Passion for music: Czechast with Jakub Hrůša

Czechast had the great pleasure of speaking with one of the most distinguished Czech conductors of our time, Jakub Hrůša. Starting in September, Jakub will take on a prestigious new role as the music director of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London—a milestone that places him among the world’s most influential conductors.

As Jakub Hrůša explains, his decision to devote himself to music was not just a career choice, but a realization of what he truly couldn't live without:

"I realized suddenly I didn't want to lose music as a main focus. I couldn't suddenly imagine that I would be doing some kind of a job as a main portion of my life, and only in the remaining time I would be able to occupy myself with music."

Jakub Hrůša|Photo: Veronika Paroulková, Czech Radio

Although he has a broad appreciation for all genres, his heart remains with classical music:

"I always return back to classics because I always thought it's just so much richer, so much deeper, so much more interesting."

And while many admire the artistry of soloists and orchestras, Jakub highlights the crucial yet often overlooked discipline behind musical mastery:

"You cannot avoid the hours of discipline. It's unpopular to say, especially these days where everything seems to be promoted in terms of like people should love what they do and do it only when they like to do it, and children tend to be handled with a lot of freedom, which on one hand is extremely beautiful, but I think this perseverance and discipline in playing an instrument is absolutely unavoidable."

The conversation was so engaging—and Jakub was so generous with his time—that we ended up talking for nearly 90 minutes. Because of that, we have decided to divide our discussion into two parts. In this first part, we explore Jakub’s early passion for music, his artistic philosophy, and what drew him back to the classics time and time again.

Dvořák: Suita A dur, Allegro (Jakub Hrůša & Česká filharmonie)

• Edit
• Delete