Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra
Uniquely among the Czech Republic's top orchestras, the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra is located not in Prague but in the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava. Its Czech name, in fact, is the Janackova Filharmonie Ostrava. Despite its regional origins, the orchestra has been somewhat oriented toward the West, especially since the fall of Communism; it has programmed much Western contemporary music and toured the U.S. multiple times. The Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1954, with Otakar Parik as its first conductor. The orchestra was led from 2005 to 2014 by the Ukrainian-American Theodore Kuchar, who opened additional doors for the group in the U.S. Since 2014, its chief conductor has been Heiko Mathias Förster, and its artistic director Jan Zemla. The orchestra quickly gained a reputation even west of the Iron Curtain, and it made its first foreign tour in 1958, going as far afield as Australia the following year; it was only the second Czech ensemble to tour abroad. In addition, the orchestra has toured Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, as well as most European countries. Unusually for an orchestra in the former East Bloc, it has benefited from corporate support, from the Arcelormittal steelmaking firm. The Philharmonic appears frequently in other Czech cities besides Ostrava, and leading conductors from the Czech Republic and beyond -- Jiří Bělohlávek, Václav Neumann, Charles Mackerras, and Helmuth Rilling -- have mounted the podium as guests. The Janácek Philharmonic has been especially notable for the size and variety of its recorded catalog. Even before the breakup of Czechoslovakia it recorded several albums for the U.S.-based Centaur Records, including an album of Dvorák's Slavonic Rhapsodies; Suite for a Large Orchestra in 1992. Since then the group has recorded for various labels: the budget-line Brilliant in the Netherlands, Denon Classics in Japan, the contemporary-leaning Navona, Albany, and New World labels in the U.S., and Oehms, CPO, and Berlin Classics in Germany, among others. In 2018 the orchestra, under conductor Anthony Armore, issued a recording of symphonic poems by Australian composer Mark John McEncroe.© James Manheim /TiVo Read more
Uniquely among the Czech Republic's top orchestras, the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra is located not in Prague but in the northeastern Czech city of Ostrava. Its Czech name, in fact, is the Janackova Filharmonie Ostrava. Despite its regional origins, the orchestra has been somewhat oriented toward the West, especially since the fall of Communism; it has programmed much Western contemporary music and toured the U.S. multiple times. The Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra was founded in 1954, with Otakar Parik as its first conductor. The orchestra was led from 2005 to 2014 by the Ukrainian-American Theodore Kuchar, who opened additional doors for the group in the U.S. Since 2014, its chief conductor has been Heiko Mathias Förster, and its artistic director Jan Zemla. The orchestra quickly gained a reputation even west of the Iron Curtain, and it made its first foreign tour in 1958, going as far afield as Australia the following year; it was only the second Czech ensemble to tour abroad. In addition, the orchestra has toured Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, as well as most European countries. Unusually for an orchestra in the former East Bloc, it has benefited from corporate support, from the Arcelormittal steelmaking firm. The Philharmonic appears frequently in other Czech cities besides Ostrava, and leading conductors from the Czech Republic and beyond -- Jiří Bělohlávek, Václav Neumann, Charles Mackerras, and Helmuth Rilling -- have mounted the podium as guests.
The Janácek Philharmonic has been especially notable for the size and variety of its recorded catalog. Even before the breakup of Czechoslovakia it recorded several albums for the U.S.-based Centaur Records, including an album of Dvorák's Slavonic Rhapsodies; Suite for a Large Orchestra in 1992. Since then the group has recorded for various labels: the budget-line Brilliant in the Netherlands, Denon Classics in Japan, the contemporary-leaning Navona, Albany, and New World labels in the U.S., and Oehms, CPO, and Berlin Classics in Germany, among others. In 2018 the orchestra, under conductor Anthony Armore, issued a recording of symphonic poems by Australian composer Mark John McEncroe.
© James Manheim /TiVo
-
Suppé: Mozart – Incidental Music
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Julie Svěcená, Pavel Rybka, Dario Salvi
Classical - Released by Naxos on May 27, 2022
Universally famous for his glorious overtures Light Cavalry and Poet and Peasant, Franz von Suppé was one of the greatest exponents of the golden Age ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Auber: Overtures, Vol. 5
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Dario Salvi
Classical - Released by Naxos on Dec 3, 2021
From the mid-1820s onwards Auber’s career was filled with success. His opéras-comiques and grands opéras won repeated acclaim for their myriad qualiti ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Fibich: Orchestral Works
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Stilec
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jun 12, 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Suppé: Die Reise um die Erde in 80 Tagen (Version Without Narration)
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Dario Salvi
Classical - Released by Naxos on Sep 23, 2022
Franz von Suppé became famous all over the world for the easy brilliance of his operetta melodies. He also achieved great success with theatrical stag ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Foerster: Orchestral Works
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Stilec
Classical - Released by Naxos on Oct 14, 2022
Josef Bohuslav Foerster was the successor to Dvořák as organist in Prague, a lifelong friend of Mahler, and a pivotal figure in Czech music, whose alm ...
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: Má Vlast. Complete Orchestral Works
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on Jan 10, 2008
Bedrich Smetana is one of the best kept secrets of Western music; while The Moldau is a standard concert favorite and The Bartered Bride perhaps the b ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Antonin Dvorak: Serenade for Strings, Op. 22
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Roberta Carpenter
Chamber Music - Released by Zenith Music International on Jun 3, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Symphonic Poems: Orchestral Images
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Armore
Classical - Released by Navona on Oct 12, 2018
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, WWV 90 (Live)
Opera - Released by Navona on Nov 20, 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Greve: Oerbos & Other Works
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Navona on Apr 8, 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mark John McEncroe: Symphonic Suites 1 & 2 – A Medieval Saga
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Armore
Classical - Released by Navona on Aug 11, 2017
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Michael Drapkin: Classics Rescored for Chamber Orchestra
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Mark Laycock
Classical - Released by Pro Organo on Jun 17, 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
SCARMOLIN: Orchestral Works
Classical - Released by Naxos on Jun 25, 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorak: Symphonic Poems & Overtures
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on Mar 1, 2005
While Theodore Kuchar has made impressive, even terrific recordings in the past, this set of Dvorák's Symphonic Poems and Overtures is neither terrifi ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Symphonies (Intégrale)
Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Kuchar
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on Feb 28, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Smetana: The Moldau - Dvořák: Czech Suite & Nature, Life, Love
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra
Symphonic Music - Released by Berlin Classics on May 17, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Symphony No. 4
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on Jan 25, 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Badings: Symphonies Nos. 2, 7 and 12
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, David Porcelijn
Classical - Released by CPO on Jan 1, 2007
Henk Badings enjoyed the most internationally focused career of any Dutch composer before Louis Andriessen, but his reputation at home was devastated ...
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Robertson: Vallarta Suite, Op. 47
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Armore
Classical - Released by Navona on Aug 11, 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Suite Tchèque
Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra & Theodore Kuchar
Classical - Released by Brilliant Classics on Apr 1, 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
John Robertson: Symphony No. 1
Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra, Anthony Armore
Classical - Released by Navona on Jul 13, 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo