Semyon Bychkov affirms his deepest admiration for the music of Dvořák

Russian-born conductor Semyon Bychkov, music director of the Czech Philharmonic, is having a banner run. In late 2022, Musical America named him as its Conductor of the Year, joining the ranks of past winners such as Kent Nagano and Jaap van Zweden. “As a conductor, he’s meticulous in his attention to detail with a knack for making the familiar sound newly minted through interpretations born of five decades of experience,” wrote Clive Paget for Musical America. “He never tires of interrogating the music he loves and is an endlessly enthusiastic advocate for his art.”

In addition, Bychkov and the Czech Philharmonic are midway through a Mahler cycle on Pentatone. The Sunday Times of London declared their recording of Mahler’s Symphony No. 5 as its Classical Music Album of 2022. In February, Pentatone released Bychkov and the Czech Phil‘s Mahler’s Second, followed in September by Mahler’s First.

In demand as a guest conductor with major orchestras in Europe and North America, Bychkov will lead the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in a program of Dvořák, Saint-Saens and Brahms on Dec. 14-16. He spoke to Experience CSO in early November, shortly after returning from a tour of Asia with the Czech Philharmonic.

How was your tour of Asia received?

We got back two days ago. We took the last three symphonies of Dvořák on the tour, and three of his overtures. It was an extraordinary tour, received in an extraordinary way.

What’s the difference between playing Dvořák with the Czech Philharmonic and with a major international orchestra like Chicago?

It’s about what is native and what is not. Everyone has their native music, and the difference is the way one speaks that language. That is a challenge. But it can be met by talented musicians, and of course the Chicago Symphony is very talented.

As a native Russian speaker, do you have any pan-Slavic connection to Dvořák?

Russian is very different from Czech, although both languages are Slavic. But there’s always been an enormous love of Russian music on the part of the Czech people, and the Russian people have loved Dvořák ever since they got to know [his music].

When you are guest-conducting an ensemble, how do you establish a rapport with the orchestra?

It depends on how familiar the orchestra is with the music. By the end of the process, it should become a synthesis of my vision and theirs.

Can you give an example of how that works in practice?

I give them a signal which has to represent the way that I imagine a phrase, and then I’m listening to what comes back to me, whether it corresponds to what I imagine. If it matches, it’s wonderful. If not, the question is which idea is more convincing. And if mine is less convincing, I’m absolutely happy to switch.

Have you ever been in a situation as drastic as the concert in the ’60s when Leonard Bernstein told the audience he didn’t agree with Glenn Gould’s approach [in Brahms’ First Piano Concerto]?

No, never anything that bad.

It’s been a while since the heyday of autocratic conductors like Toscanini and Szell. Have you seen the approach to collaboration change during your career?

A collaborative process, whether in music or any other field, is a very basic respect for the people you’re working with. It’s not democratic or authoritarian. There are many ways you can ask them something, and some will be well received because they are respectful, and others won’t. Toscanini’s behavior shouldn’t have been acceptable in his time, but at that time there was zero protection for musicians. Today it would be unthinkable, and I think it’s for the better.