From the time-honoured and acoustically superb Prague Rudolfinum, this concert of the Czech Philharmonic under its music director Jirí Belohlávek marks the beginning of the first-ever filmed, complete cycle of all six symphonies by Bohuslav Martinu. Belohlávek and the Czech Philharmonic have a reputation to interpret his works like no other. ClassicsToday declared their Martinu cycle to “live up to the highest expectations […] With an orchestra that knows the music this well, Belohlávek can focus on details of rhythm and texture that create a powerful feeling of symphonic continuity without stinting on the work’s evocative colors.” Following Martinu’s First Symphony is Mahler’s First Symphony. With an equally deep Mahler tradition, the orchestra gave proof of why the New York Times called them “a jewel in Prague’s cultural life”.
Thielemann and Znajder in Prague
One of the world’s oldest orchestras, the Sächsische Staatskapelle Dresden, and their distinguished Chief Conductor Christian Thielemann are joined by star-violinist Nikolaj Znaider in a concert at the Czech capital’s legendary Rudolfinum concert hall. “The first thing one became aware of in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was the rhythmic heat of Thielemann’s conducting. The second was the sheer sumptuousness of the Dresden orchestra’s sound” (The Telegraph), while Znaider proved to be an “impeccable soloist”. In the Reger, Thielemann offered a “wonderfully buoyant, lucid performance”. As for the Strauss: “The Dresden Staatskapelle is the Strauss orchestra par excellence and it still plays that music with a unique understanding” (The Guardian).
Thomas Guggeis conducts Smetana
The Prague Spring Festival opens annually with Bedrich Smet ana’s cycle Má vlast (My Fatherland), always on 12 May, the anniversary of the composer’s death. It is one of the national monuments of Czech music: a musical foray through the world of the Czech mythical character Šárka, through the history and landscape of the Bohemian Basin in the heart of Europe and the old Prague castle of Vyšehrad. The most famous movement, “Vltava” describes the river Moldau and its course through the country. It is therefore a special honour to be invited to play the opening concert. Only the best orchestras are asked, but for probably no other orchestra the theme of Má vlast has such significance as for the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. At the rostrum is Thomas Guggeis, a former assistant of Daniel Barenboim, who has – as many scholars of the great maestro before – made his own career and has been appointed general music director of the Frankfurt Opera.
Prague Sounds – Concert for Europe with Semyon Bychkov & the Czech Philharmonic
For this special concert, the Vltava river in Prague turned into a unique concert venue. Floating stages were built especially for this concert. To celebrate Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Czech Philharmonic perform some of the most iconic pieces of Czech classical music. The concert opens with the anthem of the European Union, Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, and is completed by Smetana’s Vltava (The Moldau), Dvorák’s Carnival Overture and – as the main piece of the evening – Janácek’s monumental Glagolitic Mass, one of the most powerful sacred compositions ever. It is the perfect piece to celebrate Europe: “the ancient classical meets the spontaneously avant-garde in a special and optimal way.” (Lidové noviny) PROGRAM: Beethoven: ”Ode to Joy” Finale of Symphony No. 9, Op. 125; Dvorák: Carnival overture op. 92; Smetana: Vltava, a symphonic poem from the cycle ‘My Country.’ Janácek: Glagolitic Mass
Dvorák – Symphony No 1 in c minor “Bells of Zlonice”
From the stunning Rudolfinum in Prague: the Czech Philharmonic conducted by ist chief conductor Jirí Belohlávek performing Dvorák´s symphonies: Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, OP. 3 “The Bells of Zlonice” (48´- A985500040001). Complete cycle of all 9 symphonies also available, see A985500040001-9.
Dvorak – The Complete Symphonies
Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904) stands alongside Smetana as a founder of the new Czech music. His nine symphonies, presented here for the first time as a filmed cycle, show Dvorák to be a thoroughly individual and original composer whose symphonic concepts and wealth of musical expression are often surprising, representing a distinctly different engagement with the formal legacy of the nineteenth century from one symphony to the next. The Czech Philharmonic regards Dvorák’s symphonic output as an essential part of its repertoire. All the symphonies in this cycle were performed in the Dvorák Hall of the Rudolfinum in Prague, one of Europe’s oldest and loveliest concert halls and also where
Dvorák conducted the first concert by today’s Czech Philharmonic in 1896. Jirí Belohlávek, Chief Conductor of the Czech Philharmonic, is considered an established authority on the Slavic music of his homeland.