Magdalena Kozena's fourth Pentatone album Folk Songs brings together folk-inspired song cycles from across the globe. Ranging from Berio's Folk Songs to sets by Bartok, Ravel and Montsalvatge, this collection provides a kaleidoscope of twentieth-century orchestral song composition. Kozena performs them together with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Folk Songs is star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena's fourth album as part of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented the baroque cantatas recital album Il giardino dei sospiri and the songs in chamber-musical setting project Soiree in 2019, as well as Nostalgia together with Yefim Bronfman in 2021.

The Czech Philharmonic and its Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov present a new recording of Bedřich Smetana’s masterpiece Má vlast (My Homeland). The album celebrates both the bicentenary of Smetana’s birth and, the start of 2024’s Year of Czech Music which has been celebrated every ten years since Smetana’s 100th anniversary in 1924. Má vlast (1874-1878) is a potent symbol of the Czech Republic’s turbulent political history and has played an important role in the Czech national movement. Contemplating the landscape, history, and legends of Bohemia, Má vlast is best known for its world-famous Moldau melody. For Bychkov, who was born in Russia before emigrating to the United States, and now lives in France, the question of ‘the homeland’ is particularly poignant – how to take pride in the best of its heritage, while also coming to terms with its darker pages. For the Orchestra to revisit this seminal piece with Bychkov, with whom it has developed such a close working relationship over the past few years, makes the recording all the more personal and topical.

Magdalena Kozena's fourth Pentatone album Folk Songs brings together folk-inspired song cycles from across the globe. Ranging from Berio's Folk Songs to sets by Bartok, Ravel and Montsalvatge, this collection provides a kaleidoscope of twentieth-century orchestral song composition. Kozena performs them together with the Czech Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. Folk Songs is star mezzo-soprano Magdalena Kozena's fourth album as part of her exclusive collaboration with Pentatone, after having presented the baroque cantatas recital album Il giardino dei sospiri and the songs in chamber-musical setting project Soiree in 2019, as well as Nostalgia together with Yefim Bronfman in 2021.

Jiří Bělohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic present Leoš Janáček’s most notable works. This release continues the series of Jiří Bělohlávek’s last recordings of Czech masterworks for Decca Classics before he sadly passed away last year. August 2018 marks 90 years since Janáček’s death in 1928. This album commemorates the great Czech composer with these informed recordings by the Czech conductor and orchestra.

The Czech Philharmonic and Music Director, Semyon Bychkov, continue their acclaimed Mahler cycle with the composer’s First Symphony, one of the most evocative and colourful symphonic debuts in the history of the genre. Mahler once famously said that “a symphony should be like the world, it should encompass everything.” In his First Symphony, he creates just such a world, filled with animal sounds, hunting horns, rural dances, klezmer bands and allusions to his own songs and folk song melodies such as Frère Jacques. These elements all function within a highly subjective, immersive symphonic drama, providing a blueprint for most of his symphonies to come. Semyon Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic approach the composer’s firstling with their esteemed eye for detail and pacing, matched by their unmistakably Bohemian sound.

After their critically-acclaimed recording of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov continue their Pentatone Mahler cycle with a rendition of the composer’s Fifth. The Fifth Symphony marks an important turning point in Mahler’s symphonic output, away from the prominence of vocal movements in his previous symphonies. And whereas the Fifth seems to follow a teleology from darkness to light like its predecessors, the trajectory is much less straightforward, and full of enigmatic turns. Bychkov’s exceptional eye for detail and pacing make him an ideal guide through this work, while the Czech Philharmonic is capable of letting all the colours of Mahler’s score shine.

After critically-acclaimed recordings of Mahler’s Fourth and Fifth Symphony, the Czech Philharmonic and Semyon Bychkov continue their Pentatone Mahler cycle with a rendition of the composer’s Second, nicknamed “The Resurrection”. They are joined by soprano Christiane Karg, alto Elisabeth Kulman and the Prague Philharmonic Choir. Starting with a funeral march, passing through the introspective alto song “Urlicht” and ending in choral bliss and euphoria, Mahler’s Second is a deeply spiritual and personal contemplation on the secret of life and the possibility of overcoming death. For Bychkov, the symphony “shows the life cycle in all its struggles: suffering, joy, irony, humour, love and doubt.”

Tchaikovsky's Manfred Symphony, a tone poem based on a detailed program drawn from Lord Byron's epic poem Manfred, lasts for close to an hour and is rarely performed, although somewhat more often recorded. When conductor Semyon Bychkov proposed the present performance to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, the players were unenthusiastic. But then, he recalls, "something wonderful happened…

Anne-Sophie Mutter and Pablo Ferrández – a musical team united by friendship, inspiration and mentorship. Established as musical partners for many years, Anne-Sophie Mutter discovered the Spanish cellist’s extraordinary talent early on. Described by her as ‘someone truly special’ the world star violinist invited him into her foundation and circle of “Mutter’s Virtuosi”, young talents she supports and tours with. Since then, Pablo Ferrández has made himself a name on his own, developed into a sought-after, award-winning soloist home at the world’s most prestigious concert halls. For this recording, both artists, mentors and friends unite once more to capture their musical friendship on their first joint album with pianist, long term collaborator and friend Lambert Orkis, conductor Manfred Honeck and the Czech Philharmonic.

Classical music listeners resort to ethnic and national generalizations too often. Some of the most insightful Beethoven interpreters were French, and there are plenty of classic non-Czech recordings of Dvorák. Yet there's something uniquely satisfying about this version of the much-recorded Slavonic Dances (both sets, Op. 46 and Op. 72), and the satisfaction has something to do with the all-Czech origins. Take for example the match between the superb sound, recorded in Prague's Rudolfinium hall, and the texture of Jirí Belohlávek's Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, an ensemble he has molded into his own.

Antonín Dvorák's Stabat Mater, Op. 58, truly merits the adjective "tragic"; it was written after the deaths of two of the composer's children in succession, and his grief rolled out in great, Verdian waves. There are several strong recordings on the market, including an earlier one by conductor Jiří Bělohlávek himself, but for the combination of deep feeling, technical mastery from musicians and singers who have spent their lives getting to know the score, and soloists who not only sound beautiful but are seamlessly integrated into the flow, this Decca release may be the king of them all. To what extent was the strength of the performance motivated by Bělohlávek's likely fatal illness (he died days after the album entered the top levels of classical charts in the spring of 2017)? It's hard to say, although he also delivered top-notch performances of Dvorák's Requiem in his last days. The members of the Prague Philharmonic Choir sing their hearts out in the gigantic, shattering opening chorus, which has rarely if ever had such a mixture of the impassioned and the perfectly controlled. Sample the chorus "Virgo virginium praeclara" to hear the magically suspended quality Bělohlávek brings out of the singers in lightly accompanied passages.

All of Sviatoslav Richter's concert appearances in Prague, from his 1950 Prague Spring performance of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor, to his 1993 performance of the Grieg concerto, were highlights of Prague's musical life. Richter, however, enjoyed traveling to small cities, often playing on instruments whose quality would be simply unacceptable for many of today's musical stars. His concerts were generally completely sold out and offered his listeners an extraordinary musical experience regardless of the venue or quality of the instrument.