Jan Bartoš, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra & Jakub Hrůša
Biography Jan Bartoš, Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra & Jakub Hrůša
Jan Bartoš
Czech pianist Jan Bartoš is described by the international press as a “one of the best European pianists" and "an emotional and sophisticated interpreter."
As Supraphon exclusive artist, all of his albums have earned international acclaim from critics at Gramophone, Diapason, BBC Music Magazine,
The new album (2020), made in collaboration with the conductor Jakub Hrůša and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, contains a first studio recording of Vítězslav Novák‘s Piano Concerto in E minor. His Janáček album (2019) was selected in the Gramophone Editor's Choice: „Jan Bartoš draws you closely into Janáček’s compelling sound world, music both exposed and somehow personal, lines and details delivered from the very beginning with imagination and deep thought.“
It was also selected among 10 Classical Albums To Usher In The Next Decade by NPR. His Beethoven double album (2018) received double 5* review in BBC Music Magazine: "Everything in this recording is outstanding... The Arietta of Op. 111 is here gorgeous beyond words...".
Jan Bartoš has given concerts at prominent venues throughout Europe, in Asia and the USA (including Carnegie Hall). He made his New York debut in 2009 playing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 5 with the Manhattan Philharmonia. The late Jiří Bělohlávek regularly invited Jan Bartoš in concerts with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and Prague Philharmonia. Together with the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, they recorded Mozart Piano Concertos. The Times wrote: "These live recordings come with Alfred Brendel's endorsement. The late Bělohlávek and his superb orchestra revel in Mozart's dark, dramatic harmonies, recalling Don Giovanni, while the soloist's crisp articulation and singing legato are never far from the spirit of the composer's sunnier comedies."
Other conductors, he works with include Jakub Hrůša, Kristjan Järvi, Tomáš Hanus, Kenneth Kiesler, Yu-An Chang, and many others. He is the winner of three competitions in New York - 2009 Mieczyslaw Munz, 2008 Zaslavsky-Koch, and 2004, Peter S. Reed - as well as the Rotary Musikförderpreis in Nuremberg and the Concertino Praga in the Czech Republic. Moreover, he has received the prestigious accolades and scholarships from the Czech Ministry of Culture, the Rucorva Trust Award in the Netherlands and the Schimmel Prize in Germany.
Jan Bartoš was the last pupil of the legendary pianist Ivan Moravec. Following his studies in the Czech Republic, with Martin Ballý and Miroslav Langer, he continued to hone his artistry under the guidance of Alfred Brendel, Leon Fleisher, Zenon Fishbein, and James Tocco. He studied chamber music with Juilliard String Quartet's Robert Mann and Emerson String Quartet's Lawrence Dutton. He has a Professional Studies Diploma from the Manhattan School of Music in New York and a doctorate from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
Jan Bartoš is the Founder and Artistic Director of the international festival Prague Music Performance. PMP thematically connects concerts, master classes, lectures, residencies, and publishing books. The project primarily focuses on classical music, jazz, and experimental music. In 2019, he became the Artistic Director of the international festival American Spring.
Jakub Hrůša
Born in the Czech Republic and described by Gramophone as ‘on the verge of greatness’, Jakub Hrůša is Chief Conductor Designate of the Bamberg Symphony, Permanent Guest Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, Principal Guest Conductor of Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra (TMSO), and served as Music Director and Chief Conductor of PKF–Prague Philharmonia from 2009 to 2015.
He is a regular guest with many of the world’s greatest orchestras, including the Philharmonia Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, The Cleveland Orchestra, and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France.
Recent highlights have included Bohemian Legends and The Mighty Five – two major series specially devised for the Philharmonia Orchestra – and débuts with The Philadelphia Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Vienna Symphony, DSO Berlin, and Russian National Orchestra.
2015/16 will see him make eagerly-awaited debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala, and at the Vienna State Opera (a new production of The Makropulos Case directed by Peter Stein) and Frankfurt Opera (Il trittico). He also returns to Glyndebourne Festival in 2016 to lead The Cunning Little Vixen.
As a conductor of opera, he has been a regular guest with the Glyndebourne Festival since his début in 2008, conducting Carmen, The Turn of the Screw, Don Giovanni and La bohème, and serving as Music Director of Glyndebourne On Tour from 2010 to 2012. Elsewhere he has led productions for Opéra National de Paris (Rusalka), Finnish National Opera (Jenůfa), Royal Danish Theatre (Boris Godunov), and Prague National Theatre (The Cunning Little Vixen and Rusalka).
As a recording artist, he has released six discs for Supraphon including a live recording of Smetana’s Má vlast from the Prague Spring Festival. Other recordings include the Tchaikovsky and Bruch violin concertos with Nicola Benedetti and the Czech Philharmonic (Universal); live recordings of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, Strauss’s Eine Alpensinfonie and Suk’s Asrael Symphony with TMSO for Octavia Records; and, as the first in a three-disc series for Pentatone with PKF-Prague Philharmonia, Dvořák and Lalo cello concertos with Johannes Moser. He will also embark on a new partnership in the coming seasons with Tudor and Bamberg Symphony.
Originally from Brno, Jakub Hrůša studied conducting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where he now lives with his wife and daughter. He is currently President of the International Martinů Circle.
