LiveOne
Czechoslovakian conductor Jirí Belohlávek conducted his final concert in May 2017 before succumbing to cancer a few weeks later on May 31st. He was one of the most influential modern day figures in Czech classical music and has worked with some of the world's leading orchestras. As a young man he studied cello under Milos Sádlo before finding his calling as a conductor in 1970 when he won the prestigious Czech Young Conductors Competition. He started out his career as a conductor with the Czech Philharmonic before moving on to the Brno Philharmonic and then the Prague Symphony Orchestra. After Czechoslovakia's so-called velvet revolution Belohlávek went on to become the chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic but was controversially replaced by Gerd Albrecht in 1991. This slight from the governing body of the orchestra prompted Belohlávek to found the Prague Philharmonia using funding from the Czech Ministry of Defence. After the Czech government withdrew the promised funding Belohlávek raised money from private backers to ensure the orchestra's survival and he remained closely connected with the orchestra for the remainder of his life. After a long and successful association with the BBC Symphony Orchestra in 2005 he was eventually appointed as its twelfth chief conductor, a post he held until 2012 when he was awarded an honorary CBE for services to music and remained as conductor laureate with the BBC orchestra until his death in 2017.
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