The Prague Chamber Orchestra stands as the Czech Republic’s foremost chamber ensemble. Following long-standing practice, the players perform without a conductor and take direction from the concertmaster instead. Numbering 36 musicians—larger than most groups of its kind—the orchestra maintains an annual subscription series in Dvorák Hall at the House of Artists, the same venue that serves as home to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. It travels extensively within the country and beyond, appearing regularly at festivals that include the Prague Spring Festival and the Bratislava Music Festival. Programming centers on Classical-era scores by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven while also embracing selected early-Romantic works and a substantial body of contemporary music; at least one Czech composer’s piece appears on most programs. Numerous new compositions have been written for or dedicated to the ensemble, several of them receiving their first performances with the group. Praised for its sweet and lyrical tonal quality, the orchestra ranks among the most respected chamber ensembles in Europe.
The ensemble was founded in 1951 when members of the Czechoslovakia Radio Symphony Orchestra formed a smaller unit to record works that did not require the full symphony. Its earliest repertoire drew chiefly from the Baroque and early Classical periods, with particular attention to earlier Czech masters such as Jan Dusek, Johann Stamitz, Anton Reicha, and the composers of Citoliby. The orchestra completed its first recording in the year of its establishment and has maintained a steady recording schedule ever since.
As public concerts gained prominence and began to overshadow its original radio and studio commitments, the group gradually distanced itself from the parent symphony. In 1955 it received sponsorship from the National Museum, which granted access to the museum’s archive of musical scores. Administrative responsibility passed to the government Ministry of Culture in 1964. Four years later, management moved to the Music Studio of the Czech Music Fund, initiating ongoing work with young artists and students; instructive concerts were introduced, allowing many gifted young soloists and composers to collaborate with the ensemble beginning in the early 1970s. In 1976 an eleven-member string group drawn from the orchestra was formed under concertmaster Oldrich Vlcek and named Virtuosi di Praga. This smaller unit tours and performs independently while also serving, when required, as a virtuoso ensemble for concerto performances. Esteemed for its sensitive readings of Czech composers from the Baroque era to the present day, the Prague Chamber Orchestra continues to uphold its reputation as one of Europe’s finest chamber ensembles.
