Petr Popelka returns to Danish National Symphony Orchestra

Next week, Petr Popelka returns to conduct the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO) in a performance of Shostakovich’s Suite on Verses by Michelangelo Buonarroti and Stravinksy’s Firebird Suite. He will be joined for the Shostakovich by German star baritone Matthias Goerne.

Popelka’s relationship with the DNSO began at the Malko Conducting Competition in 2018. Although he didn’t win the competition, he became an audience favourite, and won praise from the judges for his professionalism and accuracy.

“Popelka… showed acute focus when fixing little corners in the Mozart overtures and communicated his various diagnoses with a precision, speed and character that even made the orchestra laugh… We got the distinct impression that the orchestra relished his rapid technical analysis and economic descriptions, to the extent that they might have been happy for him to talk even more. Now that is some achievement.” Malko Competition commentator