The horn player Radek Baborak was born into a family of musicians in today's Czech Republic in 1976. At the age of 8 he began to study the horn with Prof. Karol Křenek, and already at the age of 12 he won the "Concertino Praga" radio competition. Three years later he gained the third prize at the Prague Spring Competition for Performers.

From 1989 to 1994 he studied with Prof. Bedřich Tylšar and graduated from the Music Conservatory of Prague with distinction. Radek Baborák has won numerous competitions, among them

* International Radio Competition UNESCO (1993),
* 2nd prize (no 1st prize awarded) in Geneva (1993),
* 1st prize at the ARD Competition in Munich (1994),
* 1st prize at the Markneukirchen Competition (1994),
* Grammy Classic Award in the Czech Republic (1995),
* Davidoff Prize 2001,
* Mostly Classic Award 2002.

Baborák has gained considerable experience on stage, performing with renowned orchestras in Germany and abroad, among others the London Philharmonic, the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Münchner Philharmoniker under James Levine, Bamberger Symphoniker, Deutsches Symphonieorchester Berlin, SWR Sinfonierorchester, Mozarteum Orchester Salzburg, St. Petersburg Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Lyon, Tokyo Philharmonic, NHK Orchestra and others. He also often appears on TV and performs in recitals at renowned festivals and important cultural centers of the world.

"This artist is a phenomenon", the press commented his successful concerts with the Bamberger Symphoniker at the Mozart festival in Würzburg (June 2001). For his concerts with the Münchner Philharmoniker under the baton of James Levine in Munich (2001) Radek Baborák received the TZ Rose. His concerts with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to full houses of St. Alban's Cathedral and Royal Festival Hall were received enthusiastically by both audience and critics.

His following extraordinary success of his tour to Japan resulted in regular performances there, some of them broadcast by NHK TV. In 1998 he was invited by the conductor Seiji Ozawa to perform with the Saito Kinen Orchestra on the occasion of the opening of the Winter Olympic Games in Nagano. With the same orchestra he appeared in the New Year's Gala in Tokyo on the 1st January 2000 and has been the orchestra's regular guest performer since.

Baborák is also a passionate chamber musician and performs regularly worldwide with his Afflatus Quintet (1st prize ARD 1997) but also with other chamber music ensembles and numerous renowned colleagues. He was also a guest at the chamber music festival in Kitakyushu and Jamagata (Japan 1996). The festival was organized by the International Horn Society. More often is Radek invited to cooperate on the chamber music projects to Paris, e. g. 10th anniversary of the Louver Series.

His repertoire comprises the complete horn literature, from virtuous concertos of Baroque and Viennese Classic to the great works of the Romantic period and the 20th century (Haydn, Mozart, Weber, Schumann, SaintSaëns; Strauss, Gliere, Pauer, Marti). He also tries to expand his repertoire by arranging and performing pieces originally written for other instruments, Bach's writings for violoncello and viola da gamba above all. These compositions are recorded by Radek too.

Already at the age of 18 he was quite unusually accepted at the position of the first hornist of the Czech Philharmonic Orhestra without any competition. From 1996 to 2000 Radek was solo hornist of the Münchner Philharmoniker, and from 1998 to 2000 a guest lecturer at the Arturo Toscanini Music Foundation of Bologne, succeeding Hermann Baumann. His next engagement will be solo hornist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

During the last years a friendship developed between Baborák and his highly honored colleague Prof. Hermann Baumann, who comments the recording of Rosetti's Horn Concertos as follows: "Radek Baborák takes us away in a festive atmosphere of the 18th century. His charming sound and the ease of his tone is an exceptional pleasure for the ear. The sensitivity and expressiveness of his performance let the horn sing. His interpretation yields natural power and naive simplicity"


2    • Aug.KielHorn Concerto in F(Radek Bab...  
3    • Aug.KielHorn Concerto in F(Radek Bab...