Special The musical alchemy of Zdenek Macal, acclaimed Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic
Zdenek Macal was born 71 years ago in the Czech Republic's second city of Brno. He achieved success rapidly, first conducting the Czech Philharmonic in 1966 at the age of 30. With the Soviet invasion two years later he fled the country, but quickly found his feet abroad, serving as chief conductor of the Cologne Radio Orchestra and then beginning a hugely successful career in the United States. His time as musical director of the Milwaukee Symphony and the New Jersey Symphony, saw both orchestras blossom, with the maestro showing a good head for business on top of his undoubted qualities as a conductor. When Zdenek Macal was invited to join the Czech Philharmonic as chief conductor in 2003, he was coming back to the land of his birth after more than three decades abroad. At the time I asked him if he felt nervous taking up the Czech Republic's most high-profile musical post:
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