9.30 Building a Library
Anna Picard chooses her favourite recording of Bedrich Smetana’s Má Vlast.
Dedicated to the city of Prague, Smetana’s Má Vlast (’My Country’) is a series of six orchestral tone poems depicting Bohemian legends, landscapes and history, replete with nationalistic and political meaning for Smetana and his Czech audiences. Its second movement ‘Vltava’ is the best known: a thrilling portrayal of the journey of Bohemia’s longest river and one of music’s greatest landscape paintings.
Available recordings:
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ancerl
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ancerl (DVD)
Wiener Symphoniker, Karel Ancerl
Czech Philharmonic, Jirí Belohlávek (Decca)
Czech Philharmonic, Jirí Belohlávek (Supraphon)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Paavo Berglund *
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Antal Doráti
USSR TV and Radio Large Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev *
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Claus Peter Flor (SACD)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrusa (SACD)
Prague Philharmonic, Jakub Hrusa
Radio Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt, Eliahu Inbal *
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi *
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi *
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Wiener Philharmoniker, Rafael Kubelik
Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar
Bamberger Symphoniker, Gustav Kuhn *
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine
SWF Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden & Zdenek Macal *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Lovro von Matacic *
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Mund *
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Václav Neumann
London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek
Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, George Richter *
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Wolfgang Sawallisch *
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, Reinhard Seifried *
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Smetacek
Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Stilec *
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Talich (1939)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vladimír Válek
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
(* = download only)
Anna Picard chooses her favourite recording of Bedrich Smetana’s Má Vlast.
Dedicated to the city of Prague, Smetana’s Má Vlast (’My Country’) is a series of six orchestral tone poems depicting Bohemian legends, landscapes and history, replete with nationalistic and political meaning for Smetana and his Czech audiences. Its second movement ‘Vltava’ is the best known: a thrilling portrayal of the journey of Bohemia’s longest river and one of music’s greatest landscape paintings.
Available recordings:
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ancerl
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Karel Ancerl (DVD)
Wiener Symphoniker, Karel Ancerl
Czech Philharmonic, Jirí Belohlávek (Decca)
Czech Philharmonic, Jirí Belohlávek (Supraphon)
Staatskapelle Dresden, Paavo Berglund *
London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis
Concertgebouw Orchestra, Antal Doráti
USSR TV and Radio Large Symphony Orchestra, Vladimir Fedoseyev *
Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Claus Peter Flor (SACD)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Nikolaus Harnoncourt
Bamberger Symphoniker, Jakub Hrusa (SACD)
Prague Philharmonic, Jakub Hrusa
Radio Sinfonie Orchester Frankfurt, Eliahu Inbal *
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Neeme Järvi
Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi *
Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Ken-ichiro Kobayashi *
Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Boston Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Rafael Kubelik
Wiener Philharmoniker, Rafael Kubelik
Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra, Theodore Kuchar
Bamberger Symphoniker, Gustav Kuhn *
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine
SWF Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden & Zdenek Macal *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Charles Mackerras
ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien, Lovro von Matacic *
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta
Kyoto Symphony Orchestra, Uwe Mund *
Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Václav Neumann
London Classical Players, Sir Roger Norrington *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, Libor Pesek
Royal Danish Symphony Orchestra, George Richter *
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Malcolm Sargent
Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Wolfgang Sawallisch *
Slovak State Philharmonic Orchestra, Kosice, Reinhard Seifried *
Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Yuri Simonov *
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Smetacek
Hradec Kralove Philharmonic Orchestra, Marek Stilec *
St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Walter Susskind
Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, Vaclav Talich (1939)
Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vladimír Válek
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Antoni Wit
(* = download only)
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