During the concerts, held under the auspices of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and of the Minister of Culture of the Czech Republic, the audience enjoyed music written by Bedrich Smetana, Petr I. Tchaikovsky, Antonin Dvorak and Ludwig van Beethoven. Before that, the Philharmonic played the National Anthems of India and the Czech Republic, whose interpretation was amazing!

Sophisticated and in classical music educated audience rewarded the Czech musicians and the piano soloist Jana Chaudhuri with long standing ovations, asking for encores and return of the artists onto the stage. The whole effect was even strengthened by the final encore, a specially arranged piece from the Bombays musical history  “Bombay is my life'' ("Yeh hai Bombay Meri Jaan").

The concert in Kolkata was unique as it blended the 60 members Philharmonic with 10 Indian players from the Calcutta Chamber Orchestra. They had been practicing for this evening for long weeks and months so that they could reach the level of their Czech colleagues.

Both concerts were commenced by the Ambassador of the Czech Republic, H.E. Milan Hovorka who mentioned the broader context of this tour and presented it as an expression of the interest of the Czech Republic in developing a rich cooperation with India.

The Ambassador stressed the role of music as a strong instrument, which can wipe away borders and differences, and connect human minds and hearts. In this context he presented the tour as a gift of the Philharmonic to both hosting cities, a gift from the Czech citizens to the Indians and a further step towards their cooperation and mutual friendship.

The realization of this tour after almost 60 years, made the dream of many generations of Indians to hear a full philharmonic from the Czech Republic come true. He thanked to all those who made this dream reality.

The Ambassador stressed the synergy springing from the fact that the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic comes from Zlin, the birthplace of Tomas Bata, and therefore he realized a protocol visit to the Bata company in Batanagar, where this important Czech entrepreneur had established the Indian branch of today's worldwide famous Bata shoe company.  

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in New Delhi expresses its thanks to the Director of the Bohuslav Martinu Philharmonic Dr. Josef Nemy, to the Philharmonic as a whole and to each of their member as well as the organization team for the beautiful, impressive and unusually emotional presentation of the Czech Republic through the means of classical music in India.

The Embassy of the Czech Republic in Delhi appreciates that the Philharmonic, the Conductor as well as the Soloist waived their fees and donated the profits of both concerts to charitable purposes and for support of the Calcutta School of Music.