9. Philharmonic Concert »Czech«

Bedřich Smetana, Antonín Dvořák and Leoš Janáček are to Czech national music what Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven are to Viennese Classicism. They marked the beginning of a new musical tradition that integrated Moravian and Bohemian folk music into symphonic composition. Smetana established the national identity, Dvořák carried it out into the world, and Janáček brought it into the modern era. You will hear some of their greatest successes at this »Czech« concert evening. The programme opens with a gem of the operatic repertoire: the overture to Smetana’s celebrated national opera The Bartered Bride.

In his Taras Bulba rhapsody, Leoš Janáček powerfully and epically recounts the tragic story of the Ukrainian Cossack leader of the same name. Janáček achieved a symphonic masterpiece with this work.

And finally, with Dvořák’s phenomenal Violin Concerto, we are immersed in a frenzy of powerful symphonic music and Slavic passion. From the very first bars, as the violin plunges magnificently into the musical action, this violin concerto captivates the listener. Slavic folk music blends breathtakingly with powerful symphonic music.

The solo part is performed by world-class violinist Arabella Steinbacher. Her international career has taken her to Chicago, London and Sydney, where she has performed with the world’s leading orchestras and conductors. Her extensive discography is notable for its versatility. Her highly acclaimed recordings include works by Arvo Pärt and Johann Sebastian Bach with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, her Mozart cycle with the Festival Strings Lucerne, and The Four Seasons by Astor Piazzolla and Antonio Vivaldi with the Munich Chamber Orchestra.

Daniel Carter conducts. He is Music Director at the German National Theatre and the Staatskapelle Weimar, and Chief Music Director of the Landestheater Coburg.