Bedřich Smetana - Symphonic Works (Petr Popelka)

Information

Composer: Bedřich Smetana

• Richard III., Op. 11, JB 1:70
• Wallenstein´s Camp, Op. 14, JB 1:72
• Hakon Jarl, Op. 16, JB 1:79
• String Quartet No. 1 in E Minor, JB 1:105 (arr. George Szell)
• Festive Symphony in E Major, Op. 6, JB 1:59
• Má vlast, JB 1:112

Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra

Petr Popelka, conductor

Date: 2024

Label: Supraphon

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Within a mere few years, Petr Popelka has established himself as one of the world’s most exciting young conductors. Currently serving as principal conductor of the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Wiener Symphoniker, he has also appeared as a guest with prominent European and American orchestras, as well as at opera houses worldwide. Popelka and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra have made for Supraphon a triple album featuring the complete symphonic works of Bedřich Smetana.

The extraordinary album, which marks the 200th anniversary of Smetana’s birth, also contains String Quartet No. 1, “From My Life”, hailing from Smetana’s mature period, when the composer was completely deaf, in George Szell’s brilliant orchestration. In contrast, Smetana’s early music is represented by the Festive Symphony, dedicated to the wedding of the 24-year-old Emperor Franz Joseph I to Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria, and three “Swedish” Liszt-inspired symphonic poems, based on dramas as immense as Shakespeare’s Richard III and Schiller’s Wallenstein.

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