Welcoming back audiences to Prague’s Rudolfinum on 29 September, the Czech Philharmonic will launch its 126th season with Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov marking the start of his fourth year at the helm of the Orchestra. The season opens with Shostakovich’s Leningrad Symphony, a work that has a deep significance for Bychkov who was born in Leningrad and whose mother lived through the 900 days of the Leningrad siege. The work received its second performance during the siege.

The first performance will be broadcast live on Czech TV and the second on 30 September, streamed live on the Orchestra’s YouTube so international audiences can tune in.