Smetana B. Má vlast / My Country / CPO / J.Bělohlávek (live Prague Spring Festival 2014)

Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) - Má vlast / My Country

Cyklus symfonických básní / A Cycle of Symphonic Poems

1. Vyšehrad

2. Vltava

3. Šárka

4. Z českých luhů a hájů / From Bohemian Fields and Groves

5. Tábor

6. Blaník

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra

Jiří Bělohlávek conductor

Is there any more evocative piece of national music than Má Vlast?

Smetana’s six orchestral poems – the most famous of which is Vltava (The Moldau) with its instantly recognizable melody and evocation of this great river - tell of Bohemia’s lands and legends. The Czech Philharmonic, with Jiří Bělohlávek as Music Director and Chief Conductor, have a unique quality amongst international orchestras, described by The Daily Telegraph as “something very subtle: a feeling of great power without aggression, exactitude without pedantically sharp edges, and a weight and clarity in the wind and brass.”