British composer Julian Anderson  will discuss Czech cultural influences in his new Second  Symphony "Prague Panoramas" inspired by famous panoramic photos of Prague by legendary photographer Josef Sudek. The piece commissioned by the BBC  will have its first full performance at the BBC Proms on the same evening at 7.30pm (see separate listing). The BBC... Read more »

Distance and enchantment: whenever Julian Anderson creates a new work, we’re in for a musical experience that ruffles through memories as it ravishes the ears. His keenly awaited Second Symphony takes its cue from old photographs of Prague: a city dear to conductor Semyon Bychkov, and to the exiled Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů, whose exuberant... Read more »

For the first event in their two-concert residency at the 2022 International Festival, the Czech Philharmonic and Music Director Semyon Bychkov draw on the orchestra’s own eminent history to bring together richly flavoured music from their Czech homeland. No other ensemble can perform this music with the same power, authenticity or sheer delight. Dvořák offers... Read more »

Among the world’s most immediately distinctive and recognisable orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic is defined by its rich, individualistic playing that has shaped more than a century of unparalleled performances. Semyon Bychkov has been Chief Conductor and Music Director since 2018. In the second of their two concerts at the 2022 Edinburgh International Festival, Bychkov and... Read more »

The Czech ensemble the Pavel Haas Quartet counts among classical music’s most distinctive chamber groups. It has a particular passion for the music of central Europe, but its repertoire stretches across boundaries and times. Following the breezy wit of Haydn’s sunny G major Quartet, Op 76 No 1, the Pavel Haas players perform the 1947 Quartet No... Read more »

The long-time artistic partners explore songs of love, longing and innocence by Bartók, Mussorgsky and Brahms. Czech-born mezzo-sopranoMagdalena Koženáis one of the world’s pre-eminent vocalists, celebrated not only for the flickering colours and mercurial moods conveyed in her deeply expressive voice, but also the blistering insights she brings to her performances. Israeli-American pianistYefim Bronfmanis a... Read more »

This special screening commemorates Sir Barnett Stross and the 80th anniversary of the birth of the "Lidice Shall Live" campaign at the Victoria Hall on September 6th, 1942. The coal miners of North Staffordshire vowed to donate one day’s pay each week until the end of the War to rebuild the village destroyed by the... Read more »