was established in 1949. Two internationally reputed personalities, V. Talich (1949 – 1952) and Ľ. Rajter (1949 – 1976) stood at the orchestra’s birth. Other chief conductors who have played an important role in the orchestra’s musical evolution include T. Frešo, L. Slovák, L. Pešek, V. Verbickij, B. Režucha, A. Ceccato, O. Lenárd, J. Bělohlávek, V. Válek, P. Feranec, E. Villaume a J. Judd and D. Raiskin (2020 – 2025). In the season of 2025/2026, Daniel Raiskin and Ondrej Olos are going to perform with the philharmonic as its permanent guest conductors.
Among the many guest conductors who have worked with the Slovak Philharmonic over the years, international personalities like J. Ferencsik, W. Rowicki, V. Smetáček, K. Ančerl, F. Konwitschny, A. Jansons, V. Neumann, H. Abendroth, A. Pedrotti, Sir E. Goossens, Sir M. Sargent, R. Benzi, K. Masur, Sir Ch. Mackerras, C. Zecchi, S. Baudo, C. Abbado, K. Sanderling, Z. Košler, R. Muti, K. Richter, K. Kondrašin, L. Segerstam, A. Lombard, S. Celibidache, T. Sanderling, O. Danon, M. Rossi, N. Järvi, K. Kobayashi, J. Svetlanov, M. Jansons, Ch. von Dohnányi, D. Kitajenko, O. Suitner, J. Conlon, V. Gergiev, A. Rahbari, F. Luisi, Sir Y. Menuhin, P. Schreier, V. Fedosejev, R. Weikert, M. Caridis, P. Steinberg, P. Keuschnig, T. Hanus, J. Hrůša, J. Valčuha, T. Netopil, I. Marin, P. Baleff, G. Pehlivanian, J. Märkl, I. Volkov, W. Marshall, E. G. Jensen, A. Buribayev must be mentioned, as well as composers and performers of self-penned works like J. Martinon, K. Penderecki and A. Khachaturian.
The orchestra has made numerous recordings for radio, television and the music publishers OPUS, Supraphon, Panton, Hungaroton, JVC Victor, RCA, Pacific Music, Naxos and Marco Polo. The Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra regularly gives guest performances on leading European stages and festivals, as well as in Cyprus, Turkey, and the USA, and they regularly have concert tours in Japan, South Korea, Oman and United Arab Emirates.
In recent years, the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra toured Japan and South Korea, performed in Murten (Switzerland) as well as on prestigious stages such as that of Stuttgart’s Liederhalle and the Cologne Philharmonic. Furthermore, it has held its concerts in Zagreb, Maribor, St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, and on the Krumlov Festival with Maxim Vengerov.
In the season of 2025/2026, the orchestra continues its work on the recordings of F. Schmidt’s symphonies in collaboration with its permanent guest conductor, D. Raiskin. The orchestra has accepted invitations to concerts at the Festspielhaus cycle in Salzburg, the Lednice-Valtice Music Festival and at local festivals, Allegretto Žilina and Košice Music Spring Festival. In terms of international tours in the 2025/2026 season, the Slovak Philharmonic is planning to tour Spain, Japan and Portugal, performing with several soloists, including M. Mimica (bass-baritone), A. Conunova (violin) and N. Rodiles, A. Gorlatch, O. Scheps, R. da Costa and M. João Pires (piano).