Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Jan Chalupecký, Michal Kanka

Czech National Symphony Orchestra |  Jan Chalupecký, director |  Michal Kanka, cello

PROGRAMME

B. Smetana: The Vltava (of the symphonic cycle My mother country) / A. Dvorák: Concerto for cello and orchestra, op. 104 / Symphony no. 9, op. 95, “Of the New World”

The symphonic poem Vltava received its first performance in 1875 and established Smetana as the founding member of the Czech national school of music, one of whose leading composers was Antonin Dvoøák. Two of Dvoøák's most popular orchestral works were however written during the composer's extended stay in America. While in the New World Symphony (first performed in the Carnegie Hall in 1893) Dvoøák stated he had incorporated features of Negro and Indian music, in the Cello Concerto he eschews all American influence to produce a work brimming with Bohemian nationalist energy, but also including a strong dose of nostalgia for the land of his birth.