Jakub Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra

Czech TV has completed production of an exceptionally interesting story of an orchestra with Czech roots and a Czech chief conductor.

A documentary by director Jan Mudra uncovers and presents a tremendously interesting part of Czech-German musical mutuality. It is not just the fact that excellent Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša has headed up this eminent Bavarian orchestra since 2016. It is also the history of the orchestra’s very formation, which is tied to Prague and Czech-German musical culture. The orchestra was founded in 1940 under the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia as the German Philharmonic Orchestra in Prague. It was comprised of German musicians and was to be the German counterweight to the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. Despite this, the German Philharmonic Orchestra with principal conductor Joseph Keilberth went through this difficult time with honour and upheld outstanding artistic quality.

After World War II, the orchestra naturally ended. The German musicians, not just from Prague but also from Liberec, Karlovy Vary and Silesia, were expelled from Czechoslovakia. Some of them happened to meet again in Bamberg, Germany, where the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra was founded. Over time it became a leading German orchestra, which from then until now has played concerts all around the world and has not denied its Prague-based, Czech-German musical roots.

In the 2016 season, the excellent Czech conductor Jakub Hrůša becomes the new Chief Conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. He quickly becomes a favourite not only of theorchestra members, but above all of its audiences. The documentary culminates with a gorgeous arc of content – shots from Prague Spring 2019 opening concert...

Production Company Czech Television
TV Director Jan Mudra
Conductor Jakub Hrůša
Orchestra / Band Bamberg Symphony Orchestra