Conductor Jirí Belohlávek fashioned a successful international career in both the concert hall and on the operatic stage. While he became identified with Czech repertory, particularly the works of Smetana, Dvorák, Janácek, Suk, Martinu, Ostrcil, and Fibich, he conducted a fairly broad range of other repertory. He served in prestigious posts with major orchestras, including the Czech Philharmonic, Brno State Philharmonic, Prague Symphony, and BBC Symphony Orchestra. Belohlávek was known for his ability to achieve effective balances in the orchestral sound fabric, as well as for precision and a sense for not imposing eccentricity or waywardness on the score. Belohlávek appeared on more than 100 recordings spread over a variety of labels, including Supraphon, DG, Chandos, Warner Classics, Harmonia Mundi, Arthaus Musik, and Eurodisc.

Jirí Belohlávek was born in Prague on February 24, 1946. He studied cello early on and enrolled at the Prague Conservatory and at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague for studies in both cello and conducting. His most important conducting teacher was Sergiu Celibidache, whom he assisted for two years in Stockholm, where Celibidache was conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Belohlávek served as an assistant conductor for the Czech Philharmonic (1970-1972). From 1972-1978 he conducted the Brno State Philharmonic, and from 1978-1989 he served as chief conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra. Belohlávek succeeded Vaclav Neumann as conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, serving from 1990-1992. In 1994 Belohlávek founded the Prague Philharmonia and the following year was appointed principal guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, serving until 2000. Belohlávek debuted at the Met in 2004 with Janácek's Káta Kabanová. In 2005 Belohlávek was appointed chief conductor of BBC Symphony Orchestra.

The busy final decade of Belohlávek's life saw him building on the international recognition he had attained and gaining a reputation as one of the most profound interpreters of Central European music. Composers he championed during this period included Mahler, whom he considered a Czech (Mahler was born in the Bohemian town of Kaliště). His cycle of Mahler symphonies with the BBC Symphony, performed and recorded at the rate of one per year, won critical acclaim, as did his readings of the very different work of Bohuslav Martinu. Equally at home in the opera pit, in front of a choir, and in symphonic repertory, Belohlávek conducted Dvorák's Rusalka at Britain's Glyndebourne Festival in 2009. After an 18-year interval, he was reappointed conductor of the Czech Philharmonic in 2012, continuing to appear with the Prague Philharmonia as well. In 2017 the Czech Philharmonic, despite the fact the Belohlávek was under treatment for cancer, extended his contract through 2021. He made his last appearances in London (conducting Dvorák's Requiem in B flat minor, Op. 89) and Prague just a month before his death on June 1, 2017, in Prague. His shattering recording of Dvorák's Stabat Mater, Op. 58, had reached the top levels of classical sales charts just days earlier. ~ Robert Cummings, James Manheim

The Czech Philharmonic is the leading symphonic ensemble in the musically rich Czech Republic, with a long history of definitive performances and recordings of Czech repertory. The orchestra has sometimes found itself a topic of political contention as the waves of European history have swept across its homeland.

Like many other Central European orchestras, the Czech Philharmonic (the Czech name since 2015 is Česká filharmonie, and the word "orchestra" is no longer part of its name) began as a theater orchestra: a group of orchestral musicians at the Prague National Theatre named themselves the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra in 1894, and in two years, the wisdom of the move became apparent when Dvořák conducted the group in a concert of his own works. By 1901, the Philharmonic was a fully independent entity, and it quickly gained renown beyond Czech borders; Mahler conducted the orchestra in the world premiere of his Symphony No. 7 in 1908. The most important among the orchestra's early conductors was Vaclav Talich, who held the post of principal conductor for most of the period between 1919 and 1941.

The orchestra's conductors since then have all been internationally renowned figures. Rafael Kubelik assumed the baton under German occupation in 1942, remaining until 1948 but fleeing at that point as Czechoslovakia came under Communist rule. His successors have included Karel Ancerl (who fled to Canada during the Soviet crackdown after the so-called Prague Spring of 1968), Václav Neumann, and Jiří Bělohlávek, all of whom were distinguished interpreters of Czech music, Mahler, and often French and 20th century music as well. Their recordings gained critical acclaim in the West despite Czechoslovakia's partial isolation during the Cold War. In the late '80s, the orchestra participated in Czech protests against Soviet domination. A performance of Smetana's Má vlast in 1990 marked Kubelik's return to his homeland for the first time in 42 years. Bělohlávek served from 1990 to 1992, stepping down as the orchestra appointed Gerd Albrecht to be its first non-Czech conductor. This move generated controversy, and Albrecht also resigned in 1996. He was succeeded by Vladimir Ashkenazy (1996-2003), who led the orchestra on major international tours. He was followed by Zdeněk Mácal and the Eliahu Inbal. Bělohlávek returned in 2012 and was essentially given a contract for life, making critically acclaimed recordings before his death in 2017. Since 2018, the orchestra's conductor has been Semyon Bychkov.

The Czech Philharmonic has recorded prolifically during the digital era, at first mostly for the Czech national label Supraphon. In the late 2010s, the group has also recorded for the Decca label, which has continued to issue Bělohlávek recordings in its vaults. In 2019, his reading of Josef Suk's Asrael Symphony appeared on that label. The Bychkov era began on Decca with The Tchaikovsky Project (2019), a complete cycle of the composer's symphonies, concertos, and other orchestral works. In 2022, Bychkov and the Philharmonic issued a pair of Mahler symphony releases on the PentaTone Classics label. By that time, the group's recording catalog comprised some 140 digital albums, plus many LPs issued when the Philharmonic was the national orchestra of Czechoslovakia. ~ James Manheim