Semyon Bychkov

A documentary about one of the best conductors in the world, the man who is currently the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic.

This documentary about the current chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic is not only a complex portrait of a unique, talented and often contradictory world-famous conductor, but also a picture of a man's journey to freedom in the complicated terrain of the end of the last century and the beginning of this one. Semyon Bychkov experienced the era of the Iron Curtain between East and West literally firsthand when he broke through it as a young man, emigrating from Leningrad to Vienna in the mid-1970s.

Director Alice Nellis charts his life's journey from his childhood in Soviet conservatories, his emigration first to Europe and then to the USA, and his rapidly rising international career in prestigious music venues in Vienna, Berlin, London and New York. The personal recollections of Bychkov and his friends, family and musical contemporaries add colour to a complex portrait of the conductor's personality. Bychkov is depicted not only while working with his home orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, but also on the road and off the concert stage.

Production Company Czech Television
TV Director Alice Nellis
Camera Matěj Cibulka
Production year 2022