This year, Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic will give both the opening and closing concerts of the Prague Spring International Festival, currently celebrating its 80th anniversary. Since the inaugural Festival in 1946, the Festival has always opened with a performance of Smetana’s Má vlast and, 2025 is no exception. The Festival culminates in early June with Mahler’s Symphony No. 8, the monumental ‘Symphony of A Thousand’ for which the Czech Philharmonic will be joined by the Czech Philharmonic Choir Brno and the Prague Philharmonic Choir.
Semyon Bychkov launched his tenure as Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Czech Philharmonic in 2018 with a performance of Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 ‘Resurrection’. Bychkov and the Orchestra are currently part way through recording a complete Mahler cycle for PENTATONE. The first recordings of the cycle – Symphonies Nos. 4 and 5 – were released in 2022; followed by Symphonies Nos. 2 and 1 in 2023; and Symphony No. 3 with mezzo-soprano, Catriona Morrison, and the Women of the Prague Philharmonic Choir in 2025. PENTATONE will release the full cycle in spring 2026.