Slovak Philharmonic

The Slovak Philharmonic (Slovenská filharmónia) was established in 1949. Two internationally reputed personalities, V. Talich (1949 – 1952) and Ľ. Rajter (1949 – 1976) stood at the orchestra’s birth. Other chief conductors who have played an important role in the orchestra’s musical evolution include T. Frešo, L. Slovák, L. Pešek, V. Verbickij, B. Režucha, A. Ceccato, O. Lenárd, J. Bělohlávek, V. Válek, P. Feranec, E. Villaume a J. Judd. In the 2020/2021 season, Daniel Raiskin took up the position of Chief Conductor.

Among the many guest conductors who have worked with the Slovak Philharmonic over the years, international personalities like J. Ferencsik, W. Rowicki, V. Smetáček, K. Ančerl, F. Konwitschny, A. Jansons, V. Neumann, H. Abendroth, A. Pedrotti, Sir E. Goossens, Sir M. Sargent, R. Benzi, K. Masur, Sir Ch. Mackerras, C. Zecchi, S. Baudo, C. Abbado, K. Sanderling, Z. Košler, R. Muti, K. Richter, K. Kondrašin, L. Segerstam, A. Lombard, S. Celibidache, T. Sanderling, O. Danon, M. Rossi, N. Järvi, K. Kobayashi, J. Svetlanov, M. Jansons, Ch. von Dohnányi, D. Kitajenko, O. Suitner, J. Conlon, V. Gergiev, A. Rahbari, F. Luisi, Sir Y. Menuhin, P. Schreier, V. Fedosejev, R. Weikert, M. Caridis, P. Steinberg, P. Keuschnig, T. Hanus, J. Hrůša, J. Valčuha, T. Netopil, I. Marin, P. Baleff, G. Pehlivanian, J. Märkl, I. Volkov, W. Marshall, E. G. Jensen, A. Buribayev must be mentioned, as well as composers and performers of self-penned works like J. Martinon, K. Penderecki and A. Khachaturian.

The orchestra has made numerous recordings for radio, television and the music publishers OPUS, Supraphon, Panton, Hungaroton, JVC Victor, RCA, Pacific Music, Naxos and Marco Polo. The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra regularly gives guest performances on leading European stages and festivals, as well as in Cyprus, Turkey, and the USA, and they regularly have concert tours in Japan, South Korea, Oman and United Arab Emirates.

In the spring, the Slovak Philharmonic released its first CD with its chief conductor D. Raiskin. It ended the 2022/2023 season with a foreign tour in Japan featuring soloists O. Scheps and T. Sasanuma. In the 2023/2024 season, the orchestra is set to perform at domestic festivals (Bratislava Music Festival, music festival Piešťany, Allegretto Žilina) as well as international concerts in Prague, Maribor, Zagreb and Murten. At the end of the year it will perform a series of concerts with the chief conductor D. Raiskin and the pianist Y. Sunwoo as part of a tour in South Korea.

Source: Slovak Philharmonic