7 November 2011, 19:30

Bartók room, Szombathely (Hungary)

Smetana: My Fatherland

Conductor: Libor Pešek

Libor Pešek

"Conducting from memory throughout, Pešek showed himself fully alive to the depth of Smetana's scoring. He could be seen giving every lead, ­shaping each phrase and riding on every ripple in the great river Vltava, the subject of the ­second and most famous of the poems"- Guardian, Guy Dammann, Feb 2010 (Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Cadogan Hall, London)

Libor Pešek has enjoyed an international conducting career for over 50 years and he continues as Principal Guest Conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Laureate of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Maestro Pešek continues to return regularly to the UK for concerts with the RLPO as well as on tour with his orchestras, Prague National Symphony and Czech National Symphony. In the last couple of seasons, Maestro Pešek has guest conducted the Orquestre Sinfonica de Castilla y Leon, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Orquesta Sinfonica de Galicia, Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Tonkunstler, Orquesta Filharmonica de Gran Canaria and the Royal Flemish Phiharmonic for the Dvorak Festival.In the past, Maestro Pešek has worked internationally at the top level and has given concerts with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, La Scala, Milan, Oslo Philharmonic, Orchestre de Paris, Orchestre National de France, Danish Radio Symphony, Chamber Orchestra of Europe, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Dresden Staatskapelle, Orquestra Simfňnica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya, and the Orquesta de Valencia, as well as major UK tours with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. In March 1996 Queen Elizabeth II made Libor Pešek a Knight of the British Empire and in 1997 he was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of Central Lancashire.