Bedřich Smetana
Vyšehrad

Bedřich Smetana
Vltava

Bedřich Smetana
Šárka

Bedřich Smetana
Blaník

Bedřich Smetana
Tábor

Emma Smetana – moderator
Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava
Jan Kučera – conductor

Who would not know Má vlast (My Fatherland)? The work that opens the annual, most prestigious music festival in Czech Republic – Prague Spring. The cycle Má Vlast consists of six symphonic poems, each with different character: royal and elegiac Vyšehrad, lovely and playful Vltava, wild and passionate Šárka, joyful and hymn-like Z českých luhů a hájů (From Bohemia´s Woods anf Fields) and finally Tábor and Blaník, unyielding and powerful, but also majestic – prophesizing the victorious future of our nation.  In this cycle, we find memories of important historical events of our country as well as the projection of ideals of the past into the future. Smetana also shows the character of Czech people and their land. It is Smetana’s greatest work and one of the best pieces of Czech classical music overall.