Biography
“Bychkov launched the Tchaikovsky Project, an ambitious exploration of the composer’s orchestral repertoire, with a spacious, somewhat Teutonic Pathétique in 2016. This was followed by a compelling Manfred: dark and brooding, theatrically exhilarating. Now the series is complete, the Czech Phil responding to the conductor’s lithe, flexible baton with gripping freshness in the rarely programmed early symphonies. Contrasting accounts of great love stories — Romeo and Juliet, lyrical and romantic, and Francesca da Rimini, peering into the abyss of hell — are thrilling, as are the Third and Fourth Symphonies… the symphonies and other orchestral works are for the ages.” – The Sunday Times, 15 September 2019
Semyon Bychkov’s second season as the Czech Philharmonic’s Chief Conductor and Music Director saw the culmination of The Tchaikovsky Project started in 2015 before Bychkov’s appointment to the Orchestra. In addition to the release on Decca Classics of all of Tchaikovsky’s symphonies, the three piano concertos, Romeo & Juliet, Serenade for Strings and Francesca da Rimini, Bychkov and the Orchestra gave Tchaikovsky residencies in Prague, Tokyo, Vienna and Paris and appeared together for the first time at the BBC Proms. Highlights in Prague included the first time that Bychkov led the Orchestra in Smetana’s Má vlast.
In the 2020/21 season, the focus moves from Tchaikovsky to Mahler with performances of the symphonies scheduled both at home and abroad, as well as a continuing recording cycle for Decca Classics. New music will also be brought to the fore when Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic give the world premières of works by Bryce Dessner, Detlev Glanert and Thomas Larcher: three of the fourteen composers – nine Czech, five international – whose new commissions were initiated by Bychkov at the start of his tenure. Following their premières in Prague, Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic have performances in Vienna, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam and London featuring Dessner’s Symphony and Larcher’s Piano Concerto, composed for Kirill Gerstein.
Recent News
MUSIC DIRECTOR SEMYON BYCHKOV AND CZECH PHILHARMONIC’S SEVEN-DISC RECORDING COLLECTION THE TCHAIKOVSKY PROJECT TO BE RELEASED ON DECCA CLASSICS, AUGUST 30
Inspired by his lifelong passion for the music of Tchaikovsky, Semyon Bychkov partnered with the Czech Philharmonic three years ago to launch The Tchaikovsky Project, an in-depth multi-season exploration of the composer’s music through concerts and Mr. Bychkov’s...
Semyon Bychkov Named Chief Conductor & Music Director designate of the Czech Philharmonic
We are thrilled to announce that Semyon Bychkov is named the Chief Conductor & Music Director Designate of the Czech Philharmonic from the 2018/19 season. Please read the press release below.
Appl, Bychkov, Dausgaard, Degout, Finley, Meir Wellber, Perahia, Petrenko and Vedernikov Capture Nominations for the 2017 Gramophone Awards
The shortlist for the 2017 Annual Gramophone Awards is announced, and IMG Artists is delighted to congratulate its extraordinary nominated artists. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the “Oscars for Classical Music” will be announced on 13 September at a star-studded...
Reviews
“From the first trumpet call to the final hectic bars of the crowning rondo, the Kennedy Center audience was in thrall. Quiet and attentive throughout, it exploded with applause at the final chord. Each orchestral section was superb, from high brass (that trumpet again), to solid, musical low brass in perfect ensemble, Mahler’s all-important horns speaking loudly when asked, with the strings, high to low, smooth, singing and powerful, winds inaudible in the tuttis but brightly characterful when Mahler asks for their individual or sectional presence, and, of course, the superb percussion. All responded alertly to Bychkov’s requests from very loud to very soft and all gradations in between. It was amazing to hear subito-pianos and pianissimos so miraculously achieved by so many musicians.
None of this would have made a difference without Bychkov himself on the podium. Yes, the opening funeral cortege was a bit measured, and the movement as a whole, no matter how well conducted (and it was last night), is a bit of a trial. Reaching Parts II and III, the music, conductor, and orchestra came fully into accord: The Scherzo was a delight (if the music is a little long winded, blame the composer), and the Adagietto came across as a love song, not an endless dirge. The humorous Rondo brought out the best from everyone.
So back to the question: which orchestra is the world’s greatest? On this occasion, there was only one correct answer: the Royal Concertgebouw under Semyon Bychkov. Case closed.”
“Bychkov calls the ‘Leningrad’ Symphony ‘a cry from the heart against death’… His interpretation goes wider than anger and despair, though both emotions coursed through every bar. There was, throughout, a sense of historical and cultural continuity under threat. It’s the best thing I’ve heard Bychkov do, and one of the greatest performances of the work in recent years.”
More Reviews
“Conductor Semyon Bychkov… succeeds in maintaining lucid orchestral textures and achieves a finely judged balance between stage and pit.”
“Each of [this new work’s] four movements is fastidiously shaped, and in each there are outbursts of anarchically dissonant fury. But under Semyon Bychkov’s baton the BBC Symphony Orchestra delivered a superbly detailed performance, with the sudden turns into pastiche-Mahler and pastiche-Bach opening like wondrous flowers in a parched terrain. The rest of this Prom was of a similarly high standard. Mezzo Elizabeth Kulman brought rare grace to Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder – the beauty of her ‘Im Treibhaus’ took the breath away – while Strauss’s An Alpine Symphony did all that such high-octane program-music is supposed to do.”
“In the Albert Hall’s generous space Strauss’s colossal aural panoroma of a day’s hike on a Bavarian mountain seemed to have found its natural home. Conductor Semyon Bychkov gave the grand passages the time they needed to glow as well as roar, and he made sure the rare delicate passages really told, like the wonder-struck moment when the climber reaches the summit and is lost for words. Strauss’s symphony was the Prom’s summit in terms of aural splendour, but the Symphony No.2 ‘Cenotaph’ by 53-year-old Austrian composer Thomas Larcher wasn’t far behind. There wasn’t a dull moment in this 35-minute piece, cast in the traditional symphonic four movements. Familiar ideas were made to seem brilliant and new, partly by super-bright orchestration, partly by sheer insistence … In between these two diverting pieces, both huge but somehow weightless, it was good to hear something of real substance. Wagner’s Wesendonck-Lieder are often given a sultry air, as if to reveal the all-too-human erotic feelings behind the mystical sentiments of the poetry. Here mezzo-soprano Elisabeth Kulman gave the songs a lovely chaste quality, supported with the utmost delicacy by Bychkov and the BBC SO, which was surprising and deeply moving.”
“The Philharmonic remains a superb Mahler orchestra more than a century after the composer led it and half a century after Leonard Bernstein secured its Mahler tradition, and Mr. Bychkov made the most of it despite the hall’s intractable acoustics. Nothing was overblown, and the balances among the various sections, especially between brasses and woodwinds, were exquisite … All in all, an excellent outing for orchestra and conductor.”
Gallery
Contact
Kathryn Enticott - Worldwide General Manager
kenticott@imgartists.com
+44 (0) 20 7957 5834
Magda Dybiec - Servicing Associate
mdybiec@imgartists.com
+44 (0) 20 7957 5846
Joseph Chadwick - Artist Manager
jchadwick@imgartists.com
+44 (0) 20 7957 5894