Vladimír Válek

Vladimír Válek began his career in 1975 as a conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra FOK, a post he held until 1987.

In 1985, he succeeded his teacher Alois Klíma as Chief Conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra. At that time, the ensemble—previously used primarily for studio recordings and appearing in public only sporadically—was undergoing a major generational transformation.

Válek engaged outstanding instrumentalists, significantly strengthened discipline within the orchestra, introduced subscription series of ten or more concerts, and filled them with works of considerable interpretative demands. He also proved to be an accomplished and responsive interpreter of contemporary music, premiering many works by living composers. Positive audience reactions followed swiftly, and the orchestra’s growing international competitiveness was demonstrated through numerous foreign tours.

From 1996, Vladimír Válek also served for a full decade as a conductor of the Czech Philharmonic. In the 2002/03 season he was appointed Principal Guest Conductor of the Osaka Philharmonic Orchestra, and from 2004 to 2007 he held the position of Chief Conductor of the Slovak Philharmonic.

At the helm of these ensembles, he has appeared in many of the world’s major cultural capitals, including Amsterdam, Berlin, Bonn, Brussels, Zurich, Cairo, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Moscow, New York, Paris, Beijing, Salzburg, Singapore, Seoul, Shanghai, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and Vienna. In addition to these engagements, he has been a frequent guest conductor with leading international orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, MDR Symphony Orchestra Leipzig, Tonkünstler Orchestra, ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Japan Philharmonic Orchestra, Yomiuri Symphony Orchestra, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. He has also been invited to perform at major international festivals, including those in Linz, Athens, Istanbul, Wrocław, Montreux, and Lucerne—where, in 1990, he conducted a joint concert with Rafael Kubelík. He was a regular guest at the Prague Spring International Music Festival and the Bratislava Music Festival.

Vladimír Válek has made more than one thousand recordings for radio broadcasters in Prague, Vienna, Leipzig, Hilversum, and Zagreb. His discography comprises over one hundred titles released by Pony Canyon, Harmonia Mundi, Supraphon, and Radioservis. A recording of Erwin Schulhoff’s piano concertos with soloist Jan Simon and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra received the Cannes Classical Award (MIDEM Classic) in 1996. Among his most significant recording projects with the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra are the complete symphonies of Antonín Dvořák, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and Bohuslav Martinů (Supraphon).

Vladimír Válek served as Chief Conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra for more than twenty-five years (1985–2011). This period is regarded in the orchestra’s history as a distinctive, unique, and remarkable creative era. In recognition of his achievements, he received the Medal of Merit from the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus, in October 2010.