Jiří Bělohlávek

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Jiří Bělohlávek (born February 24, 1946) is a Czech conductor. In his youth, he studied the cello with Milos Sádlo.[1] Bělohlávek is a graduate of the Prague Conservatory and Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. He also studied conducting with Sergiu Celibidache. He won the 1970 Czech National Conducting Competition before progressing through national and international conducting roles.

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[edit] Career in Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic

Bělohlávek was an assistant conductor at the Czech Philharmonic for 2 years.[2] From 1977 to 1989, he was chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra.

Bělohlávek became chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic in 1990. However, in 1991, the orchestra reorganized and controversially voted to appoint Gerd Albrecht its new principal conductor to replace Bělohlávek. Instead of remaining until Albrecht's accession, Bělohlávek resigned from the Czech Philharmonic in 1992.[3] He subsequently founded the Prague Philharmonia (Pražskou komorní filharmonii) in 1994 and has recorded and performed in concerts worldwide with the orchestra.[4] He conducted the Prague Philharmonia at its first BBC Proms appearance in 2004, in a televised performance.[5] In 2005, he relinquished his post with the Prague Philharmonia, and now is the orchestra's conductor laureate.

[edit] Career outside the Czech Republic

From 1995-2000, Bělohlávek was principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO). In February 2005, he was named its twelfth chief conductor, effective July 2006, with an initial contract of 3 years.[6] [7] Bělohlávek is the first BBC SO principal guest conductor to be named chief conductor of the BBC SO.[8] His tenure with the BBC SO began with the First Night of the 2006 Proms.[9] He also conducted both the First Night[10] and Last Night[11] of the 2007 Proms. In September 2007, Bělohlávek extended his contract with the BBC Symphony to 2012.[12] [13]

In opera, Bělohlávek has conducted Jenůfa and Tristan und Isolde at Glyndebourne Opera.[14] He made his Metropolitan Opera (Met) debut on December 17, 2004 conducting Káťa Kabanová, with Karita Mattila in the title role. He returned to the Met in January and February of 2007 for Jenůfa. Other orchestral guest conducting appearances in the US have been with Philadelphia Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.

Bělohlávek has recorded for the Supraphon[15], Chandos, harmonia mundi[16], and Warner Classics[17] labels.

[edit] Note on family name

"Bělohlávek" translates from Czech as "Whitehead". The pronunciation of the family name is "Bye-lo-hla-vek".

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Miloš Sádlo (obituary)", The Telegraph, 23 October 2003. Retrieved on 2007-12-13. 
  2. ^ Allan Kozinn. "Czech Philharmonic With Its New Leader", New York Times, 11 October 1990. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
  3. ^ John Rockwell. "Czech Philharmonic Faces Perilous Times In Dividing Country", New York Times, 30 December 1992. Retrieved on 2007-10-25. 
  4. ^ Geoffrey Norris. "I've never been to the Last Night", The Telegraph, 8 June 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. 
  5. ^ Erica Jeal. "Prague Philharmonia (review of Prom 4, 2004)", The Guardian, 24 July 2004. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  6. ^ BBC Press Office (1 February 2005). "Jirí Belohlávek appointed Chief Conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra". Press release. Retrieved on 2008-03-28.
  7. ^ Geoffrey Norris. "I'm here to raise the standard", The Telegraph, 2 Feb 2005. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. 
  8. ^ Andrew Clark. "The quiet cosmopolitan", Financial Times, 6 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-28. 
  9. ^ Tom Service. "BBCSO/Belohlavek", The Guardian, 17 July 2006. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. 
  10. ^ Erica Jeal. "BBCSO/Belohlavek (review of Prom 1, 2007)", The Guardian, 16 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  11. ^ Tim Ashley. "Prom 72", The Guardian, 10 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  12. ^ Tom Service. "'If I understand the heckles, I'll respond'", The Guardian, 6 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-08. 
  13. ^ Geoffrey Norris. "BBC Proms: A vintage and stirring night", Telegraph, 10 September 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  14. ^ Charlotte Higgins. "'Grumpy? What's that?'", The Guardian, 2 February 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-28. 
  15. ^ Andrew Clements. "Dvorak: The Stubborn Lovers: Kloubova/ Brezina/ Sykorova/ Belacek/ Janal/ Prague Philharmonia/ Belohlavek", The Guardian, 2 April 2004. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  16. ^ Andrew Clements. "Mozart: Symphonies Nos 35 & 36, Prague Philharmonia/ Belohlavek", The Guardian, 19 August 2005. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 
  17. ^ Andrew Clements. "Dvorak: Symphonies Nos 5 & 6; Scherzo Capriccioso; The Hero's Song, BBCSO/ Belohlavek", The Guardian, 3 November 2006. Retrieved on 2007-09-10. 

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Jindřich Rohan		 Music Director, Prague Symphony Orchestra
1977-1990		 Succeeded by
Petr Altrichter
Preceded by
(no predecessor)		 Music Director, Prague Philharmonia
1994-2005		 Succeeded by
Kaspar Zehnder
v • d • e
Czech Philharmonic Chief Conductors

Ludvík Čelanský (1901) · Vilém Zemánek (1903) · Václav Talich (1919) · Rafael Kubelík (1942) · Karel Ančerl (1950) · Václav Neumann (1968) · Jiří Bělohlávek (1990) · Gerd Albrecht (1993) · Vladimir Ashkenazy (1996) · Zdeněk Mácal (2003) · Eliahu Inbal (2009)
v • d • e
BBC Symphony Orchestra Chief Conductors

Adrian Boult (1930) · Malcolm Sargent (1950) · Rudolf Schwarz (1957) · Antal Doráti (1962) · Colin Davis (1967) · Pierre Boulez (1971) · Rudolf Kempe (1976) · Gennady Rozhdestvensky (1978) · John Pritchard (1982) · Andrew Davis (1989) · Leonard Slatkin (2000) · Jiří Bělohlávek (2006)
v • d • e
Slovak Philharmonic Principal Conductors

Václav Talich / Ľudovít Rajter (1949) · Tibor Frešo (1952) · Ľudovít Rajter (1953) · Ladislav Slovák (1961) · Libor Pešek (1981) · Vladimír Verbickij (1982) · Bystrík Režucha (1984) · Aldo Ceccato (1990) · Ondrej Lenárd (1991) · Jiří Bělohlávek (2003) · Vladimír Válek (2004) · Peter Feranec (2007)