BEDŘICH SMETANA
Má vlast, a cycle of symphonic poems
Filharmonie Brno
conductor Dennis Russell Davies
Dennis Russell Davies enters his fourth season as chief conductor and artistic director of Filharmonie Brno with Smetana’s Má vlast, the essential masterpiece of Czech symphonic music, which is also a work of exceptional international standing. Nowadays, the complete cycle of six symphonic poems is performed much more rarely than in the past (it used to be the tradition to programme Má vlast in the opening concert of the Brno philharmonic season). This in no way undermines the work’s topical importance, which this brilliant music has always had; rather, the less frequent performances underline its exceptionality.
