Ensemble | North American Representation
Biography
 

The Smetana Trio
Jitka Cechová (piano); Jan Talich (violin); Jan Pálenícek (cello)  

The Smetana Trio, founded in 1934 by the legendary Czech pianist Josef Páleníček, is one of the foremost Czech ensembles. In 2014, the Trio celebrated the 80th jubilee of its foundation. It can be seen frequently on leading concert stages both in the Czech Republic (Prague Spring, Janáček May, Moravian Autumn, Concentus moraviae, Malá Strana Chamber Festivities) and abroad (France, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, Benelux, Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Japan, Brazil, USA, Canada, South Korea,
Egypt).

The Smetana Trio works with leading conductors— e.g., Jiří Bělohlávek, Libor Pešek, Serge Baudo, John Axelrod, Michael Boder, Tomáš Hanus, Stanislav Vavřínek—and Czech and foreign orchestras, including the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra della Svizzera italiana Lugano, the
Prague Symphony Orchestra, the Prague Philharmonic, the ONPL Orchestra Nantes, the Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Pardubice, and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra Olomouc.

The Smetana Trio has made a number of recordings for Czech and international labels and has recorded regularly for Supraphon since 2000. This cooperation has brought a number of prestigious awards both at home and abroad—e.g., a CD with works by Smetana, Suk, and Novák (Supraphon 2005) received prestigious awards from the French magazines Diapason and Le Monde de la Musique. This recording was also chosen by Britain’s BBC Music Magazine as its chamber music recording of the month in August 2005.

Another Smetana Trio recording, this time with works by Dvořák (Supraphon 2006), was again voted by BBC Music Magazine as the best recording of the month in September 2006 and later received the BBC Music Magazine Chamber Award for 2007 and also the prestigious French Diapason d’Or. A
recording of trios by Tchaikovsky and Dvořák (Supraphon 2008) received the BBC Chamber Recording of the Month in December 2008. Another Supraphon recording project, released in autumn 2012, engages the complete piano trios by Brahms. An additional recording with works by Brahms—the first part of the complete concertos (Double Concerto and Piano Concerto No. 1, TRIART Recording)—was released in 2013, and in 2014 the Smetanas recorded the complete trios by Shostakovich and Ravel (Supraphon 2014), deemed Recording of the Month, in June 2014, by MusicWeb International. In 2015, the Smetana Trio recorded the complete trios by Bohuslav Martinů, which received many international awards immediately—the BBC MM Chamber Award 2017, BBC MM Recording of the Month, the Diapason d’Or, Sunday Times Recording of the Week, TIP of the Harmonie, etc.

A recording of piano trios by Zemlinsky, Rachmaninoff, and Arensky (issued in March 2019) received many world awards immediately, too—BBC Music Magazine Chamber Choice (May 2019) and France Musique’s Disc du Jour (May 29, 2019). The Smetana Trio’s newest recording with piano trios by
Ludwig van Beethoven (issued in September 2020) received the Chamber Choice award from BBC Music Magazine in December 2020.

The Smetana Trio has performed many times on international stages—e.g., in France, in a very successful collaboration with Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire conducted by John Axelrod, featuring seven performances of the Triple Concerto by Beethoven for 10,000 listeners. In recent years,
the Smetana Trio has played many festivals and concert series in Europe, America, and Africa—e.g., in France (Cambrai, Chalon, Nice, and Aix en Provence), in Great Britain (London and many other cities), in Germany (München, Würzburg, Tübingen, and Festival Hohenloher Kultursommer), and in the USA, Brazil, Switzerland, Italy, France, and Egypt. In 2018, the Smetana Trio brought its art to audiences in the Czech Republic (including the Prague Spring Festival), England (including the prestigious Wigmore Hall
in London), Italy, Germany, Romania, and again the USA, this time in twelve cities on renowned stages in Washington, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego, and elsewhere. In 2019/2020, the Smetana Trio continued its successful tour in the USA and Canada and played many concerts in the Czech Republic, England (including Wigmore Hall), Italy, Switzerland, Spain, and South America. During the world pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the Smetana Trio released a 2-CD recording to celebrate
the 200th anniversary of Beethoven; this double CD attracted the immediate attention of domestic and world media. BBC Music Magazine, for instance, chose the recording as Recording of the Month (December 2020). After a forced break due to COVID-19, when the Trio filmed or broadcast a series of
video streams, the Smetanas play on Czech and world stages again. Since the start of the 2021/2022 season, the Smetana Trio has performed on many Czech and foreign concert stages and festivals, among them Terras sem sombra in Portugal; concerts in Italy, Germany, and Spain; the festivals Lípa Musica and Prague Proms in the Czech Republic; the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Series in Prague Rudolfinum; and Wigmore Hall in London. The latter concert house, one of the most prestigious in the world, has chosen the Smetana Trio as emsemble in residence for the 2023/24 season.

 

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