Inspired by the mythology and pastoral beauty of his Czech homeland, Smetana's six tone poems that form Má vlast (My fatherland) is one of the best examples of Nationalism in music. The stirring second movement depicts the river Vltava as it flows through the countryside and into Prague. Struck with deafness in 1874, Smetana would never hear a performance of what would become his most popular work.
'Colin Davis has an affinity with Czech music that is every bit as strong as his better-known sympathy with Berlioz or Mozart … a performance that welds the six portraits into a convincing whole. ...
'There can be no mistaking the conviction that he brings to the cycle ... Davis never loses sight of the outcome—the main motifs coalescing into an apotheosis both uninhibited and triumphant' (In ...
Classic FM Magazine
'There can be no mistaking the conviction that he brings to the cycle ... Davis never loses sight of the outcome—the main motifs coalescing into an apotheosis both uninhibited and triumphant' (In ...
Classic FM Magazine