Czech Chamber Music Society • András Schiff

“It is the fulfilment of a dream we shared with Jiří Bělohlávek: after two years of preparations, we are ushering in concerts of the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra. This name does not stand for one particular ensemble; instead it represents a project in which the orchestra members will be performing in various chamber groups,” said David Mareček, Chief Executive Officer of the Czech Philharmonic, in the spring of 2018. Jiří Bělohlávek was convinced that it was healthy for the Czech Philharmonic to play in a smaller ensemble with a repertoire spanning the Baroque to the present, where the musicians can hone their intonation, phrasing, and collaboration as individuals within a whole group. The Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, consisting exclusively of the members of the Czech Philharmonic assembled for a specific occasion, was officially established in the Czech Philharmonic’s 123rd season. Since then, the ensemble has already prepared fifteen projects presented both during the orchestra’s regular season at the Rudolfinum and at festival appearances.

Sir András Schiff is world-renowned as pianist, conductor, pedagogue and lecturer. He brings masterful and intellectual insights to his performances which have inspired audiences and critics alike. Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1953, Sir András studied piano at the Liszt Ferenc Academy with Pál Kadosa, György Kurtág, and Ferenc Rados; and in London with George Malcom.

He has performed cycles of complete Beethoven sonatas as well as projects including the complete works of J. S. Bach, Haydn, Schubert and Bartók which constitute an important part of his work. Having collaborated with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors, he now focuses primarily on solo recital, play-conducting appearances and exclusive conducting projects. His Bach has become an annual highlight at the BBC Proms and he regularly performs at the Verbier, Salzburg and Baden-Baden Festivals as well as Wigmore Hall. In April 2023 performed 9 concerts as Artist-in-Residence of the New York Philharmonic.

Vicenza is home to Cappella Andrea Barca – his own chamber orchestra consisting of international soloists, chamber musicians and friends founded in 1999. Together they have appeared at Carnegie Hall, Lucerne Festival and Salzburg Mozartwoche, while forthcoming projects include a tour of Asia and a cycle of Bach’s keyboard concertos in Europe. He currently curates a festival in Vicenza at the Teatro Olimpico.

Sir András enjoys close relationships with the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Budapest Festival Orchestra, and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. In 2018 he accepted the role of Associated Artist with the OAE, complementing his interest in performing on period keyboard instruments.

With a prolific discography, he established an exclusive relationship in 1997 with Producer Manfred Eicher and ECM New Series. Highlights have included the complete Beethoven Piano Sonatas recorded live from Zurich, solo recitals of Schubert, Schumann and Janáček as well as J. S. Bach’s Partitas, Goldberg Variations, and Well-Tempered Clavier. His most recent discs were the two Brahms Concerti with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on period instruments in June 2021.

He continues to support new talent, primarily through his “Building Bridges” series which gives performance opportunities to promising young artists. He also teaches at the Barenboim-Said and Kronberg academies and gives frequent lectures and masterclasses. In 2017 his book “Music Comes from Silence,” essays and conversations with Martin Meyer, was published by Bärenreiter and Henschel.

Sir András Schiff’s many honors include the International Mozarteum Foundation’s Golden Medal (2012), Germany’s Great Cross of Merit with Star (2012), the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Gold Medal (2013), a Knighthood for Services to Music (2014) and a Doctorate from the Royal College of Music (2018). He was awarded the Jean Gimbel Lane Prize in Piano Performance in 2021 from The Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) gave musical Classicism its crowning achievement in the pathos of his music, the selection of heroic themes and the use of unconventional means of expression, heralding in many ways the upcoming period of Romanticism. His Coriolan Overture, Op. 62 was written in 1807, in close succession to Razumovsky Quartets, first two versions of his only opera Leonora (later presented as Fidelio), Violin Concerto and Fourth and Fifth Symphonies. At that time, the composer was recovering from his unrequited love for the young widow of Count Joseph Deym, Josephine von Brunsvik, whom he taught to play the piano. At the same time, however, he had another serious personal crisis due to the struggle with his growing deafness. This later prevented him from participating in the concert life both actively and passively. From then on, he was only able to search for meaning of life in compositional activities. Beethoven became deeply concerned with issues of heroism and noble ideas about the ultimate salvation of the universe, which was reflected in the increased pathos of his compositions. He was at the peak of his creative powers and released into the world one quality work after another.

Coriolan Overture is an introductory music to the eponymous drama by Heinrich Joseph von Collin (1772–1811), a progressive Austrian author whose work Beethoven admired. This once-successful theatrical play is an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s tragedy about the 5^th-century Roman general Coriolanus, who fell victim to a conspiracy. Beethoven’s overture is actually a symphonic poem expressing the composer’s impressions of the play. It is composed in sonata form and works with two contrasting themes, which according to many interpreters of the work of this German musical genius depict the inner struggle of the main protagonist. Beethoven’s Coriolan Overture was first performed at a private concert in the Viennese palace of Prince Lobkowicz in March 1807. Two other new pieces by Beethoven, Fourth Symphony and Piano Concerto No. 4, were premiered at the same concert.