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The Eroica in 1946 apparently sounded too much like war and Nazis to the Americans.

So she was not allowed to attend the inauguration concert of the new Bamberg Tonkünstlerorchester on March 20 in the Bamberg Central Hall under the direction of Bertil Wetzelsberger, then General Music Director of the Bavarian State Opera.

Beethoven's Leonore Overture No. 3, the violin concerto with concertmaster Otto Büchner and the 7th symphony were performed.

As a tribute to the history of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the elite formation, named after the first, legendary chief conductor, the Joseph Keilberth Hall of the Regnitz concert hall, which was inaugurated in 1993, was repeated today by the honorary conductor Christoph Eschenbach of the same program from 1946 - with the Eroica.

Unfortunately without their chief conductor Jakub Hrůša, who was not allowed to enter the country from Prague due to the pandemic.

The symphonic orchestra was once famous as the German Philharmonic in Prague and was based at the State Opera there.

Mozart's “Don Giovanni” was premiered by his ancestors.

In the post-war confusion and displacement, the orchestra was largely stranded in Franconia.

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To date, the Bamberg (since 2003 Bavarian State Philharmonic) have given almost 7,500 concerts at 535 locations in 63 countries.

They are the most touring German ensemble.

They have traveled around the world far more than once.

They are also regular guests at international festivals.

So far, there have been more than 500 conductors at their desk.

In recent years, chief conductor Jakub Hrůša and honorary conductors Herbert Blomstedt such as Christoph Eschenbach have continued to write the history and the still special warm sound of the orchestra, which is documented on many sound carriers.

Once around the world: three members of the Bamberg Symphony in Milan

Source: dpa

Jakub Hrůša, the still not 40-year-old Czech chief conductor, continues to write this historical story through his Brno origins, which can also currently serve as ideal marketing branding.

Because the inconspicuous as well as surprisingly intense Hrůša is already one of the most sought-after clock generators today.

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At the end of 2019 he made his planned debut with the Vienna Philharmonic as a substitute for Mariss Jansons, who then died during the concert series.

The re-invitation has long been announced, as with the Berliner Philharmoniker and actually everywhere where this rock-solid, wonderfully musical and at the same time extremely friendly professional presented himself.

Covid-19 prevented a lot, but only postponed it.

At the right time for him as well as for the people of Bamberg, Jakub Hrůša decided on decisive years of continuous maturity in the province.

Its fifth season there started largely online, but wisely - a one-off with this orchestra - the contract was extended to 2026 three years ago.

So it's halftime at the Regnitz.

Where Hrůša can usually play each concert several times - and not infrequently also has a national and international presence.

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Because this calm, friendly, but emphatic and very professional conductor is characterized by something similar to Mariss Jansons.

Satisfaction.

Enjoyment of your own actions. Modesty, but also unconditionality in decisive questions.

Ability to be friends.

Generosity without making a fuss.

These are not necessarily the qualities needed to develop into a truly valued conductor.

The company likes to rely on show stars.

Objective look at the score

Maturing.

Jakub Hrůša immediately undertakes exactly that - from his focus as chief conductor of the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra - without haste and scandals, without over-ambitious tactics, not even with a particularly pronounced personality style at first glance.

Hrůša is a phenomenon of inconspicuousness that makes people sit up and take notice, but who knows how to pack quickly, regardless of whether on the Regnitz, in Spain, Asia or the USA.

Someone who has placed his ego very far back in the soul, but knows how to get it out, can become very stubborn if something does not suit him.

This friendly but determined artist is the rare example of an all-rounder who knows how to play and interpret almost everything at the same high level.

And who never explores extremes, but dares to take an objective look at a score as far as possible.

That never sounds routine.

A form of coming home: The Bamberg Symphony in Prague

Source: picture alliance / dpa / CTK

Whether Jakub Hrůša conducts Beethoven and Haydn, Mendelssohn and Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Mahler, Smetana, Dvořák, Janáček, Martinu or Strauss, Stravinsky, Schönberg and Wiedmann - you always and immediately have the feeling that it is right, that the proportions are right, that one never draws exaggerated, too idiosyncratic conclusions from scrupulous study of the score.

He can also be found more frequently in music theater and a regular guest in Glyndebourne.

With the Bambergers he is planning “a lot of Bohemian things from baroque to modern times, which of course also includes music from Slovakia, Austria and Hungary.

I am still noticeably missing music by Wagner, but I will probably try it out in future opera engagements.

With my orchestra I would also like to play more Bruckner, Russian, Shostakovich in particular, and Strauss. "

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What is the secret of this ability?

If you talk to Jakub Hrůša, you notice again calm, time, serenity, but also persistence.

“There was no active music at home,” he says, “my father was an architect, my mother an engineer, my grandparents were geophysicists, hydropower engineers, all of them technically oriented.

But a lot of music was heard.

We loved going to concerts and the opera in Brno.

It was especially important to my father.

And there was no television at all.

So even as a child I learned that music is something beautiful and that I have to follow it. "

And he did so until he finally became a student of the great Jiří Bělohlávek, who died in 2017.

And it quickly became known at home: “The Czech Republic is a small country.

If you are successful, the whole nation knows, but everyone knows mistakes too. "

But there are not very many mistakes.

And if you want to hear both the chief conductor and the orchestra making music in an ideal way, then you should turn to Smetana's notorious “My Fatherland” cycle with Jakub Hrůša and the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra.

That is a dark golden, ideally balanced sound, full of strength and softness, full of lust and confidence in one's own actions. And so they were particularly cheered with this Smetana sextet when they opened the “Prague Spring” festival, as at a state ceremony in 2019.

“It's ideal for me,” says Jakub Hrůša.

“I put out my feelers, test where I want to come back and have the Bamberg Symphony as a constant.

We grow together.

The human-artistic development is wonderful, I can build up and mature.

I very quickly felt that I had found long-term partners here.

I feel happy and in good hands.

It is how it should be.

We can still discover and research so much together. "

The anniversary program can be streamed on br-klassik.de