years 1945–1952. Following his studies, he joined the orchestra of the National Theatre Opera before later serving as conductor at the Army Opera (1953–1955) and the Karlín Musical Theatre (1955–1960).
He headed the opera in Ústí nad Labem for a full 12 years, beginning in 1962. From the end of the 1960s, he was guest conductor at the National Theatre, where he later received an engagement (1974–1980). In October 1979, he became head of the PRSO, before in August 1985 returning to the National Theatre as opera chief. When the Prague State Opera became independent he was its chief conductor in the period 1991–1993.
Vajnar’s time with the Czech Philharmonic, where he was chief conductor from 1982–1984, is also worthy of note. Throughout the 1990s, he led the Hradec Králové Philharmonic Orchestra as chief conductor. In addition, he was artistic director of the Collegium musicum Pragense ensemble for a quarter of a century, from 1968–1993.
He also worked abroad and enjoyed considerable success as a teacher. He taught at the Prague Conservatory from 1974–1975, before teaching conducting at the Music Faculty of Prague’s Academy of Performing Arts from 1975. Among his students were Vojtěch Spurný, Jiří Štrunc, Norbert Baxa, Jiří Malát, Tomáš Netopil and Marek Štryncl.
The funeral of the distinguished Czech conductor František Vajnar takes place at 12:15 on Friday 14 December at the ceremonial hall of the crematorium in Prague’s Motol.
