Karel Ančerl is best known as the conductor who brought the Czech Philharmonic to an exceptional standard of performance in the 1950s and 1960s. Less familiar is his work as a composer, the manuscripts of which are preserved in the orchestra’s archives. The evening will explore both facets of his musical career, while also reflecting on his experiences as a Jew, his persecution under Nazism and his musical activities in the Terezín ghetto, where he founded and conducted an orchestra. Through musical excerpts and correspondence, musician Ivan Bierhanzl and the conductor’s granddaughter, Maximiliane Ančerlová, will offer an insight into Ančerl’s life and work.
