Jiri Belohlávek.

Conductor

Born. 24 February 1946. Died June 1 2017.

Jiri Belohlávek, the Czech-born conductor, who has died aged 71, was chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 2012, and brought a real vitality and enthusiasm to the composers of his homeland – notably Dvorák, Smetana and Janacek. He displayed a definite courage when, in 2009, he delivered the traditional speech at the Last Night of the Proms – the first non-native English speaker to do so. “I loved it” he told an interviewer “it’s the most wonderful party for everyone.”

At that concert Mr Belohlávek gamely “played” the vacuum cleaner in Malcolm Arnold’s Grand, Grand Overture conducted by David Robertson (Sir David Attenborough was on the floor polisher). It (and the speech) were greeted with rapturous cheers by the Prommers.

Jirí Belohlávek was born in Prague the son of a judge and from an early age showed a keen interest in singing and the piano. He studied piano at the Prague Conservatory and took classes in conducting. At the age of 19 he visited the Edinburgh Festival and attended a performance of Mahler’s 4th Symphony in the Usher Hall. His countryman Rafael Kubelik was the conductor and many years later he admitted “it was my most memorable live music experience as an audience member.”

In fact Mr Belohlávek had close associations in Scotland and was often seen on the podium here. At the 1983 Festival he conducted the Czech Philharmonic with Katia and Marielle Lebeque and in 1990 he was in the Usher Hall for concerts given by the Prague Symphony Orchestra with a searing account of Bohuslav Martinu’s massive opera The Greek Passion. The following year he returned with a series of concerts with the same orchestra – the final titled In Honour of Prague.

In 2002 he conducted the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a Dvorák rarity the oratorio Saint Ludmilla and in 2014 he returned with them conducting Korngold’s Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti as soloist. Keith Bruce in The Herald wrote, “Belohlávek and soloist shone brightly”. In 2005 he was back with the RSNO at the Festival conducting Mahler’s mighty 9th Symphony. The Financial Times summed up the performance as “radiant, all the way through to the last tender farewell.”

There was a hope that his connection with the RSNO was going to be further formalised in 2002 when it was announced Mr Belohlávek was to become the orchestra’s conductor. Commitments elsewhere prevented that happening. He was made a CBE in 2012.

At the beginning of his career Mr Belohlávek worked with many Czech orchestras and was, for over a decade, principal conductor of the Prague Symphony Orchestra from 1977. In 1990 he was appointed Chief conductor of the Czech Philharmonic but internal reorganisation made him resign within two years and he went on to found his own orchestra in 1993, the Prague Philharmonia. Mr Belohlávek became closely associated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra firstly as principal guest conductor (1995-2000) and then chief conductor until 2012.

In his years at the BBC Symphony Orchestra Mr Belohlávek greatly enhanced the orchestra’s reputation. He highlighted Czech composers - introducing the lesser known Martinu to a wider audience. But he also gained an international respect for his interpretations of Wagner and Mahler and recorded widely. He was a musician of much integrity, wit and charm. He conjured a glowing, almost lyrical, string sound from an orchestra yet could expand the sound for the major Janacek works.

Mr Belohlávek brought to all his concerts a Slavonic grandeur that audiences (and musicians) loved. "Music was my life," he once said. "I even feel joy when I read it."

Mr Belohlávek recorded profusely and his interpretations of the Dvorak Symphonies with the Czech Philharmonic in 2014 were widely acclaimed as was his account of the six symphonies of Martinu with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He was an acclaimed conductor of opera and recorded a joyous account of Smetana’s The Bartered Bride.

His recording of the famous 2007 Glyndebourne production of Tristan und Isolde was greeted in the press as, “sophisticated plumbing of the score's depths, with every shift in texture carefully laid bare by an inspired conductor.”

With his distinguished mop of grey hair the Prommers loved him. On nights he was not conducting he would often stroll into the standing area and listen to the music intently then chat to those around him in the intervals. The Last Night speech was a bit of a problem – initially his English was limited – and that first year he read it from a script. But by 2012 he was very much at ease and ad-libbed with glee. One member of the RSNO remembers, “Jiri was a gentleman, with charisma and integrity.”

Mr. Belohlavek, who died of cancer, is survived by his wife, Anna Fejerova, and their two daughters.

Alasdair Steven