COMPOSERS: Smetana
LABELS: Virgin Ultraviolet
WORKS: Má vlast
PERFORMER: Royal Liverpool PO/Libor Pesek
CATALOGUE NO: CUV 5 61223 2 DDD (1990)
Libor Pesek’s lovingly trod pilgrimage amid the countryside and legend of his, and Smetana’s, Czech homeland, the six tone poems entitled Má vlast, won international acclaim for the RLPO. As the greatest musical ennoblement of the spirit of Bohemia, Má vlast allies the chivalrous renown of Czech folklore with gripping evocations of the great Vltava river and the proud fabric of the surrounding landscape. Pesek’s account is masterfully pictorial, yet never overstated. The Liverpool players excel in music they’ve learned to love under Pesek’s leadership, and recorded sound is impressively resonant and detailed, as befits the grandeur of Smetana’s patriotic epic. Michael Jameson
Smetana: Má vlast
Libor Pesek’s lovingly trod pilgrimage amid the countryside and legend of his, and Smetana’s, Czech homeland, the six tone poems entitled Má vlast, won international acclaim for the RLPO. As the greatest musical ennoblement of the spirit of Bohemia, Má vlast allies the chivalrous renown of Czech folklore with gripping evocations of the great Vltava river and the proud fabric of the surrounding landscape. Pesek’s account is masterfully pictorial, yet never overstated.
Our rating
5
Published: January 20, 2012 at 3:16 pm