Tomáš Brauner, Prague Symphony Orchestra - Smetana, Dvořák, Suk, Ostrčil: Music for Prague (2024) [Hi-Res]

The story of the Prague Symphony Orchestra is closely related to the history of the Czech capital, which leaves an impression on their repertoire. After their successful recording of Karel Husa's Music for Prague 1968 (Supraphon, 2021), the orchestra and its chief conductor are coming up with another album dedicated to Prague. This time, the programme is focused on the late 19th century, i.e. the period when the Czech nation fought for its language, culture and identity within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The backbone of the record is Suk's monumental symphonic poem Praga, based on the Hussite chorale, "Ktoz jsu Bozi bojovnici" (Ye Who Are Warriors of God); Vysehrad from Smetana's famous cycle Ma vlast (My Country); and a rarity: Pohadka o Semiku (A Tale of Semik), which is a largely unknown symphonic poem based on an ancient Czech legend connected with Vysehrad, by Otakar Ostrcil, composed when he was nineteen. And of course, there is Antonin Dvorak. In hardly any work of his is Dvorak as explicitly patriotic as in his overture My Home (which is not very well known either). It is based on the theme of the popular song "Kde domov muj," which later became the Czech national anthem. Another rarity of this album is Dvorak's fanfare for the opening of the National Jubilee Exhibition in Prague. After their acclaimed recording of the composer's Slavonic Dances, the Prague Symphony Orchestra confirm that the Czech repertoire of late Romanticism is their native and most natural language.