Ambros Duo Prague

Virtuosi di Praga is a leading Czech chamber orchestra, founded in Prague in 1976 on the initiative of violinist and conductor Oldřich Vlček, who was its artistic director, concertmaster and conductor for many years. Since 2000, the Italian maestro Alfonso Scarano has served as principal guest conductor.

The orchestra's repertoire is exceptionally broad - from the works of the Baroque masters (Vejvanovsky, Bach, Handel) through Classical and Romanticism (Haydn, Mozart, Mysliveček, Beethoven, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Rossini) to 20th century music and contemporary works by Czech composers.

Virtuosi di Praga prides itself on its courage to perform contemporary works as well, thus contributing to a living musical tradition and its innovation.

The orchestra's discography comprises more than 170-200 recordings made for prestigious labels such as Supraphon, Orfeo, Discover, Claves and Koch International. Virtuosi di Praga are the recipients of two Supraphon Platinum Records for the most successful classical recordings and several Gold Records from Discover, Lupulus and Supraphon.

Currently, the orchestra's activities are limited to selected projects and it performs mostly as a chamber orchestra or Virtuosi Quartet.

Violinist and conductor Oldřich Vlček (1950 - 2024) received the basics of his musical education in his native Strakonice with prof. Bohumír Kommel, in Prague during his studies at the Academy of Performing Arts he was shaped by prof. Nora Grumlíková and prof. Josef Vlach (chamber music). His valuable conducting experience was passed on to him by the former chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic Václav Neumann. Vlček further extended his education by studying in Siena, Italy. As a soloist (in addition to violin, he also played viola and viola d'amore), he collaborated with

with leading international artists such as José Cura, Josef Suk,

with whom he recorded Vivaldi concertos, Barbara Hendricks, Peter Schreier, Sir Charles Mackerras (CDs of Handel's Concerti Grossi and Mozart's Serenades), Mstislav Rostropovich and others. His musical career soon began to be associated with the position of concertmaster in the Prague Chamber Orchestra and especially in the Orchestra Virtuosi di Praga, which he founded in 1976. In addition to these ensembles, he has conducted numerous domestic and international ensembles such as the Florence Sinfonietta, Milano Classica, Soul Symphony Orchestra, Toronto Philharmonia, Pontes Festival Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Czenstochowa and many others. Rich

His discography, both as a soloist and as a conductor, is also rich.

He was the founder of the International Music Festival PONTES

and the LUPULUS art agency.