Neumann, Wenceslas

Neumann was born in Prague. He graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1944 , where he was a student of Josef Mika, Pavel Dedechek and Method Dolozhil. In 1945, he was one of the founders of the Smetana Quartet , in which he played the first violin until 1947. At the same time he played in the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra , sometimes replacing Rafael Kubelik at the conductor's desk; after the emigration of Kubelik in 1948, Neumann was asked to replace him, but he refused. He headed the symphony orchestras in Karlovy Vary ( 1951 - 1954 ), Brno ( 1955 ), the Prague Symphony Orchestra ( 1956 - 1964 ), while constantly working on productions of the Berlin Komisé Opera . In 1964 - 1968 - conductor of the Gewandhaus Leipzig Orchestra. In 1968 , after the emigration of Karel Ancherl , he was repeatedly invited to head the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra and this time accepted the offer; remained at the head of the orchestra until 1990 . Neumann taught at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague , where Oliver von Donagni and Vitezslav Podrazil were his students.

Neumann was known in the Czech Republic and around the world as a propagandist and popularizer of Czech music, including the operas of Leos Janacek . Among his most significant recordings are all symphonies by Gustav Mahler , Antonin Dvořák , Boguslav Martin , works by Ludwig van Beethoven , Ferenc Liszt , Johannes Brahms , Bedřich Smetana , Anton Bruckner , Joseph Suk , Julius Fucik . He actively promoted the work of Miloslav Kabelach , in particular - he performed and recorded his eighth “antiphon” symphony, one of the most complex in the composer's legacy.