| Biography | The Slovak Philharmonic Choir is a prominent representative of the Slovak art of professional choir singing. It originated in 1946 as the Mixed Choir of the Czechoslovak Radio. In its early years it was led by its initiator and founder, the conductor Ladislav Slovák. In 1955, Jan Maria Dobrodinský took the lead of the choir and for more than 20 years made a substantial contribution to the presentation and artistic development of the ensemble, which had been incorporated (under its present name) into the group of the Slovak Philharmonic bodies in 1957. In 1977, Valentin Iljin assumed the position of choirmaster, and was later succeeded by an excellent connoisseur of choir singing, Lubomír Mátl. Mátl was followed by tefan Klimo, Pavel Baxa, Pavol Procházka and Marián Vach, each of whom increased the choirs level of interpretation. Blanka Juhanáková (19912001) and Jan Rozehnal (19912003) continued in this tradition. In 2003 and 2004 the post of Artistic Director and Chief Choirmaster of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir was assumed by Marián Vach, who was then replaced by Blanka Juhanáková from January 2005. This post is now held by Jozef Chabron. During half a century of intense artistic activity, the Slovak Philharmonic Choir has developed into a body of exceptional quality which today stands among the foremost European ensembles of its kind. Its unique technical abilities, refined expression, perfectly balanced voices, interpretational skills, reliability and exemplary artistic discipline are all reflected in its sublime performances. The creative enthusiasm and expressional power of its performances have won it praise from renowned conductors like Claudio Abbado, Serge Baudo, Bertrand de Billy, Jean-Claude Casadesus, James Conlon, Dean Dixon, Christoph von Dohnányi, Vladimir Fedoseyev, János Ferencsik, Daniele Gatti, Pedro Halffter, Riccardo Chailly, Dmitrij Kitajenko, Zdenek Koler, Ondrej Lenárd, Alain Lombard, Fabio Luisi, Lorin Maazel, Kurt Masur, Zubin Mehta, Franz Welser-Möst, Antonio Pedrotti, Libor Peek, Ludovít Rajter, Helmuth Rilling, Karl Richter, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Schreier, Pinchas Steinberg, Hans Swarowsky, Václav Talich, Emmanuel Villaume and Ralf Weikert. In addition to its regular performances at home, the choir undertakes frequent tours abroad, encompassing most European countries, and also Morocco, Turkey and Japan. |